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{{trope}}
{{quote|"''They all wore uniforms, although since no two uniforms were exactly alike they were not, in fact, uniform and [[Dissimile|therefore not technically uniforms.]]''"
|'''[[Terry Pratchett]]''', ''[[Going Postal (Discworld)|Going Postal]]''}}
Characters who are meant to stand out in some way in a military, school or other place will wear a "uniform" that is different from everyone else. This is separate from rank although it may be implied that they're too [[Badass]] for anyone to complain. Also different from a practical reason to be dressed different such as fireproof clothing for a [[Playing
This may also be a reason for most cop shows to center on plainclothes detectives instead of uniform officers, as even high-ranking brass on the detective side only wear uniforms under specific circumstances.
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Often the reason behind this is to get [[Distinctive Appearances]] for any characters of importance.
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[
* In spite of being employed by and holding a rank in the state military, Edward Elric in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' is not required to wear a military uniform, instead traveling in a distinctive [[Badass Longcoat|red coat]]. The Amestrian military also seems more than fairly lenient when it comes to how its officers wear their hair.
** May or may not have to do with if the alchemist in question is currently serving a literal military role. For example: Armstrong and Mustang, while they are intelligent and may do their own research, are generally shown to be involved in military operations and missions, while others such as Edward Elric and Shou Tucker don't regularly wear uniforms (at least on screen in the latter case) and typically engage more in research activities for the military rather than battle.
*** Also, would the military even have [[Teens Are Short|teenager-sized]] uniforms?
*** You mean [[Berserk Button|tiny micro bean-sized uniforms]]?
* In ''[[
* ''[[Ranma
** Ranma never wears a school uniform in either the manga or the anime, unless it's a ''girl's'' uniform as part of a plot to manipulate Kuno, or a disguise to fool Ryouga. (It's worth noting that the boy's uniform for his school seems to be simply a white shirt with black slacks, which he ''does'' wear, just in the Chinese style rather than the western.)
** In the same series, Tatewaki Kuno doesn't wear a school uniform, either. Ukyo Kuonji sometimes does, but it's the boy's uniform from her old school, not a Furinkan High uniform.
* In ''[[
** More subtle variations appear in the Earth Alliance uniforms. Most of them are white with greyish sides and black or greyish shoulders, but a few officers - most notably the villainous William Sutherland and [[Sergeant Rock|Natarle Badgiruel]] following her promotion to captain of the ''[[Cool Ship|Archangel]]'''s [[Evil Counterpart|opposite number]] - have black shoulders and black sides, and [[The Captain]] of the ''[[Cool Ship|Archangel]]'' is the only OMNI officer to have a uniform with red shoulders.
** And in ''[[
** Also nearly every named pilot has a custom pilot suit of some design. Rey wears a white ZAFT pilot suit for despite being a redcoat, and Heine has an Orange suit of the same color as his Prototype GOUF with a Faith emblem on it. Athrun also has a purple flight suit for some reason but it was just given to him when he rejoined Zaft with no hint that he specifically wanted it. Shinn and Luna wear the Elite pilot suits and Shinn later gets a Faith emblem on his. The only named character with a generic suit is Dearka. On the Orb side Kira, Athrun, Cagalli, have a specially colored Orb pilot suit and Mwu gets one with the same markings as his old EA Hawk suit. And Andrew Waltfeld gets a tiger striped pilot suit of undetermined design.
* The Principality of Zeon in the original ''[[
** This is mentioned to be a serious problem for the Zeon side, as it basically means "individual glory > teamwork" in the worst cases. Specifically, [[Ace Pilot|ace pilots]] can do what they want within limits, and this applies retroactively.
** The mostly-civilian White Base crew had a few custom uniforms too, mostly because they're handmade stopgaps.
* Unusually for a ''Gundam'' series, ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00
** It gets a bit looser in the second series with Graham's "Mr. Bushido" attire and the Innovator's colour coded helmets. Celestial Being also get a uniform but each member has a different colour scheme and some further customise their outfits (Ian, Lasse, Mileina, Linda).
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* Apparently, Joker and Wendy in ''[[
* In ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'', Utena Tenjou wears, instead of the girls' uniform, a recolored (and apparently heavily tailored) jacket from the boys' uniform plus red bicycle shorts, [[Fan Service|for some reason]], even though everybody acts like she's wearing the same uniform the boys are.
** At the beginning of the movie version, Utena wears a full boy's uniform with close-cropped hair. She's actually mistaken for a boy until [[Samus Is a Girl|her jacket comes open during a fight]]. Then [[Mind Screw|the acid kicks i ...]]
*** The said uniform is still black and white, while the standard boys' uniform is teal, and for some reason she also wears a matching hat that is nowhere to seen on other students. Possibly it's supposed to be [[Transfer Student Uniforms|her previous school's uniform]], but one has to wonder what kind of school would have more fancy uniforms than friggin' Ohtori Academy.
**** In the manga, she does take a little bit of flak for her choice of outfit, but since the individual ''pieces'' are all from school approved selections, she gets away with it: the shorts are supposedly an option on the gym uniform, and the pink/red boys' uniform jacket is legit, just an extremely unpopular choice amongst the male students.
* Hokuto from ''[[Cromartie High School]]'' wears a white uniform instead of the ordinary black due to him having been mistaken about the school he transferred to... I guess he now wears it to stand out of the "normal" people (he gave Mechazawa a white uniform as a birthday gift, too, but I haven't seen him wear it). Freddie and Hiromi-Go don't wear uniforms either [the former dresses to reference Freddie Mercury, the latter is nude presumably because that's how gorillas usually dress], but nobody knows whether they're actually students or not.
* Paptimus Scirocco, [[The Man Behind the Man]] of ''[[
* Seras Victoria of ''[[
* Manjoume/Chazz in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' still wore his North School uniform even after he returned to Duel Academy because he considered the Red uniform from the Slifer/Osiris dorm humiliating.
** Rei/Blair has an alternate uniform from the original Obelisk Blue girl uniform.
* ''[[Red Garden]]''. The [[Absurdly Powerful Student Council]] seems to dictate dress code down to the length of hair, but the main characters seem rather exempt.
* Team Rocket's [[Terrible Trio]] in ''[[Pokémon (
* Mendou in ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'' wears a different uniform just to show off [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|how rich he is]].
** Ryuunousuke from the same series wears the standard boy's outfit... at [[Wholesome Crossdresser|her]] father's insistence (the latter [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?|being In Denial about not having a proper son]]).
* Each member of the [[Galaxy Angel (
* ''[[
** Sailors Uranus and Neptune are the only senshi to wear short gloves rather than elbow-length ones. Given their [[Aloof Ally]] status, this sets them further apart from the others.
** Creator Naoko Takeuchi originally intended for all the senshi to have wildly different uniforms, including masks, but this was shot down by anime [[Executive Meddling|sentaification]] considerations. Evidence : Sailor V, Sailor Moon in early manga chapters (Moon had a mask for a chapter, Jupiter had a belt, etc).
** In the final arc of the
** Makoto/Jupiter wears the uniform from her old school, but unlike a normal [[Transfer Student Uniforms]] case, she has the excuse of [[Huge Schoolgirl|the new school not having a uniform in her size]].
* Partial example in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''. The Barrier Jackets of most named characters are unique and very different from those worn by the generic [[Heroes
** Nanoha tends to wear her instructor squad uniform most of the time, and only wears her Section 6 uniform on official business. Signum and Vita occasionally wear the "first class undersuit" as a less restrictive counterpart to the female uniform.
** After joining the Saint Church, {{spoiler|Sister Sein}} wears a nun outfit with short sleeves, for an unspecified reason relating to the rules.
* Several characters in ''[[
** In ''[[
* Alice L. Malvin from ''[[Pumpkin Scissors]]'' wears a yellow uniform while everyone else in the army wears an olive one.
* In ''[[Strike Witches]]'', the 501st Joint Fighter Wing is a temporary multi-national unit, so the characters all wear the uniforms of their home services. This still doesn't explain why Minna, Gertrude, and Erica wear different style uniforms despite all of them being from the same unit, or why in the anime Yoshika just fights in her school clothes.
** They're all from the same country, not unit. Minna wears the old Model 1936 tunic while the younger Gertrude wears a later M42 with fewer pockets and no pleats. Erica was presumably drawn from a different service and wears a black SS-style uniform.
** According to the official website, they're all from the Karlsland Luftwaffe, with Minna from JG3 and Erica and Gertrud from JG52.
* ''[[
* ''[[
** Of particular note is Captain Kyoraku Sunsui's. He wears the standard uniform, but over his [[Badass Long Robe|captain's coat]] he has a [[Real Men Wear Pink|pink]], flowery haori.
** Each Arrancar seems to have a very different individual style of outfit, though they're all based around a similar uniform.
* In ''[[
** Only two NERV personnel are shown to deviate from the standard light-brown uniform with triangular crest: [[Colonel Badass|Misato]] with her red jacket and [[Hot Scientist|Ritsuko]] with her labcoat. [[Double Reverse Quadruple Agent|Kaji]] and [[The Starscream|Fuyutsuki]] merely wear a dark-brown version while [[The Chessmaster|Gendo]] has a black jacket.
* In ''[[
** Suzaku also possess a white pilot suit which is different to that of regular soldiers. How fortunate he is that the Knights of Round ALSO have white uniforms that are different from that of their subordinates.
** Viletta's day uniform as a Britannian Knight of Honor probably isn't regulation. Jeremiah also wears a different uniform, although he gets away with it by being [[Feudal Future|nobility]].
* In ''[[Sket Dance]]'', Shinzou, the Kendo club captain, is constantly [[
* ''[[
{{quote|
'''[[Jerkass|Angel]]''': [[Completely Missing the Point|Unfortunately for you, I had these clothes made-to-order.]] }}
* In ''[[Hidan no Aria]]'', Riko modified her school uniform to be more Lolita-like.
* Itsuki from ''[[Heartcatch Pretty Cure]]'' wears a white version of the male uniform, not just to show her status as granddaughter of the principal and [[Student Council President]], but also to emphasize her [[Bifauxnen]] nature.
* Yusuke Urameshi from ''[[
* None of the girls in ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
== Comic Books ==
* The government-sponsored [[X-Factor (
* In [[The DCU]], [[The Legion of Super Heroes]] franchise has brought twists to this trope ''twice'':
** In the early issues of the "present day" [[Prequel]] comic, ''L.E.G.I.O.N. '89'', characters wore a wide range of clothing styles reflecting culture, alien anatomy, and/or personal aesthetics, but they all shared the standard livery of black underlayer, white overgarments, and the L.E.G.I.O.N. symbol in gold. No two characters, even those in the background, ever wore quite the same outfit: despite this, they were all obviously members of the same force. Later artists got lazy and gave the rank-and-file grunts identical uniforms.
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* ''[[Judge Dredd]]''. Many of the Street Judges have identical shoulder pads. Judge Dredd is a senior judge and like all senior judges, has a standard shoulder pad on his left shoulder, and on his right shoulder he has an eagle. In the movie, for practical reasons, the eagle was stylised, the body and feet of the eagle was completely removed, the eagle was attached to Stalone's chest not his arm, and the feathers were made flexible, so he could move his right arm.
** Except that every street judge in the comic wears an eagle on their right shoulder.
** [[Depending
** The [[Internal Affairs|SJS]] uniforms vary from standard judge uniforms in that they get different helmets and only wear an eagle on one shoulder. Also, chief judges wear a massive badge on their chest to denote their status as chief judge.
* Justified by Dust from the [[X-Men]]. She is allowed to continue wearing her veil and abaya (it's not a burqa) as part of the junior team, due to her religion. She is sometimes drawn wearing the X-belt, however.
* In the ''[[
== Fan Fiction ==▼
* The cast of ''[[My Immortal]]'' all wear lurid costumes that fit what the author considers to be "[[Goth|gothic]]" and don't in any way fit what [[Harry Potter|Hogwarts]] uniforms actually look like.▼
▲* The cast of ''[[My Immortal]]'' all wear lurid costumes that fit what the author considers to be "[[
== Film ==
* In ''[[Star Wars]]: Episode III'', Anakin is the only Jedi wearing black leather (except for Aayla Secura, who appears for a few seconds and then dies). [[Expanded Universe]] [[All There in the Manual]] info notes that the standard Jedi robes are not, in fact, a uniform. Any Jedi is free to wear whatever he/she/it wants, but they tend to wear the standard robes or variations on them to show solidarity. Anakin isn't breaking any rules, just traditions.
** As for the development of the Jedi appearance, in ''[[A New Hope]]'' Obi-Wan Kenobi was wearing practical clothes for Tantooine: loose dust-colored robe over loose dust-colored tunic in coarse hard wearing material it would be easy to beat the sand out of. He's in hiding so wearing a Jedi uniform doesn't make sense and nobody in [[Wretched Hive|Mos Eisley]] recognizes it as such. In ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'' Yoda, for how small he is, seems to be wearing something similar. With ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'' and the massive increase of Jedi characters that outfit seems rather standard for Jedi, although with variations like Mace Windu's knee length robe.
** One novel has the perspective character musing that they're made of such itchy wool to force Jedi to constantly maintain self-control and discipline. Another story is that Jedi robes were selected precisely because they didn't stand out, effectively making them not uniforms at all. Anyone could wear robes or the cloaks that went over them. With the style Luke wore in the first film (being the non-Jedi ward of similarly dressed and similarly non-Jedi kin), it seems consistent. Of course, things changed.
** Back in the old days, if ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' is to be believed, a Padawan walking around the Jedi academy on Dantooine could be reprimanded for not wearing the Jedi robes, so there was some notion of them as a uniform. Though this ''was'' thousands of years before the movies. Bastila Shan still had a unique outfit, although for game technical reasons you'd typically see her wearing standard robes anyway (most armor looks the same on different characters, only just plain clothes look unique).
** As for Aayla Secura, [[Green
*** And [[Knights of the Old Republic|Yuthura Ban]], who goes for a military-style uniform.
** Darth Vader fitted somewhere outside of but very high up in Imperial Navy's command
*** It's more armor than a uniform, since the Vader design was based on [http://www.museum-quality-samurai-armor.com/samurai_armor_all_for_sale/samurai_armor_for_sale_all/samurai_armor_105/samurai-armor_105__33.jpg samurai armor]{{Dead link}}.
** [[Peter Cushing]], Tarkin's actor, had a unique Imperial uniform. He wore slippers instead of boots as the boots were uncomfortable for him to wear. This is why you never see Tarkin's feet in the movie.
* Some of the ''[[
** Dialogue in the TNG episode ''Chain of Command'' indicated that wearing informal clothing instead of a standard uniform is allowed, ''with'' the captain's permission (and also that it was mostly commonly granted to senior officers in specialized positions), and the series is relatively consistent in showing that captains and above have a more 'casual' variant of their uniform (sort of an inverse to a dress uniform).
* Pretty much all of the [[Space Marine|Colonial Marines]] in Aliens have this; the only exception is Lieutenant Gorman, who wears a pristine, fresh-out-of-stores uniform, presumably to emphasize the fact that he's [[New Meat|completely inexperienced]].
* In
** Only when on the Hogwarts Express and on Hogsmeade trips. Every other instance when on school grounds he was in the standard outfit. Notably, since it was the same black suit he wore at the beginning of ''Goblet of Fire'', this might be a case of [[Limited Wardrobe]].
== Literature ==
* Howard W. Campbell, the American Nazi from ''[[Slaughterhouse
* [[Olivia (
* In the [[Discworld]] book ''[[
** The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is composed of so many different members of different shapes and sizes that being in uniform usually means being in whatever bits of uniform fitted. And since the force has expanded dramatically they are pretty much scrapping the bottom of the armory and pulling out all kinds of antique equipment. Funny helmets through the centuries, according to Vimes.
* The Adumari Union pilots in ''[[X Wing Series|Starfighters of Adumar]]'' are, technically, all wearing standard flight suits - although since they're part of a multinational force that has only recently come together, they're all different colors - but have no restrictions on decorations, medals, what have you; their commander had a bank of medals that could double as a bludgeon if it had to.
** The series also mentions how the Rogues, when they go [[Incredibly Lame Pun|rogue]], enjoy personalizing their X-Wings' color schemes, while Wraith Squadron when masquerading as [[Space Pirates|pirates]] gets to do the same. And even when working for the Rebellion, Corran Horn's fighter and flightsuit retain their original CorSec colors. Though it probably shouldn't be surprising that a rebels' military has a lax attitude towards standardization...
*** After Corran is [[Never Found the Body|declared missing in action and presumed dead]] (''The Krytos Trap''), Rogue Squadron has their flight suits changed from the orange seen in ''[[A New Hope]]'' to dark green with black and white trim, after Corran's X-Wing. It's never stated whether they changed back after he reappears.
** Another example from the same series is villain Prince-Admiral Delak Krennel, who has designed his own uniform.
* ''[[
** Harrington has had her uniform reinforced to protect her shoulder from Nimitz's claws, although the books make it clear that this is a standard variation in uniform, for
** Michael Oversteegen and other aristocrats seem to enjoy wearing uniforms modified for less practical reasons.
*** A specially tailored uniform (for reasons other than purely utilitarian ones ''a la'' Honor's reinforcements) is one of the Honorverse's stock [[
** The escapees from the Havenite prison planet of Hades had a lot of time on their hands, and access to programmable uniform manufacturing equipment, so they made themselves uniforms. Since many of them came from defunct militaries from planets that had been conquered by Haven decades in the past, a lot of them wound up wearing totally unique, one of a kind, uniforms.
* The Wardens of ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' arguably, as their only uniform is a grey cloak. Aside from that, they wear whatever they like.
* Craig Lowell, from the WEB Griffin ''Brotherhood of War'' series, is an obscenely wealthy, old-money type who was kicked out of college and drafted during WWII, then chose to stay in the army. While all of his uniforms are custom made, they are uniform. However, while most officers have dress blues for formal wear, he went a step beyond and purchased the dress mess uniform, which goes so far as to include a cape. This irritates people.
* Many of the knights in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' wear distinctive custom-made armor and use distinctive personal weapons rather than any kind of standard-issue equipment... which they wouldn't have had, anyway, being ''[[Shaped Like Itself|knights]]'', rather than common levies in livery.
* Miles Vorkosigan of the ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]'' wore very expensively tailored custom uniforms, designed to conceal some of his physical deformities, while ''looking'' exactly like standard issue uniforms.
* In ''[[
* The [[Heralds of Valdemar]], in the books by Mercedes Lackey, all wear white. Student heralds wear grey. Bards and Healers wear red and green, respectively, with students having a variation. This coding is commented on in-story, essentially saying that in stressful situation, such as a riot or fire, the townspeople can look for that color uniform. A few characters avert this in everyday wear, and are allowed to because of their teaching duties (weapon use). One character sort of subverts this plain white uniform (or has it subverted for her) by her uniforms being remade with embroidery and other designs, but all in white.
** Early in the ''Collegium Chronicles'', we learn that upper-class parents of a Heraldic Trainee often insist on providing their child with a custom-tailored version of the official uniform, in higher-quality fabrics. When Mags is invited to a councilor's home over the Midwinter holidays, a Herald collects enough of these outgrown custom Grays to let Mags dress appropriately for the surroundings. (This may be the "ancestor" of the Formal Grays that we see later in the chronology.)
** And one Herald, a (former) mercenary captain, avoids the herald uniform as much as she can get away with, calling it "oh-shoot-me-now-white".
== Live-Action TV ==
* In ''[[Star Trek:
** Troi wears a purplish outfit for much of the series. She was ordered to wear a Starfleet uniform by Jellico in "Chain of Command".
*** And to her credit, after being ordered to wear it, she wears it for the rest of the series.
** On the other hand, Ensign Ro is told to remove her Bajoran earring when she's assigned to the ''Enterprise''. Picard agrees to let her wear it by the end of her first episode. Similarly, in an episode of ''[[Star Trek
** Admirals from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' on seem to be a straighter
*** Many of the admirals seem to be wearing similar variants however, that look almost like the modern "mess dress" variants of British Army uniforms. As does Picard, in a number of episodes (that isn't just an open jacket- if you look carefully you'll notice that grey section is an additional panel of the uniform jacket, fastening on the right side).
* ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[Star Trek
* In
** It's made fairly clear in a number of episodes that the cape is part of a Colonial Warrior's dress uniform (look at the party on Carrolon).
* Every [[Sixth Ranger]] in ''[[Super Sentai]]'' and ''[[Power Rangers]]'' has a different style of uniform than the main team. Sometimes it's just a [[Palette Swap|color reversal]] or adding a chest piece, sometimes it's a full suit of armor or actually being a [[Humongous Mecha]] or [[Metal Heroes]]. The only real exceptions are when the entire team seems to be particularly diverse already, but they almost always stand out.
** In [[Power Rangers]] at least, not only this, but when the Rangers are part of an organization, the [[Sixth Ranger]]'s ''unmorphed'' uniform will be different in more than the usual
*** It does apply to unmorphed uniforms in [[Super Sentai]] too. In ''[[Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger]]'', Tetsu's uniform was mainly white with navy accents, the same colours as his morphed suit. The core five's were mainly black with accents in their own colour. In [[Engine Sentai Go-onger]], the Wings wore gold and silver jackets, instead of black motor-racing suits with ranger-coloured writing and trim.
* Gentaro in ''[[
* ''[[Jonas]]'' is a particularly egregious example. All the main characters have a
* Disney seems to be fond of it lately; they do the same thing in the "Mackenzie Falls" [[Omake|Web shorts]] tied in with ''[[Sonny With a Chance]]''. Then again, those are ''supposed'' to be [[Lampshade Hanging]] schlocky teen drama tropes.
* [[House (TV series)|House]] very rarely wears the white lab coat required for doctors at his hospital. Vogler, the hospital's chairman at the time, tries to get House to wear one in the first season. Apparently this is in line with Fox's desire for a medical show without "white coats going down the hallway."
* {{spoiler|After the station seceded from the Earth Alliance}}, the senior command staff of ''[[Babylon 5]]'' received custom Minbari-made black uniforms.
* On ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel
** In some episodes, he also wears his (neck)tie around his forehead as a type of bandana. Basically, staying within the rules of the dress code while looking nothing like everybody else.
* Jenny, the title character from the ''[[
* Lieutenant Jim Dangle from ''[[Reno 911!]]'' wears shorts with his uniform, which he states he had to specifically ask the state for permission to do.
* Peacekeepers on ''[[
* In episode of ''[[Kenan and Kel]]'', "Bye Bye Kenan part 2", Kel arrives in Kenan's new school wearing a green tracksuit and black leather jacket. The teacher mistook him for Kenan and calls him out about the clothes he is wearing. It is dropped when Kel says he isn't the student she is expecting.
* Before the accident, crew members on ''[[
== Tabletop Games ==
* Everyone in ''[[Warhammer
** And even then, there can be some subtle variation amongst the rank-and-file. After a few battles [[Badass Normal|Imperial]] [[Redshirt Army|Guardsmen]] tend to pick up souvenirs or trophies, while members of more pious regiments will attach devotional scripts or lucky relics to their flak armor. [[Space Marine]] [[Warrior Monk|Marines]] will all proudly be wearing their chapter's colors, of course, but their armor usually has at least one purity seal on it somewhere, while some members have their own coat-of-arms to display. [[The Corruption|Chaos]] [[Evil Counterpart|Space]] [[Space Pirate|Marines]]' ([[Spikes of Villainy|spiky]]) armor is a patchwork of parts collected across millennia, and with [[Body Horror|mutations]] that ensure any two models aren't exactly the same. And the [[Our Orcs Are Different|Orks]], of course, don't even ''have'' a concept of "uniform," only [[Planet of Hats|clan]] [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|colors]].
** This trope is extremely common in war games. Unless a game abstracts an entire large unit to one "block," it is essential to distinguish the leader of a unit for the sake of the ''players''. ''Warhammer Fantasy'' and ''Warhammer 40,000'' enforce this trope by requiring in the rules that a unit's leader can be clearly identified and using different models to represent them.
== Theater ==
* Invoked at a remove in the very first moments of ''[[1776 (musical)|1776]]'':
{{quote|'''Macnair:''' Better get yourself back down to Congress, Mr. Adams. Getting ready to vote, and they said they couldn't settle such an important question without Massachusetts being there.
'''[[John Adams]]:''' [[Sarcasm Mode|I can just imagine. All right, what burning issue are we voting on this time?]]
'''Macnair:''' On whether or not to grant [[George Washington|General Washington's]] request that all members of the Rhode Island Militia be required to wear matching uniforms.
<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Beat]]]
'''Adams:''' Oh, good God.}}
== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Super Robot Wars]]: [[Original Generation]]'', only the people in the same team wear close to the same uniforms (mostly the [[Latex Space Suit
* In ''[[
* The 1st Class SOLDIERs in the world of ''[[
** Also in ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' (at least 9 and 10, the others show no variations in battle sprites at all), all named units (your units, potential recruits, and bosses) have a custom colour scheme, while everyone else on the bad side gets their uniforms coloured based on their affiliation. It can get a bit odd in cases where potential recruits start out fighting on the enemy's side; they are the only one aside from their general to wear a custom uniform.
** You would think that whatever evil empire you're fighting would start to recognize these people and learn to expect their sudden but inevitable betrayal.
* In ''[[Wing Commander (
* In ''[[City of Villains]]'', the Arachnos Spider and Widow epic archetypes' primary costumes are restricted to standard Arachnos parts, but they can still make themselves look different from the rank and file Arachnos NPC's, and their alternate costume slots don't have those restrictions at all, except for Crab Spiders having to have their trademark [[Multi
* If the player joins the Imperial Legion in ''[[The Elder Scrolls
** This applies to NPCs too,
** Not to mention that as Knight of the Imperial Dragon you outrank anyone who would otherwise care about your lack of uniform.
* In ''[[
** In the game's artbook, the character designer refers to this trope (from his end at least) as a "believable lie": How to give characters distinctive appearances while maintaining some semblance of military decorum.
* In ''[[Resident Evil]]'' none of the S.T.A.R.S. wear matching uniforms at all. The U.B.C.S. Mercenaries in ''RE3'' have a stricter dress code, but Carlos has a cut down version of a typical uniform.
** The ones from HUNK's unit however, all wear the same thing.
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*** This doesn't just apply to the S.T.A.R.S., Player Characters [[Resident Evil 2|Leon]] and [[Resident Evil Outbreak|Kevin]] are members of the normal RPD but still have mis-matched uniforms.
**** That's justified in universe as stating that Leon and Kevin are members of a newly-formed unit that is not quite as elite as S.T.A.R.S. but a cut above the average cop.
* [[La Résistance]] in ''[[
** This carries over to ''[[
* Colonel Tendon Cobar and Colonel Mael Radek from ''[[Killzone]]'' (''Liberation'' and ''2'', respectively) get the awesomest suits you'll see from any Helghast, the lot of whom wear really cool outfits anyway.
* In the second ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' game, the [[Mooks|Krimzon Guards]] have four kinds of uniforms: red for normal ones, yellow for inexplicably stronger ones, one for [[The Dragon|Errol]] and one for [[Rebellious Princess|Ashelin]]. In the third game, the [[Mook Face Turn|Freedom League]] is all blue, though for some reason Ashelin still has the [[Limited Wardrobe|exact same outfit]].
* Most Alliance Marines in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' appear to wear black armor, in sharp contrast to Ashley's white-and-pink. Also, normal Alliance starships are white and red, while the ''[[Cool Ship|Normandy]]'' is black and white.
** Though strangely whichever human crew member survives Virmire (or Liara, if she was Shepard's [[Love Interest]] in the first game) shows up in the same white-and-pink during the opening sequence of [[Mass Effect 2]], while Shepard sticks with the standard black Alliance armor (plus a red stripe to denote rank).
** Well the Normandy is explained away by being built by more than one race so maybe it got its own color scheme and in universe I think the white-and-pink was the medic color.
** Miranda's [[Spy Catsuit]] doesn't seem to be standard-issue for Cerberus personnel, especially considering the proportions required to make it work.
* In ''[[The Godfather (
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]] 1'' and ''2'', Rei and Mei Ijuin, as heirs of the filthy rich Ijuin Family, are allowed to wear variants of their respective schools' regular uniform. Becomes a plot point in ''Tokimeki Memorial 2'', as if Mei is in [[Relationship Values|Tokimeki Status]] with the main protagonist, {{spoiler|near the end of the game, he can give her a regular Hibikino School Uniform as a Christmas present, and she'll wear it out of love for him later in one of her special Events}}.
** Small variations to the standard uniform - usually a different shirt and/or tie - are common throughout the ''Girl's Side'' games, especially on the parts of the more artistic and/or fashionable characters.
* The ''Persona'' series delves into both this and [[Nonuniform Uniform]]:
** In ''[[Persona (
** In serious contrast to the other ''Persona'' games, the ''[[Persona 2]]'' duology only has the instance of a one Eikichi "Michel" Mishina, who wears what appears to be a kilt under his jacket over his uniform pants. In ''Innocent Sin'', Tatsuya, Lisa, and {{spoiler|Jun}} wear their uniforms without any changes whatsoever, although Tatsuya has his jacket unbuttoned. {{spoiler|Tatsuya foregoes a school uniform entirely in ''Eternal Punishment'', opting for a red motorcycle tracksuit.}}
** The only ones that actually wear proper uniforms in ''[[
** ''[[
* Emile in ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' wears a set of EVA [[Powered Armor|power armor]] with a skull scratched on the visor. The player character is allowed to customize their armor, and the armors of the rest of Noble Team can't ''quite'' be replicated with customized parts.
* It's not clear if the [[Thieves' Guild]] in ''
* Although ''[[Bully (
* ''[[
* In ''[[Disgaea 4:
* Possible to an extent in ''[[Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[
** First with with Nanase's [[Stripperific]] [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-04-07 martial arts outfit]:
{{quote|
'''Justin:''' Black belts wear whatever they want.
'''Sarah:''' Is that a rule?
'''Justin:''' Sorta... nobody is brave enough to tell them no. }}
** And again later when Tedd and Susan play mix-and-match with their male and female school uniforms to protest Moperville North's strict, sexist (and [[Sudden School Uniform|short-lived]], [[Webcomic Time|at least if you're on an]] [[Archive Binge]]) school uniform policy.
** Tedd also seems to think all uniforms should be
{{quote|
* The [[Private Military Contractors|Dogs of War]] in ''[[Cry Havoc]]'' all wear different gear over a standard unifrom. This is passed off due to their status as mercenaries who hand-pick their equipment and weapons.
* In ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120104020018/http://thosedestined.pensandtales.com/ Those Destined]'', the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]]'s uniform consists only of a badge (worn above their regular clothes, as the [[Big Bad]] insists), while the standard [[Mooks]] uniform is much stricter.
* In ''[[Goblins]]'', one of the Brassmoon city guard officers wears a cape. He stopped when his commander threatened to ''[[Bad Boss|kill him]]'' if he saw him in it again.
* A mook wearing a medieval suit of armor while his comrades wear high-tech military stealth-suits does not escape the hero's notice in ''[[Antihero for Hire]]''. He claims he gets to do whatever he wants because he's an elite, although he actually goes down easier than most of the regular ones.
== Web Original ==
* A couple of guards in ''[[Equestria Chronicles]]'' wear unusual armor. Emphasis on "a couple."
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' wouldn't be able to be what it
** Interestingly, the live action ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' film chose to go with more standardized uniforms for the main characters.
*** And ten of the thirteen original Joes wore green uniforms with round helmets. The three standing out were Scarlett, Snake-Eyes and Stalker.
* Kylie and Eduardo from ''[[
* In ''[[Pasila]]'', none of the five police officer protagonists have an identical uniform. One wears a full officer's dress uniform, another one wears an indoor uniform, another one wears an outdoor uniform, another one wears a mere uniform vest over his civilian shirt and trousers, and one wears a fricking ''trenchcoat, t-shirt, jeans and sneakers''. Each uniform [[Limited Wardrobe|is worn like that the whole time]].
* In ''[[Star Wars:
* ''[[My Little Pony
== Real Life ==
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** Montgomery, when he was training officers at the British Staff College in the 1920s, specifically stated that a general should have a [[Nice Hat|distinctive hat]].
** General Douglas MacArthur's innate sense of theatre made him an interesting case. Despite his reputation for flamboyant dress during wartime (his iconic WWII outfit was actually fairly mild compared to WWI when his troops called him "The fighting dude" and he often went into battle wearing Jodpurs, riding boots and his West Point varsity letter sweater armed only with a [[Staff of Authority|riding crop]] he always wore impeccable regulation uniforms in peacetime. Each look was carefully calculated to fit the image he was trying to project and the audience he was trying to impress. The fact that he chose to make his famous farewell address wearing a civilian suit did not go unnoticed.
** [[Ulysses S. Grant]] almost never bothered with his own uniform, to the point that he only got into the Appomattox Court House surrender ceremony in his dirty fatigues and splattered with mud because the Confederates knew him by sight. In contrast Robert E. Lee was fully dressed in his best uniform for the surrender, with one observer commenting that if you hadn't known better you'd have thought Lee had won. Lee had been forced to abandon his baggage train earlier that week and he naturally chose to change into the best uniform he had left before ditching all of the others. Lee played into this trope as well by typically wearing the insignia and uniform of a colonel, despite his rank in the Confederate army. Among modern infantrymen, many would think Grant made the right choice - his mud-spattered uniform showed that he was "in the shit," and not just a desk officer who had the time to get clean.
** To this day, according to United States Army Regulation 670-1 (the document pertaining to the wear of the uniform), Generals of the Army, the Chief of Staff, and former Chiefs of Staff can alter their uniform however they like. They still can't [
*** Only applies to their branch insignia, not the whole uniform. Of course at that high of a rank, and that the Chief of Staff approves uniform changes anyway, they can do whatever they want.
* Uniform regulations also generally make concessions to religious practices where practical. For example, Sikh turban is RAF uniform and is issued. As is a tube of gel to put on his beard when wearing a gasmask. There have been Sikhs fighting for Britain since at least the 1750s, although prior to 1858 they would have been in a distinct minority, so there's a long history of this.
* The [[Reds
* The Duke of Wellington spent most of the Napoleonic Wars in civvies, as he was the commander of several different nation's armies and didn't want to play favorites. The Iron Duke didn't give a flying fuck about what his officers wore. One cavalry general commanded a charge wearing civilian evening dress and a stovepipe hat, wielding his umbrella instead of a sabre. Although that was because his uniform had not arrived in time for the battle, and his [[Stuffy Brit|British reserve]] prevented him from making a fuss about it.
** That was probably Sir Thomas Picton, famous not only for wearing a stovepipe hat (and getting killed in it at the Battle of Waterloo) but also going into battle in his pyjamas at one point. Not by choice, probably.
* And there's Hermann Goering's famous ornate uniforms. A joke told in Germany at the time had [[Adolf Hitler]] inspecting the latest warship, only to see Goering (who'd turned early) looking out a porthole. Hitler says: "That man's gone too far -- now he's draped an entire battleship around his neck!"
* Particularly when dealing with school uniforms, students do their damnedest to get away with as much as they possibly can. Apparently when they were filming one of the ''[[Harry Potter (
* U-Boat crews during [[World War II]] wore anything but uniforms while at sea.
** While they had grey leathers for waterproofing and warmth, they are often seen in captured British Battledress uniforms for working clothes. Come to that, the German rescue services for air raids often wore captured Russian or Danish helmets and uniform as working dress. The Volkssturm also used many and varied uniforms.
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* The late William Rehnquist, when he was Chief Justice of the United States, added four stripes to the sleeves of his court robes, because he'd seen ''[[Gilbert and Sullivan|Iolanthe]]'' and thought it was cool. Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor often wear lace cravats with their robes, a tradition started by the first woman on the Court, Sandra Day O'Connor. All this is entirely justified, as the robe is the Justice's personal property, purchased at his or her own expense. Furthermore, the Court's regulations only require that Justices wear black robes in the situations that call for it, but don't say anything else about the subject.
* Militia type organizations in the United States. Typically, these are groups of local citizens who equip themselves with whatever is at hand. As a result, it's perfectly possible to go to militia practice and see guys in US Woodland BDU's, Vietnam era olive drab, ACU, DPM, CADPAT, Alpenflage, business suits, Multicam, Flecktarn, and Gorod. Weapons are seldom standardized either, so you'll see everything from AR's to AK's to Garands to FAL's.
* The Texas Rangers (a statewide investigative agency in Texas, for those who don't know)<ref>Not to be confused with the other Texas Rangers, a Major League [[
** Also justified in that they are not a traditional police force, being more akin to a state-level version of the FBI. When they need traditional cops, they get help from local police departments and the Highway Patrol.
* [http://girlscouts.org/ Girl Scouts of the USA] haven't required girls to wear a full uniform for years now, but they still made them. As of October 2008, they've taken this further:
{{quote|
For girls ages 5 to 14, the unifying look includes wearing a choice of a tunic, vest, sash for displaying official pins and awards, combined with their own solid white shirts and khaki pants or skirts. Girl Scouts in high school can also wear a scarf that unites their look with the sisterhood of Girl Scouts around the world.
For adult members the unifying look of the uniform is a Girl Scout official scarf or tie for men, worn with the official membership pins, combined with their own navy blue business attire. Girl Scouts at the Daisy and Brownie levels will continue to have a full uniform ensemble available. }}
** There are so many different shades of khaki - never mind that Cadettes' vests often don't match their pants - that it leads to rather a
* Squads and such in [[Humans Versus Zombies]]. Normally, it's all up to recognizing faces or maybe a hat or color scheme to tell who's with you and not with you. Aside from generic "we all wear camo jackets", there's a lot of room to maneuver.
* While [https://web.archive.org/web/20070225002321/http://www.girlguides.ca/ Girl Guides of Canada] requires full uniforms, there are endless options for clothing that normally result no two girls in a troop look the same. The uniform consists of: long and short sleeved option for t-shirts, e pants or capris, leggings, a hat when camping a hoodie of vest for cold weather, a sash for displaying the badges, a neck scarf (the same as the one described above for girl scouts) and the characteristic stripey socks.
* Wal-mart only requires its employees to wear blue shirts, brown pants, and their name badge. What shade of blue and what shade of brown is completely irrelevant, and they can be any style of shirt or pants (provided it stays within reasonable dress code). Though most simply choose the standard navy blue, collared shirts. They did away with the uniform blue vests a couple years ago for unknown reasons.
** Similarly, Target requires its employees to wear tan pants and a red shirt, with no guidance beyond those points.
** At the [[American Girl]] Place in [[Los Angeles]], employees are required to wear black pants, black shoes, and black socks. Shirts can be of any colors so as long it's solid and no logos/patterns, while those working in the cafe have to have white button-down shirts. (Might apply to some of the other stores.)
* [[Private Military Contractors]] usually don't have set uniforms. Most members either wear civilian clothes underneath their tactical gear, or whatever military fatigues the members own.
* Nurses. Even if you see 100 nurses in one day, you will never see two dressed
** Does not, however, apply to nursing students in a hospital. They tend to wear whatever uniform clothes the school requires, usually white.
** Does not apply to the increasing number of hospitals that are standardizing their dress codes, such that all employees of a certain professional branch (RNs, CNAs, ancillary staff, etc.) must wear scrubs of a solid mandated color (frequently either navy or ciel blue). Also does not apply to the OR, where everyone wears the same hospital-issued surgical greens.
** If you've seen the show Emergency!, you may have noticed that although the uniforms may be similar or identical, you'll be hard pressed to find two hats the same. In that time period, nurses wore the hats they wore for their respective schools.
** To an extent subverted in the [[National Health Service]]. Nurses don't have the various patterns and decorations found elsewhere and have [https://web.archive.org/web/20141003221828/http://www.nhsidentity.nhs.uk/page/11963/tools-and-resources/nhs-brand-basics/property/uniforms/uniforms strict uniform guidelines]. And that is just for the logo placement.
* 18th century regiments each had their own uniform, and the only criteria was that it should have as much [[Bling of War]] as was compatible with marching through mud and potholes, a difficulty usually ignored as [[Honor Before Reason|showiness comes before reason]]. It may not have mattered as much as it sounds as each block of men only has to know how to fire at the block of men in front of it.
** Even colors of uniforms were not standardized as late as the 19th century. The British had troops wearing green (most famously the Green Dragoons and the Rifle regiments) and blue; almost all nations' Zouave uniforms looked alike, in more or less French colors; in the American Civil War, the First Battle of Bull Run saw an incident where a Union unit in gray uniforms got almost on top of the Confederates before either side realized what was going on. (Or was it a Confederate unit in blue?)
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*** This was brought up in the movie "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", when the leads thought the approaching troops were Confederates in grey, but it turned out to be blue uniforms coated in trail dust.
** Even when a unit's uniforms ''were'' standardised when they were formed, it wasn't unusual for them to return home looking vastly different from even other members of the same unit. Admittedly, this was because not all of their uniforms would be from the same supplier using the same batch of dye on the exact same kind of fabric, and so would not necessarily react in the same manner to weather conditions (rain, sun, etc.). A battalion of "redcoats" might end up marching back to barracks after a campaign with some members in pink coats, and some whose jackets were almost brown.
* Various modern incarnations of former paramilitary organisation the [
** This is
* Ditto for modern [[Cossacks]]. Their appearance ranges from "fairly modern military style camo" to "authentic XIX century dress uniform complete with a saber", with anything in between possible.
* Lord Lovet lead a Commando Brigade on [[World War
*
** Goalkeepers in [[The Beautiful Game|association football]] must wear uniforms that make them distinguishable from other players. This has occasionally led to customized uniforms.
** Goaltenders in [[Ice Hockey]] wear masks attached to their helmets to keep pucks from flying into their faces. These masks and helmets tend to be highly decorated according to the goalie's tastes.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Military and Warfare Tropes]]
[[Category:Costume Tropes]]
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