Good Scars, Evil Scars: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''Deception. Disgrace.

 

You can easily tell heroes from villains by their scars.

 

 

Bad guys can also have fashionable scars to go [[Evil Makeover|show off their being evil]], which blurs the playing field a bit; more often than not they have big raised slashes (often running up the face, stopping just below the eye, then continuing from the eyebrow up) and mottled, discolored burns. They are not limited to one but may have two or three scars, or be [[Covered with Scars]]; they may have a [[Red Right Hand]] in the form of a missing eye or ear, missing teeth, or a large chunk out of the nose or chin. Anything they're missing might have an [[Artificial Limbs]] as a substitute, and in fact they might be so horribly scarred that they generally wear a mask over everything.

 

Compare [[Good Hair, Evil Hair]], [[Knuckle Tattoos]]. See also [[Scars Are Forever]], [[Mark of Shame]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* Juumonji, [[Delinquents]] turned American football lineman from ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'', has a cross-shaped scar on his face. Mamoru Banba also got several facial scars after his mysterious summer training. His father [[History Repeats|has a similar scar]].

* Good guy Mugen receives a scar (well, three parallel ones) on his cheek from an enemy with knuckle claws in the three-part finale of ''[[Samurai Champloo]]''.

** Bad guy Umanosuke, leader of the three brothers antagonizing Mugen, however, has a lidless left eye, apparently the inadvertent result of his encounter with Mugen. When his eyepatch comes off, revealing it, he becomes even more unbalanced than before.

** Okuyasu has a X-scar on his face, but while he is strong and can erase things with a swing of his right hand, he also is rather... lacking in the thinking department.

** And in ''Steel Ball Run'' (Part 7), [[President Evil]] Valentine has an American Flag scar on his back. Probably the main reason for him being a [[Villain with Good Publicity]] despite being an evil lunatic who (among many other things) forced himself onto a 14 year-old girl.

* Allen Walker, protagonist of ''[[D.Gray-man|D Gray Man]]'' has a scar through his left eye. He also has a [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|pentagram-shaped scar]] above that, both gotten from his father when young Allen accidentally had his deceased father turned into a demon. [[Justified]] in that the scar [[Cursed with Awesome|is a curse]] that lets him see the souls of [[The Heartless|Akuma]].

** Tyki has similar scars {{spoiler|for very similar reasons; Allen tried to remove the Noah from him, but only succeeded in waking it up.}}

** Also, the [[Big Bad]] of the first season, Gauron, has a deep gash of a scar down one side of his face.

* Fakir in ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' has a birth mark that is {{spoiler|supposed to be the scar of the Knight in a fairytale that was torn in two by a monster Raven--whom he is the reincarnation of}}. Of course, it's always hidden underneath his shirt. {{spoiler|Good guy, although the main heroine doesn't know that in the beginning.}}

** {{spoiler|It isn't. At the very beginning, it probably was, but after "Asuka Strikes!", there's [[Eyes Do Not Belong There|something]] far more gruesome under his right glove...}}

** The doujinshi [[RE-TAKE]] has {{spoiler|Future!Asuka discarding her plugsuit in the first issue}}. We're not shown what is underneath but her reflection in Shinji's eye shows numerous scars crisscrossing her torso.

* Anderson of ''[[Hellsing]]'' across his cheek. Odd, considering his [[Healing Factor]] (probably gained ''before'' his genetic upgrade to ultimate monster-killer).

** Above example confirmed by another Regenerator, {{spoiler|Heinkel}}. Calling it a scar is debatable, considering that {{spoiler|his/her left cheek and face was sliced open Jonah Hex-style and has stayed like that for ''30 years''}}, but it's still a permanent wound, so I suppose that it counts.

* Shiro Takamachi of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' has numerous scars all over his body from his [[Triangle Heart 3 ～sweet songs forever～|bodyguard days]] which we only catch a glimpse of when he takes a bath. He's also the kind and [[Open-Minded Parent|open minded father]] of Nanoha, a very [[Happily Married]] man, and definitely a good guy.

* Subverted somewhat in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' by Sergei Smirnov, a Russian lieutenant colonel with a facial scar fit for a Bond villain...who turns out to be one of the most sensible, intelligent, and humane characters in the show.

* ''[[Gundam]] UC'''s famous Char has a scar on his forehead received in a duel with Amuro. Though, Char's intentions are pretty ambiguous it's not really an indication for his alignment.

* In his first appearance, Duke Togo, aka ''[[Golgo 13]]'', had no scars. Over the course of the series, he's collected a great deal of them on his body. They're covered by clothing much of the time. As for morality, he's best described as [[True Neutral]] (you pay him, he does the job, no moral issues involved [[Contract on the Hitman|unless you double-cross him]]).

* Not ''entirely'' sure if this is a proper example or not, but here goes. Hinako Aikawa, female lead of ''[[Bitter Virgin]]'' has a scar on her stomach which is the result of a C-section. Hinako was a victim of [[Abusive Parents|sexual abuse]] to the extent that she got pregnant ''twice'' before the age of 16. We see it only twice in the course of the series.

* Mello (bad guy... [[Black and Grey Morality|well]], [[Evil Versus Evil|sort of]]) from ''[[Death Note]]'' gets a particularly nasty burn scar over half of his face from blowing up his own hideout to escape capture by the police.

** Amagiri, a morally ambiguous [[Anti-Villain]] generally kept one eye [[Eyes Always Shut|shut]], suggesting some kind of injury there (although he did open it occasionally]], and at the end of the first season, was seemingly killed in a fire. When he reappears in the interquels, he wears a large [[Eyepatch of Power|patch]] over that eye/general area and has lost all of the hair on his head, and has visible scars on his head and face.

** And if you were paying attention during Hei's [[Shirtless Scene]] in the second season ([[Even the Guys Want Him|And don't even try to pretend]] [[Memetic Sex God|you weren't]]), he has quite a few scars on his back. Definitely falls into the category of [[Anti-Hero]] scars.

* In ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', there's a strip known "Liet's scars". Three guesses as to what it's about. And since Lithuania is a good guy, he's able to hide them under his clothes. It's believed that at least some of these scars (which look like whipping marks) come from Russia's abuse, which has been somewhat hinted yet never confirmed in canon. But [[Fanon]] loves to assume it's true in an attempt to [[Ron the Death Eater|demonize Russia]] [[Sympathetic Sue|and woobiefy Lithuania]]).

** China has a single but very large scar on his back, {{spoiler|apparently given to him by Japan}}.

* In ''[[Franken Fran]]'', Fran Madaraki has a number of scars across her body, the most notable being a [[Glasgow Grin|Glasgow smile]]; they're actually still stitched, because she's a [[Frankenstein's Monster]]. Despite certain [[Literal Genie]] tendencies, she is committed to saving lives like a good doctor should. It's best not to ask what [[Body Horror|kind of life]] - what matters to her is that you're alive.

** Both [[Blade Below the Shoulder|Vero]][[Action Girl|nica]] and [[Ax Crazy|Gav]][[Blood Knight|rill]] have similar scars.

* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', Xanxus has scars all over his body that appear when his anger reaches its apex. He's the [[Big Bad]] for the second arc, and somewhat of a {{spoiler|[[Wild Card]] / [[Aloof Ally]] in the new arc}}.

* Gouda Kazundo, the villain of the second season of ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex|Ghost in The Shell Stand Alone Complex]]'' has a horribly scarred face. He deliberately kept the scar for its intimidation value, in spite of being a [[Hollywood Cyborg]].

* In ''[[Pumpkin Scissors]]'', the male lead Randel Oland has his ''entire body'' covered by horrific scars, some of which (if this was reality, or if he weren't [[Made of Iron]]) would have resulted in his immediate death. They serve as a physical mark of the horrors he's endured {{spoiler|as a member of the Invisible 9, the nonexistent (on paper, anyway) terror troops of the Empire}}. They're Good Scars though, as Randel himself is a [[Broken Hero]].

** The scars across his nose make him resemble a giant woobie teddy bear when he's not in the influence of the lamp. But when the lamp is working...

* The main hero Tetsunosuke in ''[[Peacemaker Kurogane]]'' received a scar under his right eye following his battle with Yoshida.

* In ''[[Until Death Do Us Part]]'', the [[Anti-Hero]] protagonist has a scar (technically multiple small scars) covering half his face from the {{spoiler|explosion}} that blinded him.

* Gorobei in ''[[Samurai 7|Samurai Seven]]'' has a large upside down Y-shaped scar on his left cheek, but it's never explained how he got it.

 

 

** Zato-Ino himself had his snout cut off in his first appearance, and has used a [[Red Right Hand|carved wood substitute]] since.

* John Gaunt, titular character of the series ''Grim Jack'', who had a classic villain scar to highlight his role as an [[Anti-Hero]].

* John Hartigan from ''[[Sin City]]'' has a distinctive good-guy scar in his forehead... yep, also in the shape of an "X", whereas the villainous Manute has a horrible glass eye {{spoiler|to replace the one that Marv ripped out of him in "A Dame to Kill For".}}

** Marv has plenty of his own scars, but he is a [[Anti-Hero|bad good guy]].

* Perhaps the most famous comic book "evil" example is [[Doctor Doom|Victor Von Doom]]. Accounts tend to vary, but the generally accepted story is that the experiment that blew up in his handsome face in his youth only caused a small scar. However, he was so vain that he [[Minor Injury Overreaction|chose to cover it up forever in a steel mask]]. The ironic thing is that he put the mask on while it was still hot from the forge, which ''really'' messed his face up, and made wearing the mask necessary.

* In issue 200 of ''[[Hellblazer]]'', protagonist John Constantine received a single 'good scar' vertically upward on his left cheek.

** His face has been repaired numerous times, almost always resulting in the dominance of the "good" personality. Sometimes he's coincidentally scarred again, resulting in the return of Two-Face; other times, he's unable to keep his dark half at bay and symbolically scars himself when he gives in to his evil impulses. Only once has an unscarred face resulted in the disappearance of the good side.

*** In ''[[The Dark Knight Returns]]'' his face is fully restored, but the process destroys the good half of his personality.

** The same can be said for [[Batman]] himself as he is covered in scars from his many battles, but they are usually only shown when he talks about them or shows them to someone.

* Avoided in ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'': Good guy Ferro Lad's face is so scarred that he wears a mask at all times.

** Also from [[The DCU]] is Lord Havok, an [[Alternate Company Equivalent]] version of Dr. Doom.

*** An alternate version of Lord Havok is kind of borderline. Not only are his actions ultimately for the good of mankind, but his deformities (underdeveloped limbs and a disfigured face) are much more pathetic than anything else. However, he hides these disabilities behind a suit of "smart metal" and an impressive array of weaponry. He also utterly destroyed his homeland of Russia... to get back at his father, the Czar, for [[Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas|killing his mother]].

* Oubliette, the daughter of villain Doctor Midas in [[Grant Morrison]]'s ''Marvel Boy'', wears a mask to hide her facial scarring; the Evil Scar trope is subverted after {{spoiler|she rebels against Midas, then it's revealed that her face is normal, except for a rather clean fencing scar her father gave her.}}

* Jigsaw from ''[[The Punisher]]''. Guess how he earned his nickname. Making it worse is that he was previously renowned as incredibly handsome.

* ''[[Y: The Last Man|Y the Last Man]]'': Other Beth has a scar running across the bridge of her nose, presumably an impact injury from her plane crash. And Hero's mastectomy scar is a permanent reminder to her of the atrocities she committed as a Daughter of the Amazon.

** Speaking of Deadpool, there's DC's Deathstroke (Slade Wilson, inspiration for the aforementioned DP), missing his right eye which puts him in [[Red Right Hand]] territory. On the other hand, he does keep the socket covered 100% of the time, which could be why no one can seem to agree if he's a villain or a good guy (though no one would stretch to call him a hero).

* [[Preacher (Comic Book)|Preacher's Herr Starr]] is, by the end of the series, lacking one eye, one ear, one leg, his genitals, and has a scar on his bald head that makes him a walking penis joke. The eye scar is particularly ominous.

* Perfect Storm from ''[[X-Men Forever]]'' has a huge scar that came right across her face and between her eyes as a result of {{spoiler|Kitty slashing her across the face in retaliation for Storm killing Logan.}}

* [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Darca Nyl]], patron saint of [[Good Feels Good]], is absolutely ''[http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/2961/blz26.jpg covered]'' in scars of the good and evil varieties, including [http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1002/blz47.jpg some on his back], souvenirs of his old mercenary life. In some scenes they're de-emphasized.

* [[Hawkman|Fel Andar]], the [[Continuity Snarl|fake Hawkman]], has a generic evil slash scar over one of his eyes.

* Flynn "Flyin'" Ryan from ''[[Steelgrip Starkey And The All-Purpose Power Tool]]'' is a Vietnam War veteran with a scarred "R" in his forehead. It was done out of defiance when he and his fellow prisoners were ordered to make an anti-American propaganda video.

 

 

** Remus Lupin is often depicted as having scars in Fanfiction. This is probably because the movie version had two diagonal scars across his face, although whether Lupin also has other scars depends on the fanfic writer.

* In the ''[[Total Drama Island]]'' fanfic ''[[Keepers of the Elements]]'', Radcliffe has a pretty evil-looking scar under his left eye which he got, courtesy of [[Beware the Nice Ones|Aideen]]. Never mess with the [[Playing with Fire|Fire Keeper]] indeed.

* In ''[[Platoon]]'', Sgt. Barnes has a nasty scar that zig-zags all up and down the right side of his face.

* In ''[[Quantum of Solace]]'', [[Bond Girl]] Camille Montes has a burn scar given to her by the film's [[Big Bad]]. It's a reminder of her desire for revenge, but is usually not in sight to diminish her ravishing good looks.

* It is implied that V from ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' is covered in burns he received from his escape of the concentration camp. He normally wears a full-body outfit as well as gloves and a mask to cover himself, but his scarred hands are briefly seen when he cooks breakfast.

* Grenouille, the [[Villain Protagonist]] of ''[[Perfume]]'' bears a number of scars from his life as a tanner's apprentice. His brutish master is covered in them, giving him a monstrous appearance.

* Lila Lash, the evil landlady from ''[[The Sinful Dwarf]]'', has a big nasty scar on her cheek to signify her villainy.

* There is an intermission in the 1961 film ''[[El Cid]]'' which corresponds to Rodrigo's years of exile from the Spanish court. When we first see him after the story resumes, the formerly clean-shaven hero has acquired a [[Expository Hairstyle Change|gray-streaked beard]] and a scar that runs diagonally from beneath his right eye to his jawline.

* Bad guys Gunn and Miss Poinsettia start to compete for the nastiest scar in ''[[The Return of Swamp Thing]]''.

* Let's not forget ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'' where The Basterds carved scars into the Nazis they captured and kept alive.

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'''s famous 'lightning bolt' shaped [[Achey Scars]]. It's easily covered up by his bangs. A magical quill in the fifth book gives Harry another scar, this one on the back of his hand, the words "I must not tell lies" in his own handwriting, from writing those words, over and over again, in his own blood during detention.

** In ''Deathly Hallows'', he acquires two new scars {{spoiler|in the same scene: a round one in his chest where Hermione [[Shirtless Scene|had to cut out]] the locket-Horcrux that had stuck to his skin, and two snake-bite marks on his arm.}}

* Semi-averted in [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''The Curse of [[Chalion]]'': good guy Cazaril has both hands permanently damaged by his time as a galley slave, as well as scarring all over his back (hidden by his shirt) from a near-fatal flogging at the tail end of same. However, other characters perceive these as evil scars, since similar floggings are meted out to rapists and paedophiles. This causes him a bit of bother when he has to use a public bathhouse.

** Also averted in the [[Vorkosigan Saga]]. Aral Vorkosigan's L-shaped dueling scar on his cheek adds to his rather thuggish appearance, while his son Miles not only bears an assortment of surgical scars from the piecemeal (emphasis on ''piece''es) replacement of his brittle bones with synthetics but retains one from a needle grenade to the chest that nearly cut him in half.

** Death's granddaughter Susan also has some Good Scars, in the form of three thin, white marks on her cheek that only show up when she's flushed or angry. She inherited them from the slap that her father received from Death.

*** He's pretty scarred up all over from years of chasing guys with names like "Knuckles" across rooftops, something that {{spoiler|Rosie Palm}} brings up while deducing his profession.

* In the ''[[James Bond (novel)|James Bond]]'' novels by Ian Fleming, James Bond is often described as having a scar down his right cheek. However, in [[The Film of the Book|the movies based on the books]], this scar had mysteriously vanished.

** Star Captain Trent also subverts this, as despite being horribly scarred by an Inferno Missile on Tukayyid he is one of the few remaining high ranking Smoke Jaguar warriors who clings to the old ways and tries to remain divorced from the petty politics with the clan, going on to deliver to the Inner Sphere forces the location of the clan homeworlds. Much of the skin on one half of his body (including a large part of his face) has been replaced and is obviously artificial as it is a bit more translucent than normal skin should be.

* Firesong from the ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' series by [[Mercedes Lackey]] gets seriously burned across his face by a magical explosion. He gets somewhat depressed about it, since he was the most attractive guy in his whole clan before, and wears a mask, but definitely remains a good guy.

** Ibram Gaunt also bears a multitude of scars from various injuries sustained in the line of duty. A particularly impressive scar runs across his stomach, which he received {{spoiler|from his uncle Dercius}} in a chainsword duel to avenge his father's death.

* Scarred heroes in urban fantasy/romance is extremely common. Usually the scars aren't disfiguring and may be a wild turn-on for the scaree's love interest. In J.R. Ward's ''Black Dagger Brotherhood'' series, almost every male main character is covered in scars. Zsadist in particular has a nasty ''S''-shaped scar cutting across his face.

* ''[[Watership Down]]''. In the warren-dictatorship of Efrafa scars are used to identify which 'mark' (section of the warren) you belong to (as the protagonists are rabbits who obviously don't carry identity cards). After his climactic fight with the [[Big Bad]] Bigwig has so many scars it's joked the Efrafans wouldn't know which mark to put him into, as he's got them all.

* Any number of characters in ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' books are scarred, to differing degrees. The main character (Rand), in fact, recently {{spoiler|lost a hand}}, and {{spoiler|Mat has had one of his eyes ripped out Towers of Midnight}}. The author is also fond of showing a character's battle experience with scars- one even has a missing eye, which he has replaced with a patch painted to show a horrifically scowling eye (and if you make him mad enough, his real eye will match it). Another has a nasty scar around his [[The Man They Couldn't Hang|neck]], which he covers as best he can with scarves and so on.

* In the ''[[Nightrunner]]'' series, good guys Seregil and Micum have scars aplenty, but in places that can be hidden under clothing. By contrast, the evil Duke Mardus has a big scar across his otherwise handsome face.

** Seregil and Alec acquire many more scars in ''Shadows Return''. This trope is also averted there {{spoiler|when they get their slave marks painfully removed.}}

** Beka also acquires several scars "all in the front". Well, since she's a soldier, [[Action Girl]], Micum's daughter and more or less Seregil's "niece"...

** He was born deformed and that's what he's covering up, not scarring...

** In some of the movies it's actually an acid burn, so it counts.

* In P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'', heroine Jame picks up a classic Good Scar in book 3 (vertical below the left eye).

* Subverted with Carnival of Alan Campbell's ''[[Deepgate Codex]]'' series. Her entire body is covered in knife scars {{spoiler|most of which are self-inflicted}}, and she also has a thick rope burn around her neck {{spoiler|which is the sole physical remnant of [[Abusive Parents|her father's abuse]]}}. Characters who are close to her often remark that she is beautiful in spite of (and even because of) these scars, and that they show {{spoiler|that she really is a kindhearted person despite her horrible reputation}}.

* Dodge from ''[[The Looking Glass Wars]]'' has a few of these running parallel to each other across one side of his face from getting bitch-slapped by The Cat as a child.

* [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Garik_Loran Face Loran], a Wraith from the [[X Wing Series]], has an interesting take on this trope. He was a child actor, and in ''Wraith Squadron'' is said to be quite attractive if not for the raised, puckered scar that went from his left forehead, across the bridge of his nose, and onto his left cheek. In the numerous disguises he took, he always had to either hide it or incorporate it into the disguise, like when he was masquerading as General Kargin, a pirate with "horrible burn victim makeup". He could have had it removed with a simple, if pricey, bacta treatment, but he thought of it as a reminder of what he'd done - he'd acted for Imperial propaganda, unwittingly helping the cause. After Ton Phanan's {{spoiler|death}} and explanation that he could not keep punishing the child he'd been, he did have it removed, but for some time wore a fake scar in the same place.

* Subverted hard in ''[[Indigo|Aisling]]'': the witch Niahrin, an unequivocally good character, has massive, grotesque, sickly-pale scars distorting the left side of her face.

* Played with in [[Dean Koontz]]'s Frankenstein series. Deucalion, the original Frankenstein's monster, has horrific scarring across half of his face, as well as the expected patchwork scars. He's a good guy, but he's also ''Frankenstein's monster'', and he is still subject to murderous rages.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** [[Mirror Universe]] [[Star Trek: Enterprise|Tucker]] had scars/burns from delta radiation due to that universe's less-that-safe warp technology. The scars were an [[Shout-Out|homage]] to "The Menagerie", where Captain Pike was crippled and badly disfigured by the same type of radiation.

* Alternate-future Peter of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' has a pretty evil-looking scar that runs the length of his face between his eyes (despite being able to completely heal any wound instantly). But he's an [[Anti-Hero]] in that timeline, so he can get away with it.

** It's also possible that Alternate!Peter never met Claire and therefore can't heal, or that he got the scar before meeting her.

** Or he may have deliberately not healed it, since (at least at the beginning of the episode) he is deeply embittered and apathetic about the possibility of changing anything by using powers.

* Exception: in ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander: The Series]]'', Kronos, probably the most megalomaniacal [[Card-Carrying Villain]] immortal out there (and leader of the [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Four Horsemen]]), has a classic good guy scar: a single line, clean, starting above his eye and ending below it without damaging the eye itself.

* John Locke of ''[[Lost]]'' has a scar over his right eye that he received during the plane crash.

* Several characters on ''[[Boardwalk Empire]]'': {{spoiler|Pearl's}} face is slashed by a gangster in an act of revenge, in direct violation of [[Beauty Is Never Tarnished]], and she {{spoiler|is [[Driven to Suicide]] over it}}. Richard Harrow, shown in a dream sequence to be quite handsome, lost nearly the entire left side of his face in [[WWI]], causing him to wear a rather unsettling painted mask, held in place with glasses. Al Capone is also scarred ([[Shown Their Work|accurate to real life]]) as a result of a bar fight, although [[Phony Veteran|he claims they're from the war]]. He's the most 'evil' of the three, but the most mildly scarred, and he doesn't seem to mind it anyway, sarcastically saying that he's "still beautiful."

* Sharaz Jek in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''The Caves of Androzani'' wears a mask and rubber suit to hide massive scarring all over his body.

* An UnSub in ''[[Criminal Minds]]'', Goehring, has a scar under his eye that stretches horizontally along the natural wrinkles in his face. {{spoiler|In an attempt to take Goehring's place after his suicide, Frost intentionally duplicates the scar.}}

* The character Elsa from ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder]]'' has a 'bad' black, stitched scar from her lip down her chin. Ironically, it looks quite a bit like a 'good' scar and doesn't make her ugly in any way.

== Professional Wrestling ==

* When a wrestler bleeds from the forehead, it is typically the result of "blading", the practice of hiding a razor blade in your wristbands or taped wrists, and secretly pulling it out to cut yourself during a match to "sell" a particular attack as especially vicious. Many wrestlers who frequently blade, such as Dusty Rhodes, Brother Ray and Brother Devon of Team 3D, and "Hardcore" Wrestlers, sport very noticeable puffy scar tissue on their foreheads, indicating they are frequent bladers. This typically garners them huge respect among "hardcore" fans.

* Barago in the Japanese series Garo has an x shaped scar across his face...and he is evil.

 

*** From the same game, Red XIII / [[My Name Is Not Durwood|Nanaki]] mentions his many battle scars at one point when Cloud and company are discussing the mysterious men in the Black Cloaks and what [[Mad Scientist|Professor Hojo]] might have done to them.

** Basch, a good guy from ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'', has a non-disfiguring scar on his forehead which he received during his wrongful imprisonment.

** Auron, a major good guy from ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', has a vertical scar running down one side of his face over his eye. It's a bit more disfiguring than the other [[Final Fantasy]] examples listed, and includes some damage to the eye itself (mostly hidden behind dark glasses), but is still recognizably a hero scar.

* Argilla in ''[[Digital Devil Saga]]'' has a small scar across one eye, probably to offset the cuteness of her pink hair.

**** In addition, he made a [[Heel Face Turn]], choosing to be a [[Worthy Opponent]] rather than a [[Rival Turned Evil]], way back in ''[[Street Fighter Alpha]] [[Prequel|Alpha]]'', which retconned his appearance in SFII as not actually working for Bison after all. Going back to Dan's dad, Dan coming after Sagat for revenge was what caused him to realize his hatred was destroying him and led him to his [[Heel Face Turn]] in the first place.

** On the good scar side, Cammy's manages to make an overly muscular woman downright ''adorable''.

* The most over-the-top example this editor can think of is Darth Sion (appropriately called the Lord of Pain) in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]]''. Early in the game, a medical officer reports several THOUSAND fractures in his skeleton. Combined with that creepy music and the general dark nature of the game, it'll send chills down your spine.

** Doubly creepy later on when it becomes obvious that these injuries and scars are all self-inflicted; it's implied that Sion has mastered using pain as a source of power the way most Sith Lords use anger and passion; it would seem to work, he's effectively immortal unless {{spoiler|someone convinces him that letting go and allowing his body to die is preferable to his existence.}}

** ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' [[Downloadable Content]] character Zaeed Messani is scarred on the entire right side of his face, with a deep evil scar gouge crossing his whitened eye as a souvenir from {{spoiler|being ''shot in the head at point blank range''}}. He's definitely [[Villain Protagonist|not what you'd]] [[Sociopathic Hero|call heroic]].

** This is a bit of a weird example because he's not an organic being, but your geth team-mate [[Badass Automaton|Leg]][[Mind Hive|ion]] was left with a horribly disfiguring gaping hole in his chest after being shot by a heretic geth sniper. This might count as an evil scar if he was an organic life-form, but he's actually one of the nicest characters in the game.

** The Boss also has an impressive scar on her abdomen {{spoiler|from a C-section}}.

** It's said that [[Ax Crazy|The]] [[Sociopathic Hero|Fury]] has burn scars on over 90% of his body, but not his face.

** Also in ''Apollo Justice'': {{spoiler|Kristoph is revealed to have a ''Skull'' shaped scar on the back of his hand.}}

*** {{spoiler|Actually, only the 'mouth' of the 'skull' is a scar. The rest is him stretching his hand.}}

* Baiken, of the ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' series, lost her right arm and an eye when she was a little girl, leaving her a good character with Evil Scars.

* Gato, a morally conflicted but typically antagonistic character of ''[[The King of Fighters]]'' series, has three large, parallel scars on his back, apparently the result of a bear attack. The scars are typically covered up by his shirt.

** Geese Howard, following the events of the original ''[[Fatal Fury]]'', has a nasty scar on his back, received when he was thrown off the top of Geese Tower. He shows it off in his intro pose.

** However, conversation options reveal that [[I Call Him "Mister Happy"|at least one part of him]] is (against all odds) completely intact.

* Vaida, the [[Broken Bird]] from ''[[Fire Emblem]]'', has a huge scar over the left side of her face. She starts out as a villain, but your Lord can [[Heel Face Turn|make her join their side]], and her supports reveal that she's no softie but ''does'' have feelings, as well as a fierce loyalty to those she cares for.

*** Let's not even get started on Oguma's X-shaped scar on his cheek...

** Interestingly, Zihark from Path of Radiance has one on his right cheek; literally the only good guy that has one (even though they all fight every other day!).

* Shiki of ''[[Tsukihime]]'' has a large scar on his chest from {{spoiler|being stabbed and killed by the eventual [[Big Bad]]}}, normally hidden from sight by his shirt.

** In another [[Nasuverse]] example, Shirou of ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' has a burn scar on one of his shoulders that he got while working at his part-time job. It's normally covered by his shirt, although it [[Informed Deformity|doesn't actually show up in any of the CGs where he's shirtless]]. Huh.

* Rikimaru, playing character from ''[[Tenchu]]'', sports a scar over the right eye.

* ''[[Gaia Online]]'' has at least three examples, two straight, one subverted (maybe).

** Edmund shows the classic Good Scar: an X on his forehead.

* The younger Sub-Zero from ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' got a scar running from above his eye downwards between ''[[Mortal Kombat 2]]'' and ''[[Mortal Kombat 3]]''. As the series progressed, he became [[Legacy Character|a substitute for his older brother]] and became much more heroic.

* Sergei Dragunov from ''[[Tekken]]'' has several scars, his most notable being the one that runs through his lips and down his chin. He also sports one across his nose, and, if one opts to make him shirtless via customization in ''Tekken 6'', it can be seen that he sports numerous ones over his torso and arms, including a bullet wound on his left shoulder. He isn't exactly a bad guy, but he is at least morally ambiguous.

** Also, Raven has a large X-shaped scar across the middle of his face.

** Steve Fox has a very large, raised scar that runs pretty much the entire length of his arm.

** Marshall Law, in the later games, has three claw-marks that run across his chest, although this is clearly a nod to [[Bruce Lee Clone|Bruce Lee's famous scars]] in ''[[Enter the Dragon]]''.

** Lars Alexandersson has two facial scars: one through his left eyebrow, and one on his cheek.

* ''[[The Witcher]]'' both plays this straight and subverts it. On the one hand, the hero Geralt has the stylish rugged variety of scars, notably a large scar which crosses over (but does not damage) his left eye. However, fellow Witchers also have scars, and while most are also of the rugged variety, [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080923012432/witcher/images/8/86/People_Eskel_full.png Eskel] has a truly horrific scar completely covering half of his face, though he is a good guy (well, as [[Grey and Gray Morality|close to good as it gets]] in this world, anyway). In the upcoming sequel, both bad guys have extensive scars. The 'Kingslayer' has scars crisscrossing his whole head, it almost looks as though someone tried to scalp him but didn't get the job done. The leader of a rebel band of elves, Ioerth, has a very large scar covering half of his face, which apparently destroyed one eye. He covers the scar with a [[Nice Hat|special hat]] that covers part of his face.

* [[Sky Pirate|Vyse]], the main character of ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' has a neat little scar under his left eye. In [[Updated Rerelease|Legends]], it is explained he received it via a knife thrown by {{spoiler|Piastol, AKA the Angel of Death, when they were younger.}}

** Played Straight: Arikos's scarred and blinded eye, earned just after his arrest when [[Hoist by His Own Petard|one of his children scars him up to prevent him from using any powers gained from running the cult he engineered as a ploy to have said children]]. Apparently charisma is a big component of Celeste magic.

* Vaelia, a female gladiator from ''[[Drowtales]]'' has a three-clawed, down-from-the-eye scar.

* Nimmel in ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'', who lost his right eye and a good part of his face during an infernomancer attack. It's subverted here, because the scar is very nasty to look at.

* In ''[[Misfile]]'' Xaphrael has a large scar up the side of his face and crossing his eye. This type of scar can be good or bad, so let's check the tropes: [[Large Ham|Hammy entrance]], [[Cryptic Conversation|Cryptic and vaguely threatening conversation]], [[Manipulative Bastard|concealment of a crime that he has the main characters bang to rights on]], [[Hidden Agenda Villain|evasion of direct questions]], [[Kick the Dog|threatening to choke to death]] the resident [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]] using his [[A Sinister Clue|left hand]]. Yep, those would be [[Big Bad|evil scars]].

* Subverted (probably) by Hakelda in ''[[Reliquary]]'', who has rather nasty-looking scars disfiguring her left side (including the face), but who seems to be the sweetest of the cast so far.

* In ''[[Shadowgirls]]'', a Slaad got the drop on Becka, slashing her back. This has left three parallel scars on her lower back, which is even retained in her shadowform, and the fused Shadowchild. They even appear on the [[The Merch|Shadowchild figure]]! Also, Lindsey's battle with {{spoiler|a non-sparkling vampire}} left her with a scar on her left cheek.

* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', black and white royals had scars over their eyes as a result of [[It Makes Sense in Context|a sylladex accident with a harlequin]]. The only remaining after serial regicide and impromptu abdications is usurper unmistakably evil Jack Noir, whose counterpart Spade Slick has a coincidental matching scar over his eye. And then there's a [[Monster Clown]] who [[Self-Mutilation Demonstration|carved his own face with his attacker's weapon]].

* In ''[[Minion Comics]]'' the primary evil villain, Von Gernsbach, has a face covered in sinister-looking scar tissue.

** Blood Boy could also count as an extreme example, as well. He covers a heavily mutilated face with a mask. And he's also fairly [[Ax Crazy]].

* Oran of ''[[Broken Saints]]'' fame has the common vertical eye (or "tear") scar, made in his youth during an attack from American bombers in the first Gulf War. Early on in the series, he gives his childhood friend Hassan one to match whilst suffering from cabin fever and copious amounts of guilt.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

** Later Aang gets {{spoiler|both a scar on his back and foot from being hit by Azula's lightning bolt}}.

** Even later {{spoiler|Zuko gets ''another'' scar on his chest from a partially screwed-up lightning re-direction when [[Taking the Bullet]]}}.

* ''[[The Legend of Korra]]'': Chief Bei Fong, [[Spin Offspring|Toph's daughter]] and head of the Republic City [[Extra Ore Dinary|metalbending police force]], has two thin scars resembling claw marks on her right cheek. Interestingly enough, despite her parentage and the "good" nature of her scar - which only makes her look badass and in no way takes away from her attractiveness - she seems to be shaping up as a sort-of antagonist, sometimes helping Korra, sometimes not.

* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|General Reginald Peter Skarr]] from ''[[Evil Con Carne]]'' has the standard lightning-bolt 'evil' kind coming down from his right eye. Oddly enough, unlike most versions of this trope, he is actually blind in that eye. [[All There in the Manual|According to the 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' text in the opening credits]], he got the scar from running with scissors.

* Naturally, ''[[The Lion King]]'' villain [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Scar]] has a large vertical scar across his left eye.

** Later inverted in ''[[The Lion King]] 2'', where Kovu gains a scar identical to Scar's during his [[Heel Face Turn]], which functions as a symbol of everything he's pledged not to become. And invoked when the animals treat it as a Mark Of Evil anyway.

* ''[[Gargoyles]]'' good guy Hudson has a long scar down his face. His is particularly striking in that gargoyles wouldn't normally scar, as they heal each night when they enter stone sleep. {{spoiler|Hudson's scar was given to him by the Archmage, making it magical damage, thus likely why it did not heal--though it could also be that if such maiming damage "settles" it might not heal properly.}}

** On the other hand, the original (and villainous) Hunter, Gillecomgain, had three scars across his face, and while most Hunters of future generations are not so badly scarred, the masks they wear pay homage to their progenitor.

* Dr. Blight from ''[[Captain Planet and the Planeteers]]'' looks perfectly normal ([[Evil Is Sexy|and in fact hot]])... until she moves the fringe covering the side of her face, revealing a severely scarred face.

* Given that Transformers can be repaired perfectly even if they're missing large parts of their body, scars are pretty unnecessary. However, ''[[Transformers Armada]]'' Wheeljack retains the long scar across his Autobot symbol from the accident that led to his [[Face Heel Turn]]. However, it's also possible he made the scar himself ''after'' the accident, so it might not count.

* It was not uncommon for members of the German aristocratic and military classes to boast [[Dueling Scar]]s as a sign of badassness. Some even scarred themselves, or encouraged the growth of scar tissue after a less serious injury, to get what we'd now call 'street cred'. The most famous scarred German was probably [[wikipedia:Otto Skorzeny|Otto Skorzeny]], an Obersturmbannführer in the Waffen-SS who after the war created his own private paramilitary force which he hired out to countries like Spain and Argentina.

** These ''Smites'' are often a result of [[wikipedia:Academic fencing|Academic fencing]].

** Tommy Flanagan, a Scottish character actor, has a genuine [[Glasgow Grin|Glasgow smile]] that's gotten him cast as an easily-identified [[Badass]] in movies like ''[[Braveheart]]'' (where he plays the husband who [[Curb Stomp Battle|demolishes]] the English lord who [[Berserk Button|slept with/raped his wife on their wedding day]]).

** Also Adrian Pasdar, who got cast as [[Magnificent Bastard|shark]] [[Face Heel Revolving Door|politician]] Nathan Petrelli on ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', and [[Sociopathic Hero|Jim]] [[Manipulative Bastard|Profit]] in Profit. Has a giant scar on his jaw from a car accident as a teen.

** As mentioned above, [[James Marsters]] has a scar in his left eyebrow (the result of a beating he received while being mugged) which was incorporated into the "look" of his character, Spike, on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''.

* Some cultures engage in ritual scarification, sometimes making patterns out of scars specifically made for decoration.

** It was long rumoured that this was the cause of the scars that British singer Seal has on both his cheeks. The real cause was actually an illness that he had as a teen, but that doesn't stop a lot of people from assuming a more "bad-ass" reason for them.

* The model and hostess of the ''[[Top Chef]]'' reality show, Padma Lakshimi, has a relatively straight seven-inch scar on her arm from a car crash. Given the industry she works in, she stated many times that she's unfazed from having it. Some pictures of her from her modeling days actually have it in the spotlight instead of editing it out, which is a great example of averting [[Double Standard|double standards]] for beauty.

* Chang Apana, the real life inspiration for [[Charlie Chan]], had a scar on his eye from a sickle wielded by a man he was trying to arrest.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Red Fish Blue Fish]]

[[Category:Goodness Tropes]]

[[Category:Obviously Evil]]

[[Category:Good and Evil For Your Convenience]]

[[Category:Scar Tropes]]