History Main / ImportantHairCut

** Same went for the Japanese and their top-knots (''chonmage'').

** Same went for the Japanese and their top-knots.

** In the Konoha Gakuen Den feature set in a HighSchoolAU, Sakura's ImportantHaircut in this universe (shown in the ending sequence this is based on), is initially thought to be the result of a breakup until Ino produces photos that reveal that [[spoiler:Sakura had laid down on the grass and accidentally got gum in her hair]].
* Two different characters in ''Anime/{{Simoun}}'' give themselves the same ImportantHaircut at different dramatic moments, with the second one echoing the first, and one of them later follows up with an ''additional'' ImportantHaircut. Also, another pair of characters have a set of Important Hair Clips.

** Atobe himself (the series' most popular rival) arrogantly vows to shave his head if he loses his match against Echizen Ryoma... which of course he does, because Ryoma is the main character and Atobe had promised to shave his head ''in public'', with lots of witnesses. Since Atobe is unconscious by the end, Ryoma shaves his head for him. This devolves into a joke, as a lot of things do in Prince of Tennis, when several chapters later, Atobe shows up with his hair intact (although muttering about his beautiful hair) and no explanation for it has been given, which has caused [[EpilepticTrees the fans to heavily speculate about it]].
*** This was played differently and somewhat more like an ImportantHaircut in the OAV's: Atobe is actually conscious and sub-regular Haginosuke Taki asks Ryoma to cut ''his'' hair instead. Ryoma seems to consider the offer but Atobe rejects it, swipes the razor from Ryoma's hands and cuts his own hair right there. [[spoiler: In the last OAV series, it's proved that yes, Atobe ''is'' using a wig.]]

** And *again* , [[TeamMom Oishi Syuichirou]] changes his hairstyle ''every'' year in all canons. The first one is theorized to be an ImportantHaircut that came when he became a regular in his second year in Seigaku: his formerly messy hair became a simple buzzcut.

** Mamori, Musashi, and (briefly) Ishimaru also change hairstyles before the Kanto tournament -- this is less likely an ImportantHaircut than a group meme among the team [[strike:or the artist getting tired of drawing the same hairstyles all the time]].

* In the "Season of Mists" StoryArc of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]] -- depicted as looking like an ordinary if rather good-looking human apart from the great big wings growing from his back -- resigns from being Ruler of Hell and [[ComicBook/{{Lucifer}} goes off to live among the mortals]]; in a gesture combining practicality with the symbolism of the ImportantHaircut, his last act as Ruler of Hell is to ask the Sandman -- his enemy on the best of days -- to cut his wings off. He doesn't bother with anaesthetic.

* ''ComicBook/ShadeTheChangingMan'' - Kathy's ImportantHaircut came after getting over the loss of Shade and becoming romantically attached to Lenny. The editor confessed in the letters page that she had also gone through several hairstyles of her own while getting over emotional pains. Kathy returned to long, natural hair while pregnant with Shade's child [[spoiler: and since she was murdered not long after, that's how she's always remembered]].

* Richie's ImportantHaircut in ''Film/TheRoyalTenenbaums'' coincides with an important suicide attempt. He spends most of the movie as a has-been tennis player, and like his siblings wears pretty much the same same hairstyle and clothes as he did when he was young, so the new, shaven style is a sign of his moving on.

* In Creator/BenElton's novel ''Dead Famous'', Sally, a contestant on a ''BigBrother''-style game show, expresses a desire for an ImportantHaircut and cuts and dyes her hair while staying in the house. It turns out to be a ''very'' important haircut, because [[spoiler:the show's producer planned to murder one of the girls to boost ratings, and "pre-recorded" the scene for all five female contestants. Sally was the first target but was not killed because she no longer looked like the fake Sally on the videotape.]]

* Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley cut his signature dreadlocks around the time he started using heroin.

* Amy Lee gives herself one in the video for "Everybody's Fool".
* Justin Bieber wore his world-famous longer hairstyle most of his life after he hit his teens, which won over countless fans aside from his catchy ([[LoveItOrHateIt if hated by many, if not most]]) music. In February 2011, coincidentally only a few days before his 17th birthday, he cut his hair short. He said that the cut 'had a more mature look', and that he got it because 'it was time for a change'. [[FanDumb Hilariously, his fangirls didn't like this at all.]]

* "Straight Lines" by SuzanneVega is about one of these. Unless it's [[DrivenToSuicide not]].
* The character in P!nk's ''F ckin' Perfect'' video gives herself a haircut before she pulls her life together.

* KatyPerry's character in her "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuwfgXD8qV8&feature=channel Part of Me]]"

* Used quite recently in an angle with CMPunk where he began to form a society of straight edge people. He picked three people out of the audience and had them pledge allegiance to him before shaving their heads bald. One included a woman who actually got to join his stable on television.
* KevinNash lost a hair vs hair match and had his hair cut messily off by ChrisJericho and then tidied up offscreen. This was done as Nash had a role in The Punisher and needed to cut his hair.

* It seems to be a tradition for a lot of the blonde WWE Divas to change their hair to brown after leaving the company. TrishStratus, KellyKelly and [[LayCool Michelle McCool]] are examples.
* TheUndertaker does this twice. Once when he became Big Evil and another when he is prepared to wrestle TripleH at Wrestlemania 28, after his humiliating performance at Wrestlemania 27.

* In Theatre/{{Alcestis}}, Admetus orders all in Thessaly to cut their hair in mourning for Alcestis.
* In the Chicago preview version of the [[{{AddamsFamily}} Addams Family]] musical, the opening number is a coming-of-age ceremony for Wednesday that involves this. When the song was replaced with When You're An Addams, the character's tie-in Twitter suggested that her ExpositoryHairstyleChange was the self-inflicted result of emotional turmoil about her attraction to Lucas.

* Posha Saint-Amour cuts her hair late in ''{{Kartia}}'' as a sign of leaving the Medium profession. She becomes a Shrine Warrior, boosting her stats quite a bit.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', [[WhiteMagicianGirl Princess Garnet]] goes into a period of mourning after her coronation as Queen of Alexandria is interrupted by an invasive attack by the BigBad -- a piece of unfinished business she left hanging when she went home to assume the throne. Eventually, she learns to put the incident, and her [[ItsAllMyFault sense of shame over it]], behind her. As an expression of her newfound devotion to give her all to finding and stopping the BigBad, for her people and for every kingdom in the world, she borrows one of [[TheHero Zidane's]] daggers -- which have a previously established significance in her sense of identity - and uses it to give herself an ImportantHaircut.
** In a slight twist, her hair has grown back to its original length by the end of the game, although the symbolic weight of the ImportantHaircut doesn't seem to be diminished by it.

* Used in ''FireEmblem: [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Radiant Dawn]]'' but with a twist: Lucia getting a TraumaticHaircut marks a significant turning point for Elincia.

* ''RomancingSaGa3'' Katrina Changes her hairstyle and loses her Noble's clothes after the Masquerade was stolen from her, you can revert her back to the way she was after getting the Masquerade back and [[spoiler: Defeating any of the Devil Lords except Byunei so you can gain access to Loanne Castle.]]
* A not-just-symbolic example: in the ''StarCraft'' universe, the the Dark Templar officially and literally cut themselves off from the Protoss race by cutting off their "nerve-appendages": thick, hair-like fibers at the back of their heads that connect the Protoss to a sort of communal mind-link.
* Jeanne D'Arc in... well, ''JeanneDArc'' when she decides to pursuit the Englishmen and join the army.

* Charlotte cuts her own hair at the end of ''SamuraiShodown 2'' to symbolize her renouncement to her feelings for Haohmaru.

* After getting into a car accident with [[spoiler: Miki Hoshii]] in "[[VideoGame/TheIdolmaster THE iDOLM@STER]]", she vows not to take things lightly ever again and then she asks the player if he likes short-haired girls. The next week she comes in with short, un-dyed hair. Her personality also changes, making her more strong-willed and hard-working. She also seems to be madly in love with the producer, calling him "Honey."

* In VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII, Connor goes through one late in the story, using a knife to shave off most of his long hair into a short mohawk, and permanently leaving his hood down.
* In VideoGame/BioshockInfinite, Elizabeth cuts off her ponytail after [[spoiler:committing her first murder.]]

* Similarly, in ''{{Kanon}}'', Ayu's hair has grown long [[spoiler:in a coma]]; [[spoiler:not long before she awakens, Yuuichi gives her her headband]] and Nayuki cuts her hair to look like the Ayu that the viewers know.

* In VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo, [[spoiler: Shiina Mikado aka Misha]] chops off her long hair in a very tomboyish cut. It's important because [[spoiler: this happens only in Shizune's route, and Misha cuts it over [[LoveHurts her feelings of inadequacy and jealousy]] [[MatchmakerCrush over Shizune and Hisao's relationship]] -- because [[SchoolgirlLesbians she loves Shizune]] and feels out of place now that Hisao is her boyfriend, despite Misha's own care for him.]]

* Collin of ''FriendlyHostility'' has to dye the blue streak from his hair whenever he visits his hated parents. Not exactly a hair cut, per se, but it probably still fits.
* Marten of ''QuestionableContent'' seems to always get a haircut just before something interesting happens between him and Faye.
* Done twice in Webcomic/AbstractGender. First, right after the transformations, where Ryan cuts his hair shorter to feel more like himself. He then does this again after discovering he now likes guys and is worried about losing his identity.
* Also in QuestionableContent, Dora decides to grow her dyed-black hair out shortly before a TimeSkip; presumably, in the skipped time, [[spoiler:Faye and Sven both grow accustomed to their friends-with-benefits relationship]], which makes it all the more painful for both of them when [[spoiler:he has a one-night stand with someone else]].

* Shelly in ''WapsiSquare'' [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/03312004/ cuts her hair]] while dealing with some emotional issues. [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/06022004/ Semi-lampshaded]] a little later.

* In ''{{Concession}}'', Artie (the WhiteHairedPrettyBoy) starts out refusing to tie his waist-length hair back on the grounds that it makes him look like a girl. When in a relationship with Kate, she braids it for him, and he keeps this style for a short time, then goes back to wearing his hair loose after he breaks up with Kate when she [[spoiler:reveals herself to be a pedophile and tries to get him to join in a NAMBLA meeting]]. After he [[spoiler:undergoes successful treatment for his cancer]], he cuts it short and adds red streaks.
* Played for laughs in ''MenageA3'', as when Didi [[spoiler: [[strike:comes out]] mistakes inadequate sexual partners as a sign that she is gay]] she ''immediately'' declares that she must now cut her hair short.
* Played straight in ''PennyAndAggie'' when Sarah got an extreme haircut to symbolize coming out of the closet.

* A minor variation in EverydayHeroes. Jane, during her career as a villain, had a long black wig as part of her costume. It was [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=144918 yanked off]] in the middle of the fight during her HeelFaceTurn, and she's been an [[HairColors ordinary brunette]] ever since.

* Alex from ''KhaosKomix'' got a [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/cgi-bin/comic.cgi?chp=6&page=31 haircut from his sister]], as a part of tryting to transform himself more attractive. Earlier, Maria started her change into Tom by [http://shorthaircutsv.com Short Haircuts]

* Nimmel from ''DominicDeegan'' gives himself one in [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2010-03-19 this strip]].
* Webcomic/{{Derelict}} [[http://derelictcomic.com/?strip_id=33 here]]
* {{Roza}} [[http://www.junglestudio.com/roza/index.php?date=2007-05-09 The horse's tail]]
* {{Strays}} [[http://www.straysonline.com/comic/169.htm Holland subjects Meela to one]]
* Inverted in {{Drowtales}} - when Vaelia is no longer a slave and becomes Ariel's servant and guardian, she gets hair extensions. This is justified because short hair on women is a telltale sigh of slavery, even without a slave collar. Long hair on a human in Drow world would cause anyone to have a double-take.
* The Weaponmaster in TheWarOfWinds does this to himself because he expects to die in the next battle. The act is a warrior tradition from his homeland acting as a symbol of his slavery to fate.
* Sebastian gives himself a stylish, villainous trim in Saga 5 of TrueVillains when he [[spoiler:accepts his villainy.]]

* Another male example of this is Gino Gambino from "GaiaOnline". He has become a new man, a navigator of an air ship. And what better way to show the change in his character (and to keep his flowing hair out of his face) than with an "ImportantHaircut". (The first try doesn't come out looking as it should, though this should come as no surprise as it's [[ButtMonkey Gino we're talking about...]])

** He is crowned at the end with the spikey flame hair ornament his father used to wear! (The Fire Nation 'crown' is actually ''stuck into your topknot'', so not having one when technically in line for the throne is definitely a big deal.)

* In the transition from ''JusticeLeague'' to ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', GreenLantern John Stewart, like Sisko before him, shaves ''his'' head and grows a goatee. Whether this is a deliberate reference to Sisko is unknown. Unusually for a male character, Stewart's ImportantHaircut immediately follows his traumatic break up with Shayera.
* The completion of Anakin's training as a Padawan and his becoming a Jedi is signified in ''StarWarsCloneWars'' when Yoda slices off Anakin's braid with a light saber in a Jedi Knighting ceremony. Later Anakin has it sent to Padme, who keeps it in a small jewelry box.

* A ''RugRats'' episode was about Chucky's first haircut.

* After Thugnificent of ''TheBoondocks'' [[spoiler: loses all his wealth]] he chops off the two huge Mickey Mouse afro balls on the side of his head.

* Happens to a few characters in the ''SwordOfTruth'' series, where one section of the world puts a lot of stock in the length and style of women's hair. Two examples: In the first book, the hero gives Rachel (previously little more than a slave, with her hair deliberately chopped up) a haircut evening out her locks after she runs to freedom. In the second book, the Mother Confessor (who, as the de facto ruler of the land, has the longest hair around) has her hair chopped off before she's sentenced to be executed.

* Two of the main characters in ''TheOutsiders'' cut their hair off while on the run from the law. Important as their hair is the most obvious symbol of their Greaser status.
* In ''TheTimeTravelersWife'', Henry has his shoulder-length hair cut off shortly before his wedding, to symbolize leaving behind his immature playboy lifestyle and becoming more like the responsible adult Clare fell in love with in the first place. Conveniently, this also means [[spoiler: his future self can convincingly stand in for him at the wedding ceremony itself (since cold feet and nerves in his present self end up triggering his time travel).]]
* ''ASongOfIceAndFire''

* Also, in ''[[{{Narnia}} The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]'', part of the tragedy of Aslan's sacrifice was seeing him with his mane cut off. Without it his majesty disappeared and he looked like simply a large cat.

* In ''TheEnglishPatient'', Hana cuts her hair after she starts working as an army nurse.

* After Turtle loses her waist-length braid in ''TheWestingGame'', she starts acting more mature and calling herself T.R. instead of Turtle.

* Niall in WickedLovely, albeit in the backstory. He cut his hair really short after the whole 'getting raped and tortured by dark court fey' thing, for the three reasons of (according to WordOfGod): Irial liked his long hair, and Niall blamed Irial for everything to begin with; So as to not hide the scar on his face; and because long hair is a good 'handle' to hold someone down. When he became Dark King he let his hair grown again to signify getting over it.

* In the short story that is a prequel to MercedesLackey's [[HeraldsOfValdemar Vows and Honor]] duology, Tarma's hair is cut off by her Goddess to show that she has been accepted as Swordsworn.

* In ''BreakingBad'', Walt's decision to shave his head rather than deal with the hair loss from chemo coincides with a truly phenomenal CrowningMomentOfAwesome: at the end of the episode in which he goes bald, he [[spoiler: uses a bag of crystal meth to gain entrance to the den of a druglord who had just hospitalized his partner... then ''blows up the room'' with what he reveals to be, in fact, fulminated mercury]]. TookALevelInBadass, indeed.

* Matt [=McNamera=] on ''NipTuck'' shaves his head as part of the coping process after finding out that his parents blackmailed his much-older {{transsexual}} girlfriend into leaving town -- although ''before'' becoming a Neo-Nazi, oddly enough.

* ''TheWire''.

* Lori cuts Jessi's hair near the end of season 2 of ''KyleXY'' when [[spoiler:Sarah, who has shorter hair, comes]] and she [[spoiler:leaves her "father".]] Lori even utters the line "Once we do this there's no turning back."
* ''BoyMeetsWorld'' actress Danielle Fishel wanted to get a haircut, but [[ExecutiveMeddling the higher-ups didn't want Topanga to lose her trademark locks]]. The only way they would allow it is if Topanga getting a haircut was made into a major story point, which became the second episode of the 4th season. It's parodied in a later season when Eric cuts off his long hair claiming it to be symbolic of her personal growth. It's also the season Eric becomes a ''lot'' dumber and wackier, so make of that what you will.

** In season 7, [[spoiler: Tony Almeida]] has his head almost entirely shaved and starts growing stubble as part of his EvilCostumeSwitch. Meanwhile, ex-CTU Director Bill Buchanan grows his hair out a bit after becoming a RogueAgent determined to route out several conspirators in the government that are working with the terrorists for that season.
* After the rather ''brutal'' second season opening of ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'', John cuts off his long mop of hair. That episode implies it's to show [[TookALevelInBadass how many levels of badass he's taken]], and the next few episodes suggest that he's rebelling in the face of having watched his mother kill a man (the preceding episode made a point out of Sarah's unwillingness to kill humans), but a later episode reveals that [[spoiler: it's actually very justified, because it was ''John'' who had just killed a man for the first time, and self loathing is a normal reaction]].

* Used in the second season of ''TheLWord'' when Shane gives the newly-out Jenny a short haircut.

* In ''{{Deadwood}}'', Mr. Wu cuts off his queue to show his commitment to America and his alliance with Al Swearengen. He later begins wearing western style clothes as well.

* From a Brazillian soap opera: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbHI3QQARAo This]] is gotta be the most [[TearJerker upsetting]] out of all {{Important Haircut}}s, complete with Lara Fabian's equally moving "Love By Grace" as background music.
* On ''IronChef'', when Kandagawa challenged Sakai for the Millenium rematch battles, he espoused a new philosophy about Japanese cuisine changing (if not quite modernizing - he was a strict Japanese traditionalist chef in his earlier appearances) in order to survive in the 21st century. Embodying this change, he shaved his head to remind him of his new commitment. His perfect, sweep victory over Sakai was a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

* Played with on ''{{Reba}}'' when Van goes through one to show he blends in with his football team... only to find out after the fact that his teammates tricked him.
* Brad from HomeImprovement gets a ponytail as a self-expression, much to Tim's initial chagrin. Later on, EmoTeen Mark shaves his head after a break-up.
* In Season 7 of Series/TheAmazingRace, Joyce had to shave her head to win a Fast Forward (her husband Uchenna was already bald). That was the point at which they stopped being the boring couple in the background, and became threats to win the race.
* In almost every season of Series/StargateSG1 both Carter and Daniel sport new haircuts. Oddly enough [[GrowingTheBeard Teal'C's beard]], and later hair, are the only appearance changes that get commented on and it is negligible that Carter and Daniel's haircuts actually altered their characters. O'Neill's hair just gets grayer.

* ''{{Glee}}'': Puck has to shave his mohawk in one episode and becomes a lot less cool.

* In ''VeronicaMars'', flashbacks show Veronica with long, blonde hair. When the show begins, after Veronica is raped (after having been drugged) and her best friend is murdered, she wears her hair short. This is more likely to differentiate the different timeline than that VM cut her hair as a result of being raped or her friend having been murdered. Some of the flashbacks occur after Lily's murder and show Veronica's still long hair. It is also possible that some of the flashbacks occurred after Veronica's rape.

* Duncan cuts off his trademark long hair (with a knife!) in a dramatic slo-mo scene in the last season of ''HighlanderTheSeries''.
* Sally Draper cuts her hair in season 4 of ''MadMen'', it turns out creepily similar to her Betty's and emphasises the parallels of their characters.
** Also in ''MadMen'', Peggy's 1950s ponytail is dramatically turned into a 1960s flip 'do by the office's first out-of-the-closet gay man.
* An episode of ''ChicagoHope'' featured a teenaged boy who had been raised as a girl. After making a pass at his (female) best friend he went home and chopped off his long hair to try and pass as a boy.

* When ''LaFemmeNikita'' unexpectedly got a fifth season, the star, Peta Wilson, had cut short her trademark blonde tresses, thinking the show had ended. The first episode of the season turns this into a symbolic moment in which she crops her Blonde Hair of Innocence (an obvious wig, unfortunately), as she doomedly returns to Section One.
* ''GeneralHospital''. Katherine cuts her hair when she realizes that fiance Stefan wanted her to grow it long so that she would more closely resemble his [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]] Laura.
* On ''{{Bones}}'', Zach has to forfeit his medium-length unkempt hair for a mature cut to retain his position once he completes his degree, because he has to look professional enough to stand as expert witness for a jury.
* In the InPlainSight episode "Kumar vs. Kumar", an Indian housewife gets her long hair cut short as part of looking more "American" in order to blend in while in Witness Protection. Her very traditional husband objects to these changes in her appearance and personality but they eventually reconcile.

* Michael in the US version of ''QueerAsFolk'' apparently tries to invoke this from time to time. One episode has a subplot wherein Michael is unhappy with the way his life is going. In one scene, he mentions to Brian that he's thinking about doing something different with his hair, and Brian immediately knows that something is wrong, because every time Michael is unhappy about something he tries to deal with it by changing his hair.

* Music/{{Metallica}} experienced a backlash from their fans when they cut their hair prior to the release of 1996's ''Load'' (after a pyrotechnics accident forced James Hetfield to cut his, possibly out of solidarity). Guitarist Kirk Hammett has stated that "Metallica is all about music, not the length of our hair." During Alice in Chains' ''MTV Unplugged'' performance (which Metallica attended), bassist Mike Inez wrote on his bass guitar, "Friends Don't Let Friends Get Friends Haircuts..." However, the line was in fact just a ''{{Friends}}'' reference and the relation with Metallica's new haircuts was coincidental.

* In ''SketDance'', both Himeko and Switch in their respective Backstories, each for his/her own reasons. Tsubaki also makes such a decision when appearing as a minor character in Bossun's backstory.

* Ninamori from ''{{FLCL}}'' cuts her hair at the end of the 3rd episode.

* Two different characters in ''{{Simoun}}'' give themselves the same ImportantHaircut at different dramatic moments, with the second one echoing the first, and one of them later follows up with an ''additional'' ImportantHaircut. Also, another pair of characters have a set of Important Hair Clips.
* Motoko Aoyama from ''LoveHina'' cuts her long hair into a short bob when she decides to become a nun as penance for lying to her sister. Kaolla Su even has a laugh at the idea of her shaving her head bald.
* On ''{{Vandread}}'', the stuck-up ship's navigator Bart develops a rapport with LittlestCancerPatient Shirley on one of the planets they visit. The people there make dolls [[spoiler: to leave as proof they existed, due to their [[HumanResources bodies being harvested by Earth after death]]]], and she is working on a doll of Bart when she dies, leaving it bald but otherwise complete. Bart shaves his own head to match, [[CharacterDevelopment and from there on is slightly less of a jerk]].

* In the second episode of ''YamatoNadeshikoShichiHenge'', Nakahara Sunako cuts off the bangs that obscured her face and blocked her view of "the bright creatures" in a dramatic scene. She then almost immediately suffers from TheNoseBleed, now that she can see the tenants.
* Sara of ''SoukouNoStrain'' cuts her hair going into her new identity as she chases her brother.
* In ''OtakuNoMusumeSan'', Haruka cuts off her PeekABangs to emphasise to her elder sister how serious she is about following her own path.
* There's an interesting contrast in ''KimiGaNozomuEien'' -- Mitsuki cuts her long hair short to make a break with the past; meanwhile, Haruka's short hair grows long during the three years she's in a coma.
* In the same vein as the previous two examples, Shiki's hair in KaraNoKyoukai grew long in the gap between the [[AnachronicOrder second and fourth movies]], and she cuts it herself during her first post-coma fight.

* Kenji Harima of ''SchoolRumble'' gets several haircuts as the series progresses - from a mustache and goatee to bearded to clean-shaven and partially bald. All of it done for [[CannotSpitItOut Tenma]].
* ''ThePrinceOfTennis'' definitely loves to play around with the trope, whether using full haircuts or mere hairstyle changes:

* Fay in ''TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' somewhat subverts this by letting his hair grow ''out'' and into a ponytail to emphasize that he's taken a darker turn and developing cracks in his StepfordSmiler persona.

* ''NowAndThenHereAndThere '' provides a rather tragic example of this trope. After being repeatedly raped and assaulted at Hellywood, Sara manages to kill one of the rapists and escape into the desert where she proceeds to cut her hair short (despite the fact that she's American and shouldn't appreciate the symbolism).
** Or she may have cutted her hair so nobody would mistake her for Lalaru again, which pulled her into this mess to begin with.
* The moment that Knives in ''{{Trigun}}'' cuts his own hair begins his descent into madness. Vash, on the other hand, has two important haircuts, the second of which settles his commitment to abide by Rem's advice.
* In ''SlamDunk'', the main character Hanamichi Sakuragi shaves his head as self-punishment after being the cause of the Shohoku team's loss against Kainan. And before him, Hisashi Mitsui cuts his own hair to symbolize his redemption. Later, Haruko Akagi also cuts her hair short; it doesn't seem to be for a specific reason, but by that time she assumes that her crush towards Rukawa is a hopeless one..

* ''NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'''s title character.
** In the manga, Nausicaa receives the haircut (and a scale mail) when leaving for war. Also in manga, Kushana cuts her considerably long braid [[spoiler:to honor the death of a considerable part of her men in an Ohmu attack engineered by the Dorok.]]

* She didn't do it to herself, but Sheeta in ''[[CastleInTheSky Laputa: Castle In The Sky]]'' experiences an Important Haircut by [[CloseCallHaircut getting her braids shot off]], symbolic of her maturing and loss of innocence through the traumatic experiences of the movie. Note that the change in hairstyle happens in the same scene where [[PluckyGirl she finds the strength to stop running and take control of the situation]].

* In ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'', Sakuraba gets a crew-cut after quitting Jerry/Jari Productions to focus on his football life with the Ojo White Knights. He also grows a noticeable mustache and goatee.

* Prior to setting out for the climactic battle of ''WeissKreuz [[OddlyNamedSequel Gluhen]]'', Aya uses his own katana to cut off the waist-length braid he'd grown between series.

* ''LastExile'' [[spoiler:Slightly twisted for Sophia's hair-down-to-there upon taking the Imperial Throne. Dio's braid is unwrapped, and his bangs re-brushed to show off his Mark of the Covenant, after being brainwashed for the Rite and turned into a remorseless killing machine.]]

* In the manga ''GetBackers'', [[spoiler:Kazuki]] chopped off his RapunzelHair [[spoiler: to express his determination to rescue Fuuga and 'get back his lost time'. The scene took up one full page, so that ought to classify it an important haircut.]]
* In the manga ''ChronoCrusade'', Chrono's braid is cut off during a duel with [[spoiler:Remington. This symbolizes Chrono learning to control his temper, which serves to be a key in later battle.]]

* On ''HanaYoriDango'', after some nasty events involving TraumaticHaircut, [[PluckyGirl Tsukushi]] must cut her ruined hair. Her mom attempts to help her, but Mrs. Makino fucks up so bad that Rui has to finish the work.

* While not cutting it herself, Layla Hamilton fits this trope in the ''KaleidoStar'' {{OVA}}, "Legend of Phoenix ~Layla Hamilton Monogatari". After a journey to find herself, Layla goes from her DefrostingIceQueen persona to a person who won't hide her feelings anymore. Then, she asks [[GenkiGirl Sora Naegino]] to cut her long blond hair for her.
* When we first meet Casca from ''{{Berserk}}'' she has close-cropped short hair symbolic of her LadyOfWar persona. In a flashback to her earlier days before joining Griffith's Band of the Hawks, she had long hair, meaning that she probably cut it off soon afterward. After the events of the Eclipse where she [[spoiler: gets raped by Femto and [[GoMadFromTheRevelation Goes Mad From The Revelation]]]], Casca has let her hair grow long again.

* In ''EurekaSeven'', Eureka gets several hairstyle changes reflecting... other changes about her. Her hair is cut in the episode Acperience 2, and grows back in Acperience 3.

* Liechtenstein in ''AxisPowersHetalia'' already has short hair in her introduction, but the dialogue with her older brother Switzerland points out that she has ''just'' cut it, since it's the first time he has seen her like that. When asked why, she tells him it's both because she's more comfy with shorter hair and because she wants to look and be more like her very tough older brother. This is [[AdaptationExpansion slightly expanded]] in the anime: the episode featuring Liechtenstein and Switzerland opens with her sitting in front of her mirror and cutting her braids.

* The lead character of ''KazeHikaru'' has already cut her hair at the beginning of the series [[SweetPollyOliver to join the Shinengumi]], but Okita Souji remarks on the depth of her sacrifice.

* In the manga ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'', known as ''HanaKimi'' for short, Mizuki cuts her hair in the first few pages because she wants to disguise herself as a boy. This is to sneak into an all-boys' school as a student so she can get close to a student athlete she admires. The gender-reversal is so key to the plot that the reader does not actually get to see Mizuki with long hair. When she is depicted cutting it, her head is not shown until after she has cut it short. later, Mizuki is shown in a flashback taking place before she cut her hair, but some clever art tricks are used so that the sight of her with long hair is again denied.
* Haru from ''XamdLostMemories'' cuts her hair short after officially enrolling in the army.

* In the KinosJourney prequel movie/episode "life goes on", Kino has her long hair cut into the shorter style seen throughout the series as the result of it being stained with blood from the first person she killed.
* In the MoralEventHorizon of ''FushigiYuugi'', Tamahome's hair is cut off by Suboshi's weapons.
** It's also mentioned in the author's notes that Yui Hongo used to have long hair, buy she cut it short [[HotLibrarian to stop guys from chasing after her]].

* In ''GurrenLagann'', Nia's hair is cut by two bullets from Yoko's sniper rifle the episode after she decides to shun her previous life. Unlike many cases, this time the accidental cut doesn't give a clean cut at all, and she has Yoko clean it up, [[CharacterDevelopment showing that they finally trust each other]].
* There is a sort of inverted example in ''{{Shuffle}}'' Asa Shigure's short hair grows longer when she [[spoiler:uses magic to save Rin's life after he attempts suicide... to force her use said magic and stop bottling it inside her body]]. This change signifies that [[CharacterDevelopment Asa has finally come to terms]] with her heritage as [[spoiler:a half-demon and the daughter of the first being experimented on by the gods and the demons]].
* Eunhyung from the BoysLove {{manhwa}} ''LetDai'' gets her hair cut boy-like short after being brutally gang raped. She also adopts a more masculine attitude that borders on tomboyish. Somewhat subverted in Naru whose hair style keeps changing all the time since he often uses wigs.
* ''NaruTaru'' has a few examples of this: Akira cuts her beautiful long black hair after Komori comments on how nice it is. Shiina adopts a shorter haircut [[spoiler: after the death of Hiro-chan]] and she also cuts her father's hair.

* Both subverted and respected in the BoysLove manga ''KoiGaBokuraOYurusuHani''. Yamazaki tries to change his hairdo to make it look less girlish in an attempt at revamping his image but it does not work. Miku gets a radical haircut once she finally decides [[spoiler: to accept the relationship between Eiji and Yamazaki, thus moving on from her emotional hang ups]]
* After [[spoiler:accidentally causing the ribbon to run out of time and getting Hime-chan [[ShapeshifterModeLock stuck as Hibino Hikaru]]]], Erika from ''[[HimechanNoRibon Hime-chan No Ribbon]]'' cuts off her gorgeous, [[RapunzelHair extrememly long]] blonde hair so that she can [[TwinSwitch impersonate Hime-chan]] at home and school until they can find some way to [[spoiler:reverse the transformation]]. The next time we see her after she goes back home, her hair has grown out to shoulder-length.
* While only shown for a moment in a 'growing up' montage {{MAR}}'s Ginta gets his hair cut at one point during his first trip into the Shuuren no Mon.
* In ''CaptainTsubasa'', Kumi Sugimoto cuts her GirlishPigtails midway through the WYC arc, to offer it as a sacrifice to a Shinto goddess and bring good luck to the Japanese team.
* An unintentionally hilarious example in ''{{Dragonaut}}''. [[EmoKid Kazuki]] gives himself a haircut following a {{Wangst}}-fueled hissy-fit (one of many.) The result has been described as looking like his head got raped by a lawnmower.
* In ''{{Claymore}}'', Clare gets her haircut during her final exam and first yoma hunt, to use the hair as a decoy.
* Hanako in ''TheLuciferAndBiscuitHammer cuts off her own ponytail to symbolize how she's decided to become a warrior and avenge her [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend not-boyfriend's]] HeroicSacrifice.
* A {{Flashback}} chapter of ''KeroroGunsou'' reveals that Momoka gave herself an Important Haircut when her [[SplitPersonality dark side]] emerged for the first time upon seeing Tamama on the bad end of a CurbStompBattle. Coupled with ActionDressRip.
* ''SakuraGari'': Masataka gives one to Souma to signify [[spoiler: his MissingMom Abigail's definitive passing, and Lord Saiki's acceptance of such a fact]].
* Subverted in ''WanderingSon'': When formerly depressed [[{{transsexual}} trans-girl]] Nitori cuts her hair short, everyone thinks she's decided to be a boy after all, when in fact she wanted a "pixie" haircut like the ''female'' model in a magazine (think Mia Farrow in ''RosemarysBaby''). It's used as a plot point though, it shows how much she's growing out of her androgyny.
** Played straight in the same series with the resident trans-boy, Takatsuki. He cuts his hair early in the first volume, from a bob to a pixie. In middle school he grows it back into a bob due to a female friend of his saying he looks better with it. After being told how it makes him look like a tomboy and he's "cute" with it, he cuts his hair. At the beginning of high school he begins letting his hair grow again though.
* In ''HeatGuyJ'', Giovanni [[spoiler: has to go destroy J, even though he knows it will hurt someone to whom Giovanni and his best friend owe their lives]]. Before he does so, he tries to look like a different person by shaving his mullet into a mohawk and dyeing it blue. Meanwhile, his best friend looks on nervously, knowing that this isn't going to go well.
* ''KaitouSaintTail'' kept her long, red hair down as Meimi, but kept her hair in a pigtail as Saint Tail. At the end of the manga series, after she'd quit being Saint Tail, she cut her hair short.
* In ''FruitsBasket'', both Rin and Akito get important haircuts. [[spoiler:Rin has her long hair hacked off by Akito when she's locked up. In this case, the TraumaticHaircut is symbolic for both of them. Akito is enraged and hates long, black hair because it reminds her of her mother, Ren (A SmugSnake who abuses her daughter constantly, and in fact is the one who manipulated Rin to act against Akito which is what got her caught in the first place); Rin, meanwhile, wears her hair short for the rest of the series and it symbolizes how [[CharacterDevelopment she is calmer and eases up on her determination to break the curse]] (which was pretty much driving her to an early grave, due to her being an IllGirl). Akito gets an inverse at the end, when she grows her hair out to symbolize how she's free to live her life as a woman, rather than forced to hide her identity and pretend to be a man.]]

* ''PandoraHearts'': [[spoiler: Leo]] gets one in Retrace 61. For a while, [[spoiler:he had been using his hair as BlindingBangs so he wouldn't have to see or here things anymore. By that point, he was "tired of hiding".]]

* In the ''SukebanDeka'' OAV, Saki rejects the advances of a classmate by saying that she hates guys with long hair. In response, the boy whips out a set of clippers and shaves himself bald right there in front of her. He doesn't graduate to love interest, but he does become one of Saki's allies.
* Perhaps in an inverted example, in Book Two of the manga ''{{Ooku}}'', Abbott Arikoto [[spoiler: grows his hair out when he breaks his vow of chastity]]

* Franky from ''OnePiece'' cut his hair to a buzz cut after the TimeSkip, but can revert to his old style or change to a new one by pressing his nose for more than three seconds.

* In ''Literature/TheFamousFlowerOfServingMen'', particular point is made of this as part of SweetPollyOliver.

* In the "Season of Mists" StoryArc of ''Comicbook/TheSandman'', [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]] -- depicted as looking like an ordinary if rather good-looking human apart from the great big wings growing from his back -- resigns from being Ruler of Hell and [[Comicbook/{{Lucifer}} goes off to live among the mortals]]; in a gesture combining practicality with the symbolism of the ImportantHaircut, his last act as Ruler of Hell is to ask the Sandman -- his enemy on the best of days -- to cut his wings off. He doesn't bother with anaesthetic.

* When Comicbook/{{Superman}} came BackFromTheDead, he had shoulder-length hair (worn in a ponytail as Clark). During the preparations for his wedding, he had it cut to its previous length.

* {{Nightwing}} grew a ponytail during ''[[Comicbook/TeenTitans New Titans]]'', and lost it by accident in an early issue of his solo series, giving him a distinctive look he maintained for some time.

* In the ''ElfQuest'' comics, when her lifemate is killed, the usually mild-mannered Clearbrook slices off her waist-length braid and drapes it over his dead body, then turns into a revenge-mad MamaBear for a while. Centuries later, when she's back to her normal serene self, we see her hair has grown back. WordOfGod explicitly labels her hair as a symbol of her sexuality, which she was unable to experience fully while mourning her lifemate.
* After an extended period offworld and [[BodyHorror near-transformation into a predatory alien]], {{Storm}} of the ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' steadily veered away from her serene [[FriendToAllLivingThings nature-loving]] TechnicalPacifist TeamMom persona to the point of stabbing a woman in the heart during a duel for rulership of the Morlocks. This culminated with her showing up to Wolverine's wedding in leather pants, a matching tube-top with vest, and a mohawk (her clothes and much of her [[RapunzelHair hair]] were burned earlier that week, but less jarring salvage options were available even in Tokyo).

** Referenced in ''[[UltimateXMen Ultimate X-Men]]''. After Hank [=McCoy=] aka Beast was killed in a Sentinel attack [[spoiler:(don't worry, he got better)]] Storm, who had been his girlfriend at the time, smashed up her room, started dressing in black leather clothes, and gave herself a punk-rocker haircut.

* This trope, like nearly every other predominant comic book trope of the era, gets played with during Creator/GrantMorrison's run on ''Comicbook/AnimalMan''. After [[spoiler:the murder of his wife and children]], he heads off to get vengeance, but not before switching over to a leather costume and cutting his own hair with a trimmer. When Mirror Master sees him, though, he says it looks like he ran his head under a lawnmower.
* Another Morrison example--in ''Comicbook/TheInvisibles'', Jack Frost cuts his previously long hair into a shorter style upon finally accepting TheCall. This is foreshadowed earlier in the series, when Boy tells him he should cut his hair as at its current length it would get into his eyes when he was fighting- the obvious symbolism of the haircut being that he is now ready to begin said fighting.
* In the ''Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehog'' comic series, Princess Sally grows her hair after a year-long TimeSkip. This is symbolic of the changes she'd gone through the year apart from Sonic, and coincided with a redesign for a lot of the other characters and her own apparent mental breakdown. Later on, while under a new writer, Sally decides to cut her hair again, going back to her old hair-do, to signify that she's got her head on straight again.
* YTheLastMan. Agent 355 cuts Yorick's hair after the traumatic events in "Cycles".
* The SilverAge origin of Lex Luthor is that he [[FaceHeelTurn turned evil]] after [[{{Superman}} Superboy]] accidentally made his hair fall out. Really. (Oh, okay, there's some stuff about pride and betrayal and destroyed experiments, but the baldness is the important thing.)

* Lisa from FunkyWinkerbean lost her hair ''twice'' in the strip's run. First, a building fell on her and her head had to be shaved for brain surgery. Then there was the cancer.

* Ramona Flowers has one in volume 5 of the ''Comicbook/ScottPilgrim'' series.

* In ''{{Transmetropolitan}}'', Spider Jerusalem loses all of his hair to a malfunctioning shower unit within hours of returning to The City, having come down from the mountains looking decidedly woolly.
* ''ShadeTheChangingMan'' - Kathy's ImportantHaircut came after getting over the loss of Shade and becoming romantically attached to Lenny. The editor confessed in the letters page that she had also gone through several hairstyles of her own while getting over emotional pains. Kathy returned to long, natural hair while pregnant with Shade's child [[spoiler: and since she was murdered not long after, that's how she's always remembered]].

* [[WonderWoman Queen Hippolyta]] cuts her own hair in the ''Circle'' arc before going to beat up invading Nazis.
* The XWingSeries comics show that Wedge Antilles and Soontir Fel, the two Corellians who are second only to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, respectively, in [[AcePilot piloting skills]], both had very long tied-back hair when they were young. Wedge apparently had his cut after his parents were killed, since his next-set appearance of only a few years later has him with short hair. Soontir's hair is entirely shaved off when he's signed into the Imperial pilot academy. Major changes for both of them.

* In the original ''NickFury: Agent of SHIELD'', early in JimSteranko's classic period, the formerly scraggly Army Commando gets a thorough professional shave and hair to finally change his look into the clean shaven and sleek spy hero.
* When the Civil War finally begins, NikolaiDante cuts his hair short (off-panel) to represent his acceptance of the Romanov name. During the Amerika storyline, he finds a poster of himself from his swashbuckling days, and the toll the years have taken on him become painfully apparent.

* In the ''KimPossible'' fanfic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8397654/1/4-Broken-Heart-Broken-Mind "Broken Heart, Broken Mind"]], a resurrected Eric arranged to swap Kim's headache medication with a powerful mood-altering drug, prompting her to bitterly denounce Ron(less than a month before their planned wedding, no less), and then attempt suicide. While recovering from the drug's effects, Kim was forced to face the fact that what she said while under the influence hurt Ron deeply, and that she had taken him for granted all too often in the past. Later, Kim and Ron face Eric's army of [[FemBot android clones of Kim]]. Prepping for the battle, Kim asked Ron to cut her hair short with the Lotus Blade. In this case, the Important Hair Cut served two purposes: the traditional transformation from "old Kim" to "new Kim" as Kim acknowledged how she had taken Ron for granted, and also the more practical purpose of allowing Ron to tell the real Kim from the Kim-bots, so he wouldn't kill her by accident while slashing robots.

* In ''TheCryingGame'', Fergus gives Dil a haircut so Dil will look like a man (and thus, to protect Dil from the people hunting Fergus down).
* In TheParentTrap, Annie has to cut her hair in order to pose as Hallie. She isn't too happy about it, especially since Hallie (an 11-year-old) is cutting her hair. Sharon in the Hayley Mills original also had to cut her hair.

* Example ''and'' subversion: In ''ShaolinSoccer'', the hero's main love-interest has ''two'' important haircuts - the first one failing badly, and the second one turning her into an unbeatable goalie.
* In the movie ''SlidingDoors'', the version of Helen that ''did'' find her boyfriend in bed with another woman had an Important Haircut, allowing the audience to easily distinguish Single, Empowered, Blonde Helen from Cheated-on, Dowdy, Brunette Helen.

* Mickey Knox of ''NaturalBornKillers'' shaves his head before his interview with Wayne Gayle.

* The female protagonist of ''GIJane'' shaves her head during her special operations training.
* In ''SevenSamurai'', we first see Kambei as he shaves his head to disguise himself as a priest and take care of a hostage situation. This would dishonor a normal samurai to cut his hair in such a fashion as well as use such a duplicitous trick. However, the scene serves as an EstablishingCharacterMoment that Kambei doesn't care about such things, which inspires some peasants to hire him.
* Richie's ImportantHaircut in ''TheRoyalTenenbaums'' coincides with an important suicide attempt. He spends most of the movie as a has-been tennis player, and like his siblings wears pretty much the same same hairstyle and clothes as he did when he was young, so the new, shaven style is a sign of his moving on.
* TomCruise in ''MinorityReport.''
* ''Smoke Signals'' had Victor Joseph cut his hair with a folding knife when faced with the family mementos kept by his runaway father. He had previously told his [[BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins braided]] traveling companion that long, free-flowing hair is an Indian man's sign of pride.

* Reese Witherspoon's character Vanessa Julia Lutz gets an unwanted Important Haircut in ''{{Freeway}}''.

* In ''EmpireRecords'', Deb comes to work on the day the movie is set, goes into the bathroom, and shaves her head.
* In ''ShanghaiNoon'', the antagonist Lo Fong cuts off Chon Wang's braid, which is a very important status symbol to an Imperial Guard to the Emperor of China. Without this braid, he would not be allowed to return to China on punishment of death, and so because of this, his primary objective changes and he starts to embrace the "Western world".
* In the film ''TheLastEmperor'', Pu Yi (the last imperial ruler of China) cuts his own braid off, but rather than it being a symbol for the loss of his power it's instead a sign of his resolve to break with the past and take an active role in ruling The Forbidden City (which, up until that point in his life, he had merely been a figurehead ruler for.)

* The transformative moment in ''Film/TheLegendOfBillieJean'' is when Billie Jean hacks off her hair. She goes from a long blond beauty to an avenging rebel. This occurs after she sees ''ThePassionOfJoanOfArc''; she is adopting the hairstyle of that movie's heroine. More soberingly, Putter does the same thing out of defiance after her mother hits her.

* Susanna from ''LegendsOfTheFall'' did this [[spoiler: before she shot herself]].

* In ''Film/SmokeSignals'', Victor mourns his father by cutting his hair.
* In the ''StarWars'' universe, when a Padawan is made a full Jedi Knight, they have their braid is severed by Lightsaber in their knighting ceremony.

* In ''RomanHoliday'', Creator/AudreyHepburn[='=]s character Ann cuts off her long, princessy locks in favour of a fun, trendy style, representing her momentary attempt to fulfill her [[IJustWantToBeNormal longing to be an ordinary girl.]]

* In ''SingleWhiteFemale'', Jennifer Jason Leigh's character Hedy gets a short haircut and has it dyed red at a salon similar to Bridget Fonda's character Allie in order to be more like her. She later dyes it back to brunette while holding Allie hostage.

* In ''Literature/ARoseForEmily'', Emily cuts her hair after her OverprotectiveDad dies.

* {{Undertaker}} does this twice. Once when he became Big Evil and another when he is prepared to wrestle TripleH at Wrestlemania 28, after his humiliating performance at Wrestlemania 27.

* [[http://hairstyles2012x.com Hairstyles 2012]]

* Sebastian gives himself a stylish, villainous trim in Saga 5 of TrueVillains when he [[spoilers:accepts his villainy.]]

* In VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII, Connor goes through one late in the story, using a knife to shave off most of his [[BadassLonghair long hair]] into a short mohawk, and permanently leaving his hood down.

* In ''DNA2'', Ami's best friend Kotomi Takanashi keeps at first her hair in pigtails. Later, she cuts it into a pageboy style.

* ''Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim'': In episode 9, to prove that her HeelTurnFace was real, [[spoiler:Lecce]] unsheathed her rapier, stated that she would cut the most precious thing for a woman, and then cut her hair and offered it to Daba (crying as she did so). That did the main characters believed her.

* ''Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim'': In episode 9, to prove that her HeelTurnFace was real, [[spoiler:Leccee]] unsheathed her rapier, stated that she would cut the most important thing in one woman, and then cut her hair and offered it to Daba (crying as she did so). That did the main characters believed her.

* In ''HeavyMetalLGaim'', [[spoiler:Lecce]] cuts her hair to prove loyalty to the group because it's a "most precious thing for a woman".

* Akane Tendo in an early episode of ''RanmaOneHalf''. Notable in that [[TraumaticHaircut she didn't actually have a choice]] [[CloseCallHaircut in the matter]], but then decides to ask Kasumi to get it more or less cleaned up, ''not'' growing it back. That's because she grew it long originally to attract [[PrecociousCrush her first crush]], Dr. Tofu, but by that time she gets over her love for him.

* Evey Hammond is shaved bald in the ''VForVendetta'' movie at a crucial moment in her character development. A band even named themselves "Natalie Portman's Shaved Head" after this scene. Yes, really.

** Echoing the above incident, when Yuu leaves Miki (apparently for good, [[spoiler: after finding out he may be her half-brother]]), Miki's efforts to overcome it include cutting her long hair [[BobHaircut into a pageboy style]] and piercing her ears.

** Played straight in the same series with the resident trans-boy, Takatsuki. He cuts his hair early in the first volume, from a bob to a pixie. In middle school he grows it back into a BobHaircut due to a female friend of his saying he looks better with it. After being told how it makes him look like a tomboy and he's "cute" with it, he cuts his hair. At the beginning of high school he begins letting his hair grow again though.

* Subverted in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': after Buffy has sex with Spike for the first time and regrets it, she gives herself a haircut because he had complimented her hair. After a cut, she's in a salon trying to get it repaired. She's also quickly gets back with Spike.

* In ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', Ashitaka cuts his hair before having to leave his village (due to a curse) to seek his destiny, it was a proof of his determination on no returning.

** Isaiah 15:
--->''Surely in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined;\\
--->''Surely in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.\\
--->''They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep\\
--->''Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba;\\
--->''Everyone's head is bald and every beard is cut off. ''
--->I'm not sure [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic what it means]], perhaps some [[ValuesDissonance context is missing]], but it's clearly important.

* Inverted in Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/{{Emma}}'', as the haircut is important only because all the other characters think it isn't. "Emma's very good opinion of Frank Churchill was a little shaken the following day, by hearing that he was gone off to London, merely to have his hair cut."
** Of course, it later turns out that the haircut wasn't his real reason for the trip.

* In ''SleepingWithTheEnemy'', Julia Robert's character cuts her hair as part of her transformation from battered, submissive wife to free woman.

* In the short story that is a prequel to MercedesLackey's [[HeraldsOfValdemar VowsAndHonor]] duology, Tarma's hair is cut off by her Goddess to show that she has been accepted as Swordsworn.

* This happens in the sequel to ''Film/TheBoondockSaints''. Connor and Murphy MacManus have been in hiding in Ireland for years, growing hair and beards worthy of Christ himself. When they are called out of retirement, they immediately shave it all off, returning to their first-film appearance (with some PermaStubble for good measure.) Later, [[LampshadeHanging they wonder why they did it.]]

** In ''Literature/{{TheGirlsSeries}}'' Magda gets her blonde hair cut into an unflattering style and dyed back to its original colour when some boys get the wrong idea about her, which had led to a borderline AttemptedRape. Once she regains her confidence, she has it cut even shorter into a better style and dyed bright red.

* In the ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' novel ''Nerilka's Story'', Nerilka shears off the long hair that was her one vanity before leaving her life as a Lord Holder's daughter to work as an anonymous healer's assistant in the plague tents.