History Main / BeardOfBarbarism

Barbarians usually do not have access to good shaving blades or mirrors. So it is not rare to see a barbarian with ManlyFacialHair that puts all other beards to shame. Not only do they dwarf the beards of civilized men, but they also have really awesome [[DreadlockWarrior dreadlocks]] and BraidsOfBarbarism. He may even have body parts from his slain enemies stuck in there. Anyone with a beard like that is immediately flagged as a [[TheBerserker Berserker]], a BloodKnight or both.

The more barbaric the man is, the more of these traits (largeness, dreadlockedness, braidedness, number of enemy parts) his beard has. As such, the Beard of Barbarism is used to contrast barbarians with civilized soldiers, who either are clean shaven or have tamed facial hair. These beards can also help determine seniority among the barbarians, as the older men have longer beards. A MountainMan, outlaw, or other character who's ''from'' a civilized society but leads a much wilder and less civilized lifestyle than his compatriots also frequently embraces this trope.

The more barbaric the man is, the more of these traits (largeness, dreadlockedness, braidedness, number of enemy parts) his beard has. As such, the Beard of Barbarism is used to contrast barbarians with civilized soldiers, who either are clean shaven or have tamed facial hair. These beards can also help determine seniority among the barbarians, as the older men have longer beards.

Usually paired with WildHair or BarbarianLonghair. [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarf beards]] also fit this trope most of the time, though with less barbaric connotations as Dwarves are usually depicted as at least as civilized as the humans around them.

* The Capital One Vikings, one has a ten year old son who has a bigger beard than his old man.

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* ''{{Series/Lost}}'': [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Tom Friendly of The Others in Season 2 who had a long grey beard whenever the survivors encountered him. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] at the end of Season 2 when [[spoiler: the beard turned out to be fake]] and Season 3 revealed The Others were [[spoiler: technologically advanced rather than barbaric jungle dwellers.]]

* ''Film/{{Jumanji'': Alan Parrish grows a massive beard while trapped in the jungle inside the titular board game for 26 years.

* ''{{Series/Lost}}'': [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Tom Friendly of The Others in Season 2 who had a long grey beard whenever the survivors encountered him. [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] at the end of Season 2 when [[spoiler: the beard turned out to be fake]] and Season 3 revealed The Others were [[spoiler: technologically advanced rather than barbaric jungle dwellers.]]

* {{Series/Lost}}: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Tom Friendly of The Others in Season 2 who had a long grey beard whenever the survivors encountered him. [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] at the end of Season 2 when [[spoiler: the beard turned out to be fake]] and Season 3 revealed The Others were [[spoiler: technologically advanced rather than barbaric jungle dwellers.]]

* {{Series/Lost}}: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Tom Friendly of The Others in Season 2 who had a long grey beard whenever the survivors encountered them. [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] at the end of season 2 when [[spoiler: the beard turned out to be fake]] and Season 3 revealed The Others were [[technologically advanced rather than barbaric jungle dwellers.]]

* ''Series/{{Rome}}'': Following the end of the civil war, Caesar fills the depleted ranks of the Roman Senate with a lot of representatives from Rome's newly-conquered Gallic provinces, who are distinguished from their "civilized" Roman counterparts by their lengthy beards and hair. [[note]]Though in RealLife, many of the "Gallic senators" appointed by Caesar actually came from Northern Italy, i.e. "Gallia Cisalpina", whose Gallic inhabitants were a lot more Romanized than their counterparts across the Alps.[[/note]]

* One of the reasons that ManlyFacialHair is so popular in HeavyMetal subculture. Particularly relevant to performers and fans of viking and folk metal, most famously Amon Amarth front man [[http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c53/Schatten000/Amon_Amarth___Wacken_2006_by_HellPi.jpg Johan Hegg]].

Barbarians usually do not have access to good shaving blades or mirrors. So it is not rare to see a barbarian with a huge BadassBeard that puts all other beards to shame. Not only do they dwarf the beards of civilized men, but they also have really awesome [[DreadlockWarrior dreadlocks]] and BraidsOfBarbarism. He may even have body parts from his slain enemies stuck in there. Anyone with a beard like that is immediately flagged as a [[TheBerserker Berserker]], a BloodKnight or both.

A SubTrope of BadassBeard.

* One of the reasons that the BadassBeard is so popular in HeavyMetal subculture. Particularly relevant to performers and fans of viking and folk metal, most famously Amon Amarth front man [[http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c53/Schatten000/Amon_Amarth___Wacken_2006_by_HellPi.jpg Johan Hegg]].

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* Vikings -[[HollywoodHistory stereotypically.]] Actual Vikings tended to go for [[http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/hairstyl.shtml whatever type of beard was comfortable for them. So you could find as many Vikings averting this trope as you could playing it straight.]] This was both for the same practicality concerns UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat had and because the Norse people were very hygienic for the Middle Ages -- it was normal to wash and comb one's hair daily. Being beardless, however, was considered unmanly, and "thin-bearded" was a fighting word.

* The buddhist monk Bodidharma is often shown in Chinese art with a thick bushy beard, as he was either Indian or Iranian, both peoples who can grow quite magnificent beards. And not being a native Chinese, he was considered a barbarian by default. He became the founder of Zen Buddhism and according to tradition also the man who introduced the Shaolin monks to kung fu.
* The Latin word for beard ("barba") is similar to the Latin word for barbarian ("barbarus"). However, they are not related, as "barba" comes from the Old High German "bart", whereas "barbarus" comes from the Greek "barbaros."

* NASA were not happy about the 'revolutionary' beards grown by the Skylab astronauts, which didn't match with the clean-cut American image such astronauts had exemplified throughout the Space Race. After MissionControl failed to compromise on their grueling and micro-managed schedule, the astronauts really did revolt by turning off all communications for a day in the so-called Strike in Space.

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See also WizardBeard, PeltsOfTheBarbarian.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chabal This guy]]. Guess what he looks like...