Shirtless Scene: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

The most common form of [[Fan Service]] for women and gay men. A [[hunk]]y man (real or animated) goes shirtless or wears a revealing top that shows off his pectorals. Saves the crew a fortune in wardrobe (or ink) for [[Mr. Fanservice]].

"Beefcake" poses for male performers probably date as far back in human history as skimpy outfits for female performers. One of the standard props of certain kinds of "Strongman" performers in circuses and such is a "tear-away" shirt that can be pulled off during a performance and then easily sewn back together in between shows.

 

 

This trope is among the [[Always Male]] tropes because... [[Nipple-and-Dimed|well, you know.]]

 

See also [[Shower of Angst]], [[Slipknot Ponytail]], [[Man in a Kilt]], [[Wet Sari Scene]], [[Forging Scene]], [[After-Action Patchup]], and [[Lingerie Scene]]. If the character's [[Limited Wardrobe|everyday attire]] is conspicuously lacking a shirt, he would be a [[Walking Shirtless Scene]].

 

== Advertising ==

* The Diet Coke Hunk (from the infamous commercial featuring an office-full of women leering at a shirtless construction worker) is pretty much the epitome of this trope.

 

 

* Of course, the ultimate example of this trope has to be Kenshiro from ''[[Hokuto no Ken]]'', who manages to [[Clothing Damage|burn off his shirt]] by the power of [[Badass|sheer]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|awesomeness]] almost every episode, conveniently right before handing that episode's main villain [[Finishing Move|the beating of his life]], yet mysteriously always [[Magic Pants|re-acquires it]] in the following episode.

* Kouji Kabuto from ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' pulled this sometimes, specially late in the series (the episode where Erika showed up comes to mind). [[Mad Scientist|Dr. Hell]] also pulled this at the end of ''[[Mazinkaiser]]'' for seemingly no reason, and despite being a very old man.

* ''[[Shaman King]]'' villain Hao wears a poncho but he is shirtless.

** Faust goes through his introductory fight mostly shirtless, but bar [[Fetish Fuel|certain]] [[Creepy Sexy|demographics]], it's much more [[Squick]].

* The Captain from ''[[Hellsing]]'' has [[No Shirt, Long Jacket|no shirt on under his coat]], as revealed in the 82nd chapter.

* At one point in the later arcs of ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'', this particular trope becomes obsessive, affecting every [[Bishonen]] on the series and possibly merging with [[Yaoi Guys]] and getting to the point of [[Fan Disservice]] in some cases.

** Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, the general of the Gotei 13, invariably strips to the waist before using his shikai. For dramatic purpose this reveals an ungodly amount of scars, plus a more muscular figure than the protagonist has, despite being older than the latter's country of origin.

*** In the third movie, he literally jumps out of his shirt before delivering an attack.

** Zaraki gets to show off his chest when he {{spoiler|gives Ichigo one free attack before they fight. He's also stripped to the waist in the Hueco Mundo arc after fighting Nnoitora, or however his name is spelt.}}

*** He also shows up shirtless when he {{spoiler|Shows up to help fight Yammy.}}

* In ''[[Saint Beast]]'', Judas has a few, usually with water keeping it from being more than just shirtless.

 

* ''[[The Sandman]]'''s title character, goth pretty-boy Morpheus, frequently went shirtless. Indeed, one of his most frequently seen items of clothing is an ankle length robe that nevertheless exposes his skinny but toned midsection, allowing him to present the image of the authoritative King of Dreams while still providing the expected fanservice. And people think Sandman's biggest selling point was its sophistication.

** Not to mention that he's buck-naked in his first appearance.

* Neal Adams would draw [[Batman|Bruce Wayne]] shirtless in the cave, although he usually had a lot of bandages covering him. Additionally, Adams popularized the "pants and mask without a shirt, cape or belt" look.

** Neal Adams was also the first person to draw [[Batman]] villain Ra's Al Ghul, who is a [[Walking Shirtless Scene]] half the time. Naturally, the first Batman and Ra's fought, they were both shirtless.

 

== Films ==

*** The ''curse''. You mean "the ''curse'' of the missing shirts." [https://web.archive.org/web/20141214045703/http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/bum-reviews/13853-ep032].

** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''Eclipse'' when Edward and Bella meet Jacob, only to find that he had driven there shirtless, leading Edward to ask "Does that guy own a shirt?"

** Though saying that, he doesn't seem to mind Myrtle looking at him when he's underwater with her.

** Related: Daniel Radcliffe played a mentally atypical boy in the play ''[[Equus]]''. One scene calls for him to <s>ride a horse naked</s> strip onstage and stay that way until the end of the play.

* Tobey Maguire has gotten quite a few of these in the ''[[Spider-Man (film)|Spider-Man]]'' films.

** It's urban legend that Matthew McConaughey is contractually obligated to take off his shirt at least once during each movie.

** In ''Surfer, Dude'' he chose to be a [[Walking Shirtless Scene]].

* ''[[Help!]]'' has a scene in which [[The Beatles]], taking refuge in a bathroom, get attacked by a hand-dryer that conveniently sucks up most of their clothing, George's shirt in particular. And that's not even getting into the part where Paul shrinks and his clothes don't...

* Film and stage performers were doing the shirtless scene long before the invention of television. The ur-example of modern times has to be [[Clark Gable]] in the 1934 film ''[[It Happened One Night]]''. Gable's rugged good looks and rough charisma had already made him a star. Here, he is wearing the standard garb of an early 20th century middle-class male: white shirt, suit, tie, and fedora. When he "takes it off" in a motel room in front of Claudette Colbert, the audience learns that, beneath those mundane clothes, Gable is... not wearing an undershirt. Gable in an unbuttoned shirt with his buff, manly chest showing has been claimed to have caused sales of men's undershirts to crash in America. ([http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/gable1.asp Snopes] doubts it.) It allegedly took World War II and/or the acceptance of T-shirts as outerwear for the T-shirt industry to recover.

* Used to great effect in ''[[American History X]]''. In the flashbacks showing Derek Vinyard during his stay in prison and his time as a gang leader he is often shirtless or in a tank top to show off his Nazi tattoos. During the scenes set in the present and after his {{spoiler|renouncing of his Nazi ways}} he's always wearing a shirt that hides the tattoos, which combined with the different haircut and the usage of black and white in the flashbacks disassociate him from his past. After he tells his story and officially {{spoiler|rejects his former gang}} he steps out of the shower, the audience sees his tattoos and the disassociation is shattered, driving home the point that no matter what he does in the future he will always have been a skinhead, will always be that man and will always carry the scars of his past.

* The entirety of ''[[Cool Hand Luke]]''. Good Lord.

* [[Will Smith]]'s character Del Spooner in ''[[I, Robot (film)|I Robot]]'' has two which were a blessing to fangirls (and some boys) since he was in probably the best shape of his career. And don't even get this troper started on the [[Shower Scene]]...

* If it stars [[The Hangover|Bradley Cooper]], there will always be a reason for him to take his shirt off.

* The original ''[[Tron]]'' gives us [[Jeff Bridges]] taking his shirt off when he walks into his office with his best friend and his best friend's girlfriend (who also happens to be his ex-girlfriend). Other than "Flynn was really working up a sweat from playing video games," no explanation for shirtlessness is given.

** And given a [[Fan Service]] [[Shout-Out]] in the sequel when Alan shows up to tell Sam about the page. Of course, Sam does explain it by saying he smells "like jail." There's a second where the Armory Sirens [[Go-Go Enslavement|strip Sam to his shorts]] before fitting him with a gridsuit.

* ''[[Thor (film)|Thor]]'' gets a wonderfully long and gratuitous shirtless scene that made for great trailer fodder.

{{quote|'''Darcy:''' You know, for a crazy homeless person, he's pretty cut.}}

*** And don't forget Desmond being naked after the {{spoiler|hatch implodes}}... and who doesn't seem to know how to work his shirt buttons when he is wearing one, like Linc from ''[[Prison Break]]''.

* [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|the ''Battlestar Galactica'' remake]] features some truly spectacular ones, most notably Lee Adama's towel-dropping scene. Helo had a nice one late in season three.

** Apparently yet another favorite trope of actor [[Jamie Bamber]], who has a handful of these sprinkled across his TV appearances as well as in a print ad for PETA.

** Used dramatically in other as the elder Adama studies his surgical scar and (now healed) bullet wounds in the mirror.

* In the premiere episode of ''[[Melrose Place]]'', the first thing Billy does after moving in is to take his shirt off and Allison likes it.

* Jeff from ''[[Community]]'', and to a lesser extent the rest of the study group, have found themselves stipping down in some rather bizzare situations. Possibly the wierdest was being involved in a game of pool that to prove a point was being played naked.

* ''[[Lois and Clark]]'' had a few through the series. Clark once answered the door of his apartment wearing nothing but a [[Modesty Towel|towel]].

* On [[Soap Opera|soap operas]], male characters are [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkZeDYXyl2Y required to work out shirtless].

{{quote|Mink: (grinning)...Oolong got your shirt again.

Abel: BUGGERING HELL! }}

* The [[Show Within a Show|Manga In A Webcomic]] from ''[[Questionable Content]]'', ''[http://qcjeph.livejournal.com/107252.html Magical Love Gentleman]''.

* In ''Tiny Kitten Teeth'', Mewsli and Rapstallion get one starting [https://web.archive.org/web/20131017082524/http://www.tinykittenteeth.com/2009/03/13/more-regrets/ here.]

** Mewsli has another during the [[Beach Episode]], and is in fact the only one because everyone else is wearing [[Old-Timey Bathing Suit|Old Timey Bathing Suits]].

* ''[[Think Before You Think]]'' has one of these in Julia's [http://thinkbeforeyouthink.net/?comic=20090912-whipped-cream whipped cream fantasy], and again at later at [http://thinkbeforeyouthink.net/?comic=20100702 the beach].

* Walter and Izor whenever ''[[Dubious Company|the cast]]'' is on a beach. Walter even sings ''"I'm Too Sexy"'' at one point. ''[[British Stuffiness|Izor]]'', however, is less than amused.

** Fat Joe's infamous MTV beach concert.

* [http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/80sFreakLurker/Others/Shirtless.jpg This picture] of [[Robin Williams]] from [[The Seventies]]. Kinda a case of sexiness [[Values Dissonance]], at least for most people.

* In most college towns, you know it's spring when you see shirtless boys running about and if you're driving [[Distracted by the Sexy|being careful not the crash into something...]]

* The majority of modern gym classes in your average school will require students to change into a different uniform. While the uniform itself usually has a shirt, the boys will generally be shirtless for at least a little while changing.

* [[Manly Gay|Gay Pride parades]]

* During the 18th and 19th centuries when duelling was popular among gentlemen, some of them noticed that your chances of surviving a fight were better if you didn't get shreds of dirty cloth in your sword cuts or bullet wounds, so they would duel shirtless (and in at least one case, ''nude'').

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Always Male]]

[[Category:Partial Nudity Tropes]]

[[Category:Boys Love Tropes]]

[[Category:Turn-On Tropes]]

[[Category:Fanservice Scenes]]