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[[File:ChicksDigRob.jpg|link=Rob and Elliot|frame|Chicks dig it.]]
''She would have hated it
One of the easiest ways to show that a male character has fallen into depression is to show him with unkempt stubble or sometimes even a full beard after a [[Time Skip]].
▲{{quote|I'm a lot like my dad, I would have to say<br />
▲He's been wearing a beard ever since mom passed away<br />
▲She would have hated it|'''Buck 65''', ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1qa4Sjpl68 Roses and Blue Jays]''}}
Happens to be [[Truth in Television]], of course. A common symptom of depression is loss of interest in personal appearance; and in men this might cause them to quit shaving. This is frequently accompanied by the [[Drowning My Sorrows]] trope.
▲One of the easiest ways to show that a male character has fallen into depression is to show him with unkempt stubble or sometimes even a full beard after a [[Time Skip]].
Some observant shows may justify this with Jewish characters, because, by Jewish law, men may not shave for thirty days as means of mourning.
▲Happens to be [[Truth in Television]], of course. A common symptom of depression is loss of interest in personal appearance; and in men this might cause them to quit shaving. This is frequently accompanied by the [[Drowning My Sorrows]] trope.
▲Some observant shows may justify this with Jewish characters, because, by Jewish law, men may not shave for thirty days as means of mourning.
Subtrope or perhaps <s>Sister</s> [[Sister Trope|Brother Trope]] to [[Good Hair, Evil Hair]]: just as a goatee indicates evil, so does stubble/an unkempt beard indicate squalor. Also a subtrope of [[Expository Hairstyle Change]].
Contrast [[Perma
{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* Gendo Ikari of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' is seen beardless when he's young but, bar one scene, bearded {{spoiler|after Yui is absorbed by Eva-01}}. Suits his new persona [[Beard of Evil|rather well]].
* Aizawa of ''[[Death Note]]'' gets ''preparatory'' Angst Stubble.
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* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'''s Roy Mustang sports a bit of stubble while {{spoiler|grieving the death of his best friend}}.
* Vash does this after the Fifth Moon incident in ''[[Trigun]]''.
* Tomoya of ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]] After Story'' gains a stubble after the events in [[Wham! Episode|THAT episode]].
* The titular character of ''[[Afro Samurai]]'' sports an unkempt beard at the beginning of the sequel, after living for some time as the Number One.
* Sasahara from ''[[Genshiken]]'' briefly grows some stubble when he's losing hope of ever finding a job.
* Hei seems to be a victim of this trope in the second season of ''[[Darker
* Tenma from ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'' not only ceases to care that his beard is unkempt and his hair growing all over the place, but he goes to the degree of negligence where other characters are complaining of his smell and emaciated appearance.
* In the 1986 feature film version of ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'', Kenshiro grows a textbook version after he loses to Shin.
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==
* John Constantine of ''[[Hellblazer]]'', when he falls into an alcoholic depression and takes to the streets after Kit leaves him.
* When Tony Stark/[[Iron Man]] became an alcoholic this happened.
* Ralph Dibny grows this after those [[Running the Asylum]] at DC decided that a funny, healthy, loving marriage can't exist for as long as his did, and <s>raped and</s> [[Retcon|retroactively]] raped in flashback and [[Killed Off for Real|killed off]] his wife Sue. Also, his face looked completely different.
* [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Scott Summers]] does that a lot. Fans have taken to calling it "The stubble of angst". and comment on how fast he grows it.
* Jamie Madrox in the recent ''[[X-Factor (
* Cosmo in ''[[Elf Quest]] - The Rebels'' after {{spoiler|he killed someone}}
* Franky grows one in The Goon: Chinatown & the Mystery of Mr. Wicker, when {{spoiler|he gives up on life and becomes an alcoholic because Goon loses interest in their criminal enterprises.}}
* One time when Thor came home to find Asgard laid waste and all his friends missing, [[The Mighty Thor]] returned to Earth weeks later with a beard. This wasn't so much because he was depressed as because he had been searching for weeks nonstop and just hadn't taken the time to shave. (The beard looked pretty awesome actually, since [[Norse Mythology|Thor]] arguably shouldn't be clean-shaven in the first place.)
* Flycatcher in [[
* [[Superman]] grows one while traveling space to protect the earth from the split personality he developed out of guilt after executing three Kryptonian criminals, although that may just have been because [[Justified Trope|he didn't pack his shaving kit]], since he was going on a voyage into space, after all.
** Also, most post-apocalyptic versions of Superman are be shown as having grown-out beards, most likely due to [[It's All My Fault|their inability to prevent]] the aforementioned apocalypse.
* [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Reed Richards]] grew one during his exile in the past. It was lampshade when he told his family that Doc Samson suggested that he shaved it so it won't remind him of the past.
* ''[[Savage Dragon]]'' did this early in his series when a girlfriend was killed.
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* In ''[[Sunshine (film)|Sunshine]]'', Mace's unkempt hair and stubbly beard represent his degrading morale. When he finally starts to buck up and take things seriously, he shows up clean-shaved, with a fresh buzzcut.
* Parodied in ''Superhero Movie''; with Rick's fake beard.
* [[Hancock]]'s [[Perma
* Inverted in ''[[Hostage]]''. Willis actually has a beard and unkempt hair BEFORE the sorrow.
* [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] ends up with a Beard of Imprisonment in ''[[Die Another Day]]'', one of the few times he's seen with any kind of facial hair on screen. (His ''[[Carpet of Virility|chest hair]]'', on the other hand...)
* ''[[Forrest Gump]]'' decided to just start running non stop after Jenny left him. He didn't care about anything besides running and as a result grew a long beard.
* Subverted in ''[[The Ring|Rasen]]'': Ando attempts to slash his wrist, but can't go through with it. Cut to him shaving for work.
* Lucius Malfoy sports some stubble on his otherwise aristocratic face after sharing his home with Voldemort in ''[[Harry Potter (film)|Harry Potter]] and the Deathly Hallows Part 1''. Either he's very worried about Draco, or he just misses "Snakey".
* ''[[Inception]]'': Cobb, although it may qualify more as a Stubble of Sorrow
* Mr. Rochester of the 2011 [[Jane Eyre]] film has one when {{spoiler|Jane goes back to him after she finds out that Thornfield burned to the ground and that Rochester's wife, Bertha Mason, is dead. It's unknown whether he grew the beard after Jane left him or after the fire, though.}}
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* {{spoiler|The recently widowed}} Inspector Lynley stops shaving and washing during his trek along the Cornish coast in ''Careless In Red''.
* [[Captain Blood]] goes through a period like this in the original novel when depressed after believing he's lost the love of his life:
{{quote|
* Inverted in [[The Way of Kings]], shaving the beard he grew as a slave is one small piece of Kaladin becoming a warrior once more.
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* ''[[Burn Notice]]'': In "Good Soldier", Michael Westen adopts the persona of an alcoholic and stops shaving.
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'': Nathan Petrelli in Season Two. General reaction among fans was [[Kill It with Fire]] - thankfully, it vanished after two episodes.
* When ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' {{spoiler|switches to methadone and becomes as happy as House can be,}} he shaves his [[Perma
* ''[[Lost]]'': {{spoiler|Jack}} at the end of the third season. The beard was massive, probably because it stood for alcohol ''and'' pills. [[Unfazed Everyman|Frank Lapidus]] of the Freighties also sported a beard, as he was busy drinking before being recruited. {{spoiler|He shows up again, relatively happier and clean-shaven in season five.}}
* ''[[The Office]]'': In the US series, Roy grows a Beard of Sorrow after Pam breaks up with him. This does involve alcohol (and a DUI). Later, reeling after his breakup with Angela, Dwight also rocks the depression stubble.
* At the beginning of the second season of ''[[24]]'', Jack has one as he is shown missing his wife and daughter and possibly contemplating suicide. It takes the killing and beheading of a peodophile to snap him out of it and reach for the razor.
* In ''[[Band of Brothers]]'', Don Malarkey has quite a scruffy beard, starting right after {{spoiler|two of his best friends get killed, and another has a [[Heroic BSOD]], in episode 7}}. It's not until episode 10 that he's shown clean shaven and (seemingly) happier.
* ''[[Scrubs]]'': Dr. Cox after {{spoiler|accidentally killing three patients}} spirals into a depression that involves drinking and growing a much heavier beard (as opposed to the [[Perma
** Also, {{spoiler|Eliot's boyfriend Sean}} grows an impressive beard in a minimal amount of time after he gets dumped, explaining to J.D. that he is part Bulgarian.
* Dr. Romano in ''[[ER]]'', after his {{spoiler|arm gets cut off by a helicopter blade.}}
* ''[[The Shield]]'': Actor David Rees Snell, who played "Ronnie Gardocki" on "The Shield", upgraded in his trademark moustache to a full-fledged beard in between seasons two and three of the series (largely to sidestep the issue of his character being brutally disfigured in season two by having a beard cover up where his scars were). The character shaved off the beard midway through season six, to please a new girlfriend of his, but after finding out that fellow Strike Team member Shane Vendrell had not only murdered Ronnie's friend Lem, and had exposed Vic and Ronnie's involvement in robbing several million dollars from a local crime syndicate's money laundering ring, the beard came back for revenge as Ronnie sought (unsuccessfully) to save himself from being destroyed by Shane and Vic's war.
* ''[[Titus]]''- In fact, taking time to shave was an indication that he was going sober.
* Used a few times in ''[[Rome]]'':
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** Brutus grows one after he kills Caesar. It goes away after he [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|cleanses himself in a river]] in slow motion.
** Lucius Vorenus grows a "mourning beard" after his wife dies. His friend Pullo grows one as well out of solidarity.
* ''[[Angel]]'' - Starting towards the end of Season 3 {{spoiler|after he gets his throat cut}}, Wesley, the formerly clean-shaven, glasses-wearing nerd loses his glasses, his boyish optimism, and his boyishly smooth cheeks. He kept it up for the rest of the series, too- this was The Stubble That Would Not Die. {{spoiler|According to the Season 6 comics, not even when its owner did.}} It was part of Wesley's character development, a visual aid to his [[Took a Level
* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'': In an alternate timeline, William T. Riker (who's already famous for [[Growing the Beard]]), captains the ''Enterprise''. In the timeline, the Borg have won, the United Federation of Planets has been destroyed and the ''Enterprise'' is one of the last few intact/unassimilated ships. As a result, he grows [http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Riker_gone_mad.jpg a beard of Leonidas-like proportions.]
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** There's a triple example during the New Caprica story arc. After the [[Time Skip]] humanity is doing pretty crappy and both Saul Tigh and Chief Tyrol sport big scruffy beards while Admiral Adama had a case of a ''[[Porn Stache|mustache]]'' of sorrow. They all lose their facial hair around the same time when the status quo is returned and they're able to leave the planet. Starbuck can also be said to have grown Long Hair of Sorrow during the same arc, while Apollo leaves his hair untampered with but has the Weight Gain of Sorrow to show his misery after {{spoiler|Starbuck leaves him, marries Anders, and she and Apollo stop being friends}}, both of which also go away quickly after they're back on ''Galactica''.
** Similarly, Gaius Baltar grows a beard during his trial after the events of New Caprica and loses it once he slips away into hiding.
** Tyrol again stops shaving after
* In an episode of ''[[Sledge Hammer!]]'', Sledge starts showing up to work looking disheveled and with unkempt stubble after the love of his life was stolen from him... that love being his gun of course.
* On ''[[Charmed]]'', after Phoebe rejects and divorces Cole, he grows a beard, goes insane, and attempts suicide only to discover that he's [[Nigh Invulnerable]].
* When ''[[Grey's Anatomy]]'''s [[Hospital Hottie|Dr McDreamy]] {{spoiler|became depressed about losing a patient, he went dark and twisty and retreated to the woods. While sitting in a lawn chair in front of his trailer, feeling [[Emo]] and contemplating giving up neurosurgery}}, his face acquired a startling amount of bush. {{spoiler|When he finally got his crap together, and was ready to go back to the hospital and propose to Meredith,}} the beard disappeared and quite a lot of viewers let out a sigh of relief; if not because {{spoiler|of the proposal and his return to work}}, then because Patrick Dempsey looks a lot cuter clean-shaven.
* Crichton at the start of ''[[Farscape]]'' season four.
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* Rob Fitch (Katie and Emily's dad) has one in series 4 of ''[[Skins]]'' {{spoiler|after the bank shut down his gym}}.
* Parodied in ''[[Weeds]]'' by Andy when Nancy {{spoiler|leaves to be with her Mexican gangster boyfriend}}. People keep commenting on it, and he eventually shaves it, after much hilarity.
* On ''[[That '70s Show]]'', Eric gets one after his {{spoiler|breakup with Donna. (Well, the first one.)}}
* In a sixth season episode of ''[[Medium]]'' Joe grows a Beard of Sorrow while Allison is in a coma. It's a pretty impressive beard, though it turns out to be a dream.
* Duncan near the end of the first season of ''[[Veronica Mars]]''. Unless he's actually entering the [[Beardness Protection Program]]
* [[Lampshaded]] in the season 3 episode of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', where {{spoiler|Ted}} grows a beard after breaking up with {{spoiler|Robin}}. Also played with, in that the beard only showed up for less than two minutes of screen time before it was shaved off, in stages, as he kept walking in and out of the bathroom to shave off portions of the beard between taking part in a group conversation in the living room. Each time he comes out of the bathroom, he is given a different name by his friends, including "Old Timey Inventor", "Our 21st President, Chester A. Arthur", and "Persian Nightclub Owner".
* Mulder of ''[[The X-Files]]'' grows one of these in times of stress, ranging from stubble in season 2 when Scully is missing to a full beard in the six-year interim between the end of the series and "I Want to Believe".
** Byers has very subtle one. In the episode "Three of a Kind", he has a dream sequence about living [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5YHT7TQ45k the American Dream]. At the begining of the dream he has a short and neat beard, but his beard becomes longer after his dream is shattered.
* Gibbs, after being blown up, and retires. Even if it is just a mustache
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* After going through a the events of ''[[Condemned]]: Criminal Origins'', main character Ethan Thomas went from being a clean cut Federal Agent to a bearded alcoholic transient transient by the time of the sequel. Considering the [[Nightmare Fuel|events of the game, I can't say I blame him.]]
* After getting {{spoiler|half his face toasted off and his mother killed}} at the end of Act 3, Snake spends the Act 4 Briefing of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 4'' with a stubbly jaw, although he's shaved it off by the time he becomes playable again.
* ''[[Heavy Rain]]'': After {{spoiler|his son Jason is hit by a car in the prologue,}} a formerly clean shaven Ethan Mars sports a beard for the rest of the game.
** He will shave it at the end of the game {{spoiler|if his other son Shaun is saved and he forgave Madison. He will appear beardless in a scene of the epilogue where he is looking for a new place to stay with Madison.}}
* Both [[Kane and Lynch]] games have Kane with one. He grows one in the first game's final act after {{spoiler|his wife is murdered by The7}} and he is forced to travel to Cuba to get revenge. He begins ''Dog Days'' with one after his daughter tells him to his face that she hates him and never wants to see him again.
* In the trailer for ''[[Gears of War|Gears of War 3]]'', Dom is shown with a heavy beard. This is likely due to the fact that {{spoiler|he was forced to mercy kill his wife in ''Gears of War 2''.}}
* [[Max Payne (series)|Max Payne]] has this in the upcoming third game, in addition to being fat and bald.
* Naked Snake does this in transition to becoming Big Boss in ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker]]'', in response to the events of Snake Eater.
** He did already have a beard, although it was less a "beard" beard and more [[Perma
* In ''[[Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories]]'', {{spoiler|Donald Love is seen with one after losing both the mayoral election and his empire}}.
* By ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' the default male Commander Shepard's perma-stubble has begun to evolve into one.
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* Steve from ''[[Questionable Content]]'' grows one after a break-up. He is also seen drinking heavily. He keeps it after getting better, albeit groomed instead of fluffy-lion mane.
* Indie Rock Pete from ''[[Diesel Sweeties]]'' can literally grow a beard ''as'' he is told depressing news.
* ''[[Something
* When Agatha [[Faking the Dead|fakes her own death]] in ''[[Girl Genius]]'', the mourning Gilgamesh Wulfensbach swiftly develops a [[Perma
* Dmitri from ''[[Dresden Codak]]'' grows one at the end of the [http://dresdencodak.com/2008/10/02/epilogue-2/ Hob storyline].
* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' Riff grows one of these after [https://web.archive.org/web/20170617173636/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=070828 exterminating the human race].
** It's slightly less bad than it sounds. And it's not *our* Riff.
* ''[[Ctrl+Alt+Del
* Subverted in ''[[Scary Go Round]]'' when Ryan shaves his beard in sorrow after Fallon breaks up with him.
* The page picture is taken from [https://web.archive.org/web/20100404065612/http://www.robandelliot.cycomics.com/archive.php?id=356 this] ''[[Rob and Elliot]]'' strip.
* Anthony Carver in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' grew a beard after Surma died (and sent Annie to the Court). He wasn't quite functional in dealing with people before, but after being left alone, he was [[Walking the Earth]] on some Court's errant (which may or may not have been a [[Snipe Hunt]], seeing how his presence tend to grate on the nerves of people, except his few childhood friends), using it to pursue his own - much more vague and crazy - purpose.
== Web Originals ==
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== Western Animation ==
* When [[Futurama|Bender]] ''stopped'' drinking, he developed a beard-shaped patch of rust. Fry occasionally develops a
* Homer Simpson of [[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]. He grew it over the course of one
** And Smithers, during the 'Who shot Mr. Burns?' plotline.
* Sol Butcher of [[Sons of Butcher]] has one of these in the pilot episode, and it reappears several times through the series. He actually refers to it as his "Alcoholic Beard".
* Being prepubescent, Aang of [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]] had to grow
* After [[The Venture Brothers]]' {{spoiler|first (onscreen)}} death, Dr. Venture grows such a beard while traveling around the world "finding himself".
** And Mr Incredible, the [[Reed Richards Is Useless]] [[Expy]] of Mr Fantastic grew one when his wife left him for Rusty's one-armed midget brother.
* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', Beezy manages to get stubble literally seconds after losing his [[Collector of the Strange|collection of chewed gum]].
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== Real Life ==
* A common symptom of depression is that sufferers stop caring for their appearance, so beards of sorrow are pretty common in [[Real Life]].
* Inverted by [[Alexander the Great]] who reputedly shaved off all his hair after the death of his lover Hephaistion. At the time, this was a standing custom.
* Vice President Al Gore gained weight and grew a scraggly beard after losing the Presidential Election in 2000. He was one of a handful of candidates to win the popular vote, yet not the office, so if he was kinda depressed for a while, it would be no surprise.
* There is a tradition of Popes growing beards when Rome is conquered.
* Archbishop Thomas Cranmer grew his beard as a sign of mourning after Henry VIII's death. Cranmer may have been the only person in England who was genuinely sorry Henry was gone.
* It is customary for Jewish men to not shave during the Shiva, the customary week of grief and mourning. Some actually extend this to a full month.
* Ladies and gentlemen, the Strike Beard; both [[David Letterman]] and [[Conan O'Brien]] developed impressive beards after vanishing from the air during the WGA strike. They didn't last long, but they made an impact. [[Stephen Colbert]], ''of course,'' parodied this by having a massive Rip van Winkle beard the first time he appeared after the strike.
* And after leaving ''[[The Tonight Show]]'', Conan [[Growing the Beard|grew the beard]] (though he kept the literal facial hair after being picked up for a new show by TBS).
* Many people noted that during the breakup of [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]] and the stress that resulted, [[Paul McCartney]] grew a beard, something he was not previously known to do (even when the other Beatles were experimenting with facial hair, McCartney was usually noticeably clean-shaven) and only rarely seen to do since. It was suggested that this trope might have something to do with it.
** In fact,
* Jim Morrison of [[The Doors]] grew a beard while in depression before he died. He was noted as taking heavy drugs and drinking a lot of alcohol, so the beard was just the finishing touch.
* [[Christian Rock|Christian singer/songwriter]] [[Steven Curtis Chapman]] has had a clean-shaven appearance for most of his career. He grew a beard for a while in 2008-2009, after the death of his youngest daughter that because the subject of his album ''Beauty Will Rise''.
* A standing custom in Roman times was to wear ragged clothing and stop shaving or cutting their hair to show mourning or to inspire pity when prosecuted.
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** M. Porcius Cato the Censor, who grew his beard during the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, and mourned every Roman citizen who died.
** This extends to myth as well. Charon, the Greek/Roman ferryman of the dead, is portrayed as being permanently dirty, disheveled and unshaven, since, as someone who always deals with the dead, he's in a constant state of mourning.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131109040255/http://www.urlesque.com/2010/06/07/sad-keanu-reeves-the-latest-image-meme/ Keanu Reeves is sad.]
* A former example - Gary Weddle of Ephrata, Washington is a high school teacher. After the events of [[The War on Terror|September 11, 2001]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20110506094057/http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news
* There's an old Italian custom; when a loved one has died, a man doesn't shave until the funeral.
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[[Category:Hair Tropes]]
[[Category:Sadness Tropes]]
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