Suit-Up of Destiny

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Zed: Let's put it on.
J: Put what on?
Zed: The last suit you'll ever wear.

—Men in Black

You just accepted the Call to Adventure, and you have everything ready. You just finished your Training from Hell, you know Kung Fu, and you have your trusty katana. But something is missing... wait, are you going to fight in jeans and a T-shirt? Hell no! That's not in The Chosen One's Dress Code! It's time for the Suit-Up of Destiny!

Many heroes are not seen in their street clothes, but you can't have an origin story without the character finding and putting on his trademark wardrobe for the first time. This moment is very important, because these very clothes will soon become a part of the hero's identity.

Common in super hero movies and video game series that involve trademark clothing. The hero putting on his trademark clothing is exciting and is actually looked forward to. Without them, the hero is not who he is suppose to be. Can lead to a What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome? moment. The best way to know this trope is in play is when you can say "These clothes are going to be very important in this character's life" without guessing. A Lock and Load Montage may be included if heavy weaponry is part of the uniform.

Compare and Contrast Unnecessary Makeover, where a girl may get an important makeover around the end of the movie, but no one really thought it was... necessary.

Compare and Contrast Transformation Sequence, in that there may actually be a sequence, however, it only appears once and the sequence may never happen again until a new costume is revealed.

Examples of Suit-Up of Destiny include:

Anime and Manga

  • This occurs in Bleach a few times;
    • Ichigo in the first episode after gaining Soul Reaper powers for the first time. Then for a second time after he loses his powers and gets them back.
    • Ishida when he reveals he's going to go to Soul Society with Ichigo to rescue Rukia (lampshaded by having Ichigo question his fashion sense). Then for a second time after he loses his powers and gets them back.
    • And finally, as part of a reveal, this is used to show that Isshin, Ichigo's father, was a Soul Reaper all along. Apparently for a second time having lost them before and now got them back.
  • Code Geass episode 4, where Lelouch first dons the iconic Zero costume.

Fan Works

  • In the Sailor Moon segment of the Shared Universe which grew out of Chris Jones's Crossover Fic The Virus, Luna helps Usagi cope with her newly-acquired gender-shifting by revealing that Queen Serenity had anticipated the possibility that her daughter might get reincarnated as a son, and offers her a new transformation phrase: "Moon Prism Power, Suit UP!" It manifests a masculine version of her Sailor Fuku-based uniform.

Film -- Live Action

  • Iron Man got to pull this off three times. Once with the armor cobbled together in a cave, once with the prototype suit that Tony first went flying in, and finally with the first red and gold model.
  • Men in Black. The scene where J puts on his Men in Black uniform for the first time, provides the page quote. And it's even given an ironic echo in the sequel when J has to track down K and bring him out of retirement;

J: It's time to put it on.
K: Put what on?
J: The last suit you'll ever wear...um...again.

Literature

  • In Children of the Lens, when Clarrissa Kinnison finally brings herself to wear the Gray Lensman uniform she's entitled to.

Live Action Television

  • Clark Kent tried to have such a moment in the Smallville Season 10 opener "Lazarus" but it was aborted by Jor-El.
  • In Doctor Who, we have the end of "The Eleventh Hour," wherein the freshly-regenerated Doctor gives an awesome Badass Boast while choosing a new tie.
  • The final flashback of the How I Met Your Mother episode "Game Night", aka "Barney Begins". Bonus points in that it's not only the first time Barney suits up, but also the origin of his Catch Phrase "Suit up!"

Video Games

  • Ezio is a perfect example in Assassin's Creed II when he puts on his father's robes and weapons for the first time. He never changes clothes for the next twenty years.
  • Link is doing this increasingly often in the Zelda games.
  • Performed in a minor Moment of Awesome by Jango Fett in Star Wars Bounty Hunter. After being captured and tortured by a Dark Jedi, he's rescued by Zam Wessel and, once he drives off the Jedi and checks on the injured Zam, Fett has a badass Suit Up scene before he finishes the hunt.
  • Issac has a pretty cool one in Dead Space 2 when he buys his first engineering suit, changing out of the straightjacket that he woke up in. After the suit up, he smiles slightly and the player knows that it's finally time to get down to business.
  • The Medic from Team Fortress 2 does this in the Meet the Medic video. He pulls a Hero Shot right afterwards, as if he wasn't already awesome enough.

Web Comic

Web Original

  • While Dr. Horrible technically already has a costume, the sequence of him dramatically donning a new darker-feeling red-and-black version of it after going from villain wannabe to full Super Villain still has this vibe to it.
  • In Maximilian's series on Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Assist Me, Wesker does a very Badass one here.

Western Animation

  • In Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, we see flashbacks where Bruce tried a normal outfit and a ski mask. The thugs weren't impressed. Later, only after the love of his life disappears, do we see him constructing and putting on the Bat-outfit. It is a moment so Epic that even Alfred is taken aback and slightly frightened! Here, just watch it!

Real Life

  • This happens in Real Life military personnel put on there uniforms for the first time.
  • Graduation and Wedding gowns also count, even though they are (usually) only worn one time.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Suit-Up_of_Destiny?oldid=1923515"