History Main / FunnyAfro

* Trisha [[spoiler:[[SignificantAnagram or should we say]], "[[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Ishtar]]"]] from ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'' has a large red afro, and it '''[[EverythingsBetterWithSparkles sparkles]]'''.

* Trisha [[spoiler:[[SignificantAnagram or should I say]], "[[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Ishtar]]"]] from ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'' has a large red afro, and it '''[[EverythingsBetterWithSparkles sparkles]]'''.
* One NPC in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}'' One of Taro's Magichange attacks involves the character wielding him to sport a 'fro and dance. He finds it so funny he spits out milk with such velocity it propels him backwards ''and damages the opponent at the same time!''
* The PC version of VideoGame/EarthwormJim has {{easter egg}}s that [[GagLips among]] [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself other]] [[StickFigureAnimation things]], give Jim an afro complete with "Afro!" sound effect.
%%* Every boss in ''VideoGame/FaceRaiders'' gains one upon being defeated. [[spoiler: The final boss uses theirs as a boomerang.]]

* Jimmy T. from the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series sports a large blue afro. In ''Wario Ware Touched!'', his family is shown to all have brightly coloured afros (he is also menaced by an insect named Scratchy the 'Fro Bug -- and no, I'm not making this up).

* ''Manga/SgtFrog'' has particular fun with this, mentioning them throughout the series and even assigning specific colors to character. The otherwise hairless frogs frequently and inexplicably end up wearing an afro after NonFatalExplosions. Several bits of the soundtrack (notably several of the {{Ending Theme}}s) are essentially [[GratuitousDiscoSequence disco numbers]]. There's also the character of Dasonu Maso, an alien pop star who has admitted he's a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed shameless knock-off]] of "Dance Man", the disco-themed J-Pop artist who provided the show's first closing theme, "Afro Gunsou", and who seems more interested in giving the other characters afros than in actually performing.
** Afro Gunsou. Ai kotoba wa Afro to Gunsou... By the way, that means "The password is 'Afro Sergeant'".
*** As for "Dasonu Maso" (ダソヌマソ), that name comes from a mangling of the katakana for "Dance Man" (ダンスマン).
* [[Creator/ShinichiWatanabe Nabeshin]] from ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' is likely the most famous perpetrator of this trope, to the point that his [[ImageSong theme song]] is about his hairdo: "My name is Nabeshin and my afro is fluffy/Maintenance is easy, just wash it once..." It probably bears mentioning that Nabeshin is the AuthorAvatar of series director Wata''nabe Shin''ichi, who does indeed have a [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nabeshin.jpg large afro.]]
** The afro gets funnier when he cameos in ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler''. He starts out somehow packed completely into the afro itself, pulls various objects out of the afro, and is referred to by everyone as "[an] afro".
** And when he poses around in ''Anime/DottoKoniChan'' as Koni's talking dog? ''Of course'' has an afro too.
** Minoru Shiraishi dresses up like this guy in the OVA of ''[[Manga/LuckyStar Lucky]]☆[[Manga/LuckyStar Star]]''. Live-Action Akira sprays him with a garden hose.
* Much of the physical humor in ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'' revolves around Bobobo's big blond afro.
** In Bo-bobo's case, the afro appears to actually be a StealthPun based on the fact that an alternative way to refer to afros in Japanese is ''bakuhatsu atama'', literally meaning "[[YourHeadASplode exploding head]]". This suddenly makes a lot of sense if you consider what [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar the main inspiration for the manga]] was.
** One notable gag is Bobobo having Yugi from ''Anime/YuGiOh'' pop out of the fro and summon Slifer the Sky Dragon.

* It looks like manga author Creator/EiichiroOda thinks afros are the funniest thing ever. As a result, ''Manga/OnePiece'' has ''many'' characters [[RunningGag donning afros at one point or another]]:
** One of King Wapol's flunkies, Kuromarimo, fights by throwing afro wigs that stick to his opponent, then setting the wigs on fire.
** For the final match of the Davy Back Fight against Foxy the Silver Fox, Usopp prepares Luffy like a boxing coach, and gives Luffy an afro wig, saying it would [[RuleOfCool help him win]]. It actually does, when it snags a piece of broken mirror that reflects Foxy's own Slow-Slow Beam back at him.
** Also, Brook sports an impressively large afro. Under a top hat. He is very protective of his afro [[spoiler:because, since dying and becoming an animated skeleton, it can't regrow, and it is the only way that the pet whale Laboon he left behind 50 years ago would be able to recognize him now]].
** Sengoku also eventually showed he hides one under his hat. Though he is quite ComicallySerious, the thing gets truly gigantic when he uses his Devil Fruit power. [[spoiler:He becomes a giant Gold Statue of BUDDHA WITH AN AFRO. [[CrossesTheLineTwice That could be offensive to some people.]] [[RefugeinAudacity But for others is pure Epic Win]].]]
** And Emporio Ivankov sports an impressive purple afro, which is so awesome he can ''hide people inside it''.
%%* Matsushiro Ken in ''Manga/YakitateJapan'' has an impressive afro that he got in a rather strange church...

* Ueki temporarily gains an afro and dancing skills as part of a magical power upgrade in ''Manga/TheLawOfUeki''.
* Masa of ''Manga/MyBrideIsAMermaid'' sports a stylish one as well.
* Yonemi Chiba of ''Manga/{{BECK}}'' sports an afro. A lot of people in the music industry actually refer to him as "that afro."

* Noboru Yamaguchi of ''Manga/CromartieHighSchool''. The character is obsessed with comedy, and his hair is intentionally funny; he's actually disappointed that people are too scared of his fighting skills to laugh at his ridiculous hairstyle. The anime takes this to eleven with animation gags. His afro throbs and moves on its own, even increasing in size.
* ''Anime/AfroSamurai''. Other characters mention it frequently, even mock it, and it has a very important place in the plot.
** Classic pot-calling-kettle-black moment: Kuma/Jinno mocks Afro's hair, telling him how ridiculous he looks... while wearing a huge teddy bear head.
* Masumi Okuyama from ''Manga/NodameCantabile''. His over-the-top behavior often provides comic relief and other characters occasionally poke fun at his hair in passing.

* Lambo from ''Manga/Reborn2004'' He can store anything in it. Even a bazooka which is big enough to swallow him and I-Pin whole.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has Kaname Ohgi. In the DVDCommentary, the voice actors suggest that it came about because Ohgi's hairdresser messed up, then lied and told him it looks good.
* In one chapter of ''Himitsu Kichi'' the protagonists father has an afro. He's a comedian to boot.

* Tarou, protagonist of ''Manga/HatsukoiZombie'', sports a magnificent one. It is occasionally grabbed and deformed ([[ItMakesSenseInContext or used as a flowerbed]]) by irritated people.
* Bomber from ''Manga/HimoutoUmaruChan'' has this as his defining trait; when Umaru first meets him, she freaks out because she thinks her brother's head exploded. The opening for the anime contains a quick gag spoofing ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' where Umaru slays an afro'd dragon and gets Bomber's Afro from it.
* Chocolove [=McDonnell=] of ''Manga/ShamanKing'' is apparently invoking this. In his days as a violent gang-leader, he was [[BaldOfEvil completely bald]]. When he leaves behind his old life to become a comedian and train as a shaman, he grows his hair out into an afro. It also notably covers a scar that he received when his parents were killed, which drove him to a life of crime in the first place.

* In a ShoutOut to {{Blaxploitation}}, ''Fanfic/TheRodSquad''--a ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' AlternateUniverseFic that puts the Rangers into TheSeventies--gives both Dale (remember he's a chipmunk) and [[EnsembleDarkhorse Foxglove]] (a bat; now named [[Film/FoxyBrown Foxy Glove]]) sizable afros.

* Nordberg gets one of these in a flashback to the 70s in ''Film/TheNakedGun 33 1/3'' - so huge it won't fit through a door. Another character then mentions that he was one of the first test cases for Minoxidil (a hair growth product).

* In ''Film/BlackDynamite'', Cream Corn has an afro ''shaped like a pimp hat''.
* In ''Film/TheFortyYearOldVirgin'', there's a throwaway gag in which a young kid is bragging about all the sex he has before his father shuts him down, mentioning his Jew-fro as one of the reasons his boasts must be untrue.
* The SaveOurStudents parody ''Film/HighSchoolHigh'' has a student with model cars driving through his afro, and another student whose towering afro absorbs a blow from a baseball-bat wielding teacher.
* This is alluded to in ''{{Film/Spaceballs}}'', when the titular troopers are literally combing the desert with giant combs. The white soldiers in white uniforms have regular combs, and the black soldiers in black uniforms have an afro pick.

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'':
** There's a single-episode RunningGag about the main characters being afraid they'll say something insensitive to one of their coworkers. He has a hook for a hand, but most of them haven't even noticed because they're too busy trying not to say something about his ridiculously large afro.
** One episode has Doug prepping a patient for brain surgery by shaving his hair, halfway through this he is informed by JD that the patient is supposed to be getting rotator cuff surgery. Doug immediately stops to walk away, passing the shaver to JD as the patient wakes up. Elliot compliments the patient on his "nice hal-fro." Since the patient had one arm in a sling, he could only feel the side of his head that had hair, so he doesn't realize what happened.

* Chase Matthews of ''Series/{{Zoey 101}}'' has a bushy "Jewish afro" constantly referenced by the other characters. He tends to shrug it off but lampshades it himself after Zoey throws a pillow at him that knocks him off his chair. He gets up, pats his head and exclaims "You dented my 'fro!"

* The 1969 - 1974 High School SitCom ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obofIKCixsI Room 222]]'' featured the dorky Bernie (David Jolliffe), or, as most knew him then, the kid with the giant red-haired Afro.

* In ''Series/ILoveLucy'', Lucy gets one when she tries to give herself a perm but leaves the curlers in for way too long. Fred Mertz calls her ComicStrip/LittleOrphanAnnie.
* When Jeff becomes a teacher on ''Series/{{Community}}'', he tells his students he won't be bothering with learning their names, and calls on people using distinctive features of their clothes or appearance. Then he points to a student wearing a drab brown t-shirt, with absolutely nothing distinctive about him... except that he's a black guy with a fairly large afro. Jeff says, "Actually, maybe I will learn your names."
* In the ReunionShow ''[[Series/ISpy I Spy Returns]]'', Creator/BillCosby cringes in embarrassment over a photo of himself back in TheSixties when he had a lot more hair.
* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Darnell was on the receiving end of a comment about his hair, on his wedding day, where he was wearing a purple tux from TheSeventies.
--> '''woman''': See that? We should have gotten a clown!
** Later, Darnell is shown to be [[spoiler: a former secret agent in WitnessProtection]] and uses his hair to store things like a self-destructing phone.
* ''Series/LovecraftCountry'': The black female alien in "I Am" who whisks Hyppolyta away for interdimensional adventure has a ''massive'' afro, so large that it's wider than her body.

* Jimmy T. from the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series sports a large blue afro. In ''Wario Ware Touched!'', his family is shown to all have brightly coloured afros (he is also menaced by an insect named Scratchy the 'Fro Bug -- and no, I'm not making this up).
* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' has Lotta Hart, whose bright red afro actually goes relatively unnoticed by the cast, but is clearly meant to get a laugh on the part of the player. The sequel, on the other hand, makes a bigger deal of it: when you meeting her again, you can choose to misremember her name as "Lotta Hair", which she takes offense to. On at least two occasions during the aforementioned sequel, Lotta Hart is referred to by one of the characters as "that lady with the fluffy cotton-candy hair".
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'', villain Miror B. has an ''enormous'' Poké Ball-colored afro. His head is a molecule in comparison.
** Flint, the third member of the Elite Four in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum]]'' has a red one. Which, when combined with his standard yellow attire, makes him look unsettlingly like Ronald [=McDonald=].
** [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Bouffalant_(Pokémon) Bouffalant]], introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' is a buffalo with an afro. Its signature move is called Afro Break in the original Japanese (Changed to Head Charge in the English games). An episode of the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] starring Bouffalant [[UpToEleven takes this to its logical conclusion]]: most of the main characters [[PaperThinDisguise wear afro wigs]] because otherwise [[FantasticRacism the local Bouffalant population will attack them]].

* One NPC in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}'' One of Taro's Magichange attacks involves the character wielding him to sport a 'fro and dance. He finds it so funny he spits out milk with such velocity it propels him backwards ''and damages the opponent at the same time!''
* In ''VideoGame/AvalonCode'', there's a bandit who lives beneath the dungeon of Frannelle Castle amidst a gigantic horde of treasure. He forgot his name but doesn't seem to care what he's called; take a guess what Rempo decides to name him.
* Sazh Katzroy from the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''. [[HeadPet There is a chocobo living in it]].
* ''VideoGame/WayOfTheSamurai'' has Don Donatelouse, aka 'Dona Dona'. Though mainly PluckyComicRelief, he [[HeroicWannabe genuinely tries to be heroic]], and ([[WideOpenSandbox depending on your choices]]) may end up more heroic than your hero...Repeated in the 3rd game in the series with Donna, Don's identical ([[DistaffCounterpart though female]]) ancestor.
* ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries SoulCalibur IV]]'' has an afro as a hairstyle for custom characters. To hammer home the hilarity, its default color is pink. ''You'' try taking [[ScaryBlackMan Zasa]][[SinisterScythe lamel]] seriously after seeing him with a huge pink afro and a business suit.
* One of [[MadBomber Demoman's]] [[AndYourRewardIsClothes unlockable hats]] in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is a Music/JimiHendrix-type 'fro. Which isn't that large in-game, but fan artists enjoy taking it UpToEleven for hilarity's sake.
* The people of Xeos Belt Union in ''VideoGame/InfiniteSpace'', at least the ones you meet in the game. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in Mariana's case, when Franny insults her as "cauliflower head" during their bickering early in Act 2.
* In ''VideoGame/AzurikRiseOfPerathia'', there's a cheat code to give Azurik one of these... and change the background music to [[GratuitousDiscoSequence disco]]. It does nothing else; in fact, ''most'' of the cheats for that game (save for one or two) are completely useless like that.
* Eddie Wachowski in the ''VideoGame/{{SSX}}'' series has a massive orange fro.
* In ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheMiracleMask'', we get flashbacks to the Professor's high-school days. The future Professor himself is sporting a lovely flyaway 'fro during them.
* The PC version of VideoGame/EarthwormJim has {{easter egg}}s that [[GagLips among]] [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself other]] [[StickFigureAnimation things]], give Jim an afro complete with "Afro!" sound effect.
* Trisha [[spoiler:[[SignificantAnagram or should I say]], "[[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Ishtar]]"]] from ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'' has a large red afro, and it '''[[EverythingsBetterWithSparkles sparkles]]'''.
* Shows up as one of the many attachments you can use to customize your characters in ''{{VideoGame/Tales of Xillia 2}}''. It can also be recolored and re-sized (At max size, it's almost as large as the wearer) to make it look extra hilarious.
* In ''VideoGame/PaRappaTheRapper 2'', one of the levels has a teacher, Hairdresser Octopus who's been brainwashed so all of the customers at his salon are [[TraumaticHaircut forced into getting one of these]]. During the level, Parappa and Octopus cut everyone's hair (particular Lammy's) back to normal.
** Speaking of Lammy, in ''VideoGame/UmJammerLammy'', during one of the flashbacks in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVZ9NuUU1VA the Stage 7 cutscene]], Lammy got one as a result of electrocuting herself from plugging in electrical equipment.

* Roy has one in ''VideoGame/BrutalMario''. It's a wig which covers his bald spot, which reflects the light in the room in a way that produces a blinding flash.
* In ''VideoGame/BishiBashi Special 2'', the SimonSaysMiniGame "Perm Mania" has the dancers grow bigger afros the more points they score.
* A ''hilarious'' afro appears on one of the bosses in ''VideoGame/SilentScope EX''. It's excessively jiggleboned and over-accentuates every movement of the boss, Big A, a PsychopathicManchild helicopter pilot who flies a Hind-D...with his [[CompanionCube teddy bear]] in the gunner seat. Of course, for best results, you have to [[BoomHeadshot shoot him in the head]], which explains why Big A might constantly whip his head around like that. SnipingTheCockpit is tough enough. On the other hand, his afro is bright yellow and the cockpit is dark, so if you can spot and hit the afro, you can one-shot Big A. [[spoiler: Or you can shoot his teddy bear in the face and cause Big A to suffer DeathByDespair.]]
%%* Every boss in ''VideoGame/FaceRaiders'' gains one upon being defeated. [[spoiler: The final boss uses theirs as a boomerang.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', camp bully Bobby Zilch has a massive orange afro that's almost as tall as he is.
-->'''Bobby:''' I heard a rumor that you were raised in the circus, so let me put this in terms you'll understand: I'm the strong man around here!\\
'''Raz:''' Really? Because you look more like the cotton candy.

%%* WebComic/{{Jack|JackAntonucci}} has Anakin.

* When Creator/HannaBarbera [[WesternAnimation/TheSuperGlobetrotters made a cartoon]] with the [[UsefulNotes/{{Basketball}} Harlem Globetrotters]] as superheroes, Sweet Lou Dunbar aka Gizmo Man had a HammerspaceHair afro. Just took a moment of [[RummageFail rooting around]] and whatever he wanted could be found in that afro.

** And George Bush senior getting a rainbow afro wig glued to his head-- right before a meeting with the [[BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats Elks]].

* River Song sports one on ''Series/DoctorWho'', and this occasionally gets lampshaded - she pointed it out herself immediately after regenerating, and Strax the Sontaran (due to his unfamiliarity with human biology) once thought it was part of her cranial structure. The Fourth Doctor is a borderline example, as he has a 'fro and is one of the funnier incarnations of the Doctor, but the hair rarely if ever gets lampshaded.

Definitely an EvolvingTrope, as both styles and attitudes about race have changed over time. In TheSeventies, afros surged in popularity in the United States with the Black Pride movement to become a defining element of SeventiesHair. At that time comedic characters with afros cropped up as parodies of the then-popular AfroAsskicker trope or as [[UncleTomfoolery wise-cracking Black stereotypes]]. As both the afro hairstyle and this type of [[DiscreditedTrope racial]] humor [[CondemnedByHistory fell out of style]], the role of afro'd characters shifted. Due to its unpopularity, the style became associated with the DiscoDan and other nerdy, uncool ButtMonkey types. In order to avoid UnfortunateImplications and to serve as a joke in itself, afros were increasingly worn by dorky white characters (i.e. the so-called "Jewfro"). In American comedy today, afros tend to be used in one of two ways: to show a character is weird and kooky, or as a quick gag where characters wear outlandish afro wigs to increase the absurdity of a situation.

* Corbin Bleu's Afro in ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' arguably does more acting than he does.

* Jack Spade sports one in the Soul Train disco scene from ''Film/ImGonnaGitYouSucka''.

* Part of Don King's RealLife persona. In documentary film ''Film/WhenWeWereKings'', George Plimpton says "Some people would say that he's stuck his thumb into an electric socket."

* ''Literature/TheLotterysPlusOne'': Sic, the oldest of the Lottery family's children, has an afro.

%%* In ''Series/ANTFarm'', Gibson has a Jewfro that's also HairOfHolding

* In ''[[ComicStrip/TheBoondocks The]] [[WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks Boondocks]]'', Jazmine has a very large dirty blonde afro that is immune to all known hair straightening methods. Huey's afro is bigger than his head, Jazmine's is bigger than Huey's afro and head put together ''after'' she pulls it back into a puffball.

* Puerto Rican Hound Dogg and Afro Boy in World Xtreme Wrestling do put effort into making their Afros look good, the funny part come from having their efforts effortless undone in matches. Hound Dogg's afro is multicolored.

%%[[folder:Music]]
%%* The woman on the album cover of ''Music/MaggotBrain'' by [[Music/GeorgeClinton Funkadelic]].
%%* Music/GilScottHeron on the album cover of ''Music/TheRevolutionWillNotBeTelevised''.
%%* Music/TheJacksonFive (post-Michael's puberty, pre-Michael's solo career) had huge and absolutely epic afros. ''Especially'' Music/MichaelJackson himself. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqxVMLVe62U Seen quite well in the "Blame it on the Boogie" video]]. Michael eventually discarded the afro, but wore it rather proudly in the cover for ''Music/OffTheWall''. It was quite shorter in the video for ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yURRmWtbTbo Don't stop 'til you get enough]]'', but still qualified as such.
%%* The baby on the cover of ''Music/ReadyToDie'' by Music/TheNotoriousBIG.
%%[[/folder]]

* Rallo from ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' has a fairly large afro for someone his age.

* While it's not so much a fro but a box haircut, Gerald of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' will from time to time say "HEY! Watch the hair" in a situation that might mess up his Marge Simpson-like stack of hair. In some episodes, we see that his hair is shaped that way because his head is shaped that way (though he turns it into a true afro in one episode)
* Dutch Gordy from ''WesternAnimation/{{Motorcity}}'' has one of these.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has [[TheComicallySerious Garnet]], who's had a massive square afro since before recorded human history. [[spoiler:She was even born with it. She gets it from a [[FusionDance combination]] of Ruby's blocky hair and Sapphire's longer hair.]] It's strong enough to support Steven, but then again, this is [[SuperStrength Garnet]] we're talking about. In "Historical Friction," Jamie plays her by putting his head in a cardboard box with an afro drawn on with marker. Sardonyx, the fusion of Garnet and Pearl, is a DarkSkinnedBlond with a triangular afro.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'''s Kyle Broflovski has a red Jewfro which he prefers to keep hidden under his hat and only reveals a) under duress or b) if it has been styled beyond recognition. It also looks very little like a Jewfro and more like an afro.
* When ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' tries to get into a "tough" bar, one ploy is wearing a rainbow afro wig. He thinks this makes him look tougher. Considering what he normally looks like, that's actually somewhat true.

Definitely an EvolvingTrope, as both styles and attitudes about race have changed over time. In TheSeventies, afros surged in popularity in the United States with the Black Pride movement to become a defining element of SeventiesHair. At that time comedic characters with afros cropped up as parodies of the then-popular AfroAsskicker trope or as [[UncleTomfoolery wise-cracking Black sterotypes]]. As both the afro hairstyle and this type of [[DiscreditedTrope racial]] humor [[CondemnedByHistory fell out of style]], the role of afro'd characters shifted. Due to its unpopularity, the style became associated with the DiscoDan and other nerdy, uncool ButtMonkey types. In order to avoid UnfortunateImplications and to serve as a joke in itself, afros were increasingly worn by dorky white characters (i.e. the so-called "Jewfro"). In American comedy today, afros tend to be used in one of two ways: to show a character is weird and kooky, or as a quick gag where characters wear outlandish afro wigs to increase the absurdity of a situation.

The trope is very much alive in Japan, which doesn't have the same taboos about racial humor as the US. Such characters are often a FunnyForeigner. As a side note, in Japanese just the word "afro" is rather [[InherentlyFunnyWords funny]] because it just happens to sounds like "afuro", which rather accurately means "overflowing"; hell, this pun is behind [[Anime/AfroSamurai the title of one show]]. Or, it could sound like "a [[FuroScene furo]]" (yes, at least one [[Manga/NinjaNonsense anime]] has made that very joke).

Afros, those curly, bouffant hairdos most commonly sported by people with African ancestry, have a long history in comedy. Since the 19th century, [[NonIronicClown Non Ironic Clowns]] have sported large, curly, often brightly-colored afros (a tradition that may have its roots in MinstrelShows), and afro hairstyles continue to play a role in both gag-based and character-based humor.

Compare/contrast AfroAsskicker, when the afro is made up for by the sheer badassness of the wearer. Subtrope of SeventiesHair.

CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE EDIT OR DELTE THIS FUCKING PAGE. Having an afro isn't inherently funny. I don't know how to edit pages, but frankly, this article still should not be up in it's current form. Especially after the Ian JQ citing this very article as an example of the sometimes un-inclusiveness present in nerd culture

Definitely an EvolvingTrope, as both styles and attitudes about race have changed over time. In TheSeventies, afros surged in popularity in the United States with the Black Pride movement to become a defining element of SeventiesHair. At that time comedic characters with afros cropped up as parodies of the then-popular AfroAsskicker trope or as [[UncleTomfoolery wise-cracking Black sterotypes]]. As both the afro hairstyle and this type of [[DiscreditedTrope racial]] humor [[DiscoSucks fell out of style]], the role of afro'd characters shifted. Due to its unpopularity, the style became associated with the DiscoDan and other nerdy, uncool ButtMonkey types. In order to avoid UnfortunateImplications and to serve as a joke in itself, afros were increasingly worn by dorky white characters (i.e. the so-called "Jewfro"). In American comedy today, afros tend to be used in one of two ways: to show a character is weird and kooky, or as a quick gag where characters wear outlandish afro wigs to increase the absurdity of a situation.

Definitely an EvolvingTrope, as both styles and attitudes about race have changed over time. In TheSeventies, afros surged in popularity in the United States with the Black Pride movement to become a defining element of SeventiesHair. At that time comedic characters with afros cropped up as parodies of the then-popular AfroAsskicker trope or as [[UncleTomfoolery wise-cracking Black sterotypes]]. As both the afro hairstyle and this type of [[DiscreditedTrope racial]] humor [[DeaderThanDisco fell out of style]], the role of afro'd characters shifted. Due to its unpopularity, the style became associated with the DiscoDan and other nerdy, uncool ButtMonkey types. In order to avoid UnfortunateImplications and to serve as a joke in itself, afros were increasingly worn by dorky white characters (i.e. the so-called "Jewfro"). In American comedy today, afros tend to be used in one of two ways: to show a character is weird and kooky, or as a quick gag where characters wear outlandish afro wigs to increase the absurdity of a situation.

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-->'''Goofy:''' But I need it to look groovy for college.
-->'''Max:''' Dad...You're scaring people.

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* Lambo from ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'' He can store anything in it. Even a bazooka which is big enough to swallow him and I-Pin whole.

%%[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]
%%* Wrestling/CarlitoColon's afro usually ranged between "needs a comb" and "unfinished dreadlocks", as if he purposefully made it look as awful as possible. Although he doesn't seem to put any work into it, he does take pride in it nonetheless, [[AfroAsskicker beating back all attempts to have it cut.]]
%%* Mecha Mummy, seen in Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1, Wrestling/DramaticDreamTeam, Wrestling/{{Chikara}} and others. Yes, a mechanical undead being with an afro.
%%* El Sensacional Carlitos, IWA Puerto Rico's parody of the Colón family, naturally had an afro, which was typically squashed flat under a straw hat. When they started presenting him as a serious wrestler his hair was pulled back.
%%* Puerto Rican Hound Dogg and Afro Boy in World Xtreme Wrestling. Hound Dogg's afro is multicolored.
%%* Nina Monet wears lots of odd hairstyles, including a yellow afro squashed flat.
%%[[/folder]]

[[folder: Theatre]]
* As discussed under RealLife, Leon Trotsky sported quite the Jew-fro. This is used to great effect in Creator/DavidIves' tragi-comic one-act play ''Variations on the Death of Trotsky''. It isn't a plot point or ever even mentioned, but it makes the special effect of having an ice-axe through his head[[note]]which is indeed how he was killed in RealLife[[/note]] throughout the entire play much easier on low-budget productions.
[[/folder]]

** Flint, the third member of the Elite Four in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl''/''Platinum'' also has a red one. Which, when combined with his standard yellow attire for added silliness, makes him look like Ronald [=McDonald=].

!!This trope is under [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13545690040A55560100&page=111#2771 discussion]] at the Appearance clean up thread

* A flashback in ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' shows Oscar's dad had an enormous orange afro with a pick in it, [[NonMammalianHair despite being a fish]].

* See the entry for ''Film/TheBradyBunch [[TheMovie Movie]]'', below. [[OlderThanYouThink You didn't think it was a new joke, did you?]]

* Sam Puckett on ''Series/ICarly'' often wears these on the ShowWithinAShow webshow bits.
* Gordo has a jewfro pretty much through the entirety of ''Series/LizzieMcGuire''.

* In ''Series/ANTFarm'', Gibson has a Jewfro that's also HairOfHolding
** Chyna dons a huge 1970s 'fro when Olive is producing a Greek play and calls herself Afro-Dite.
** The [=ANTs=] wear Jewfro wigs while trying to save Gibson's job.
*** Olive wears the same costume and fro in a scrambled flashback in [=EndurANTs=].

** Later in the series, Usopp has Luffy wear a large afro wig for his fight against Foxy the Silver Fox, saying it'll [[MagicFeather give him great strength]]. In addition, the spectators all think Luffy must be powerful since he has an afro - all except for a confused [[OnlySaneMan Nami.]] In the end, Luffy ''does'' win thanks to the afro, when [[spoiler:he uses a piece of mirror that got lodged in it to deflect Foxy's Noro-Noro Beam]].

** And wasn't Zoro seen with an afro at some point, too?
* Matsushiro Ken in ''Manga/YakitateJapan'' has an impressive afro that he got in a rather strange church...

See also ModernMinstrelsy, SoulBrotha, CurlyHairIsUgly. Common specific usages are CompressedHair, where a massive afro unexpectedly emerges from a small hat, and Hammerspace Hair, where the afro is used to store something unexpected.

->''"You may ask yourself, 'Does the afro make the champion, or does the champion make the afro?' This is a question yet to be answered by modern science."''
-->-- '''Usopp''', ''Manga/OnePiece''

Despite [[AnimeHair odd hairstyles being par for the course]], a character with an afro (usually male) is very likely to [[LampshadeHanging have it mentioned]] by other people and by the plot. This is sometimes extended into a love of dance and club music, if not [[DiscoDan specifically disco]]. If a character is forced to wear a wig, there's a good chance it'll be an afro. HammerspaceHair often requires popping objects into and out of an enormous hair bulb.

As a sidenote, in Japanese just the ''word'' "afro" is [[InherentlyFunnyWords rather funny]] because it just happens to sounds like "afuro", which rather accurately means "overflowing"; hell, this pun is behind [[Anime/AfroSamurai the title of one show]]. Or, it could sound like "a {{furo|Scene}}" (yes, at least [[Manga/NininGaShinobuden one anime]] has made that very joke)

[[folder: Music]]