History Main / ManlyFacialHair

* UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt's epic manliness was complimented by an impressive mustache. Noteworthy as the majority of American presidents so far, have been clean-shaven, there's even a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_with_facial_hair#:~:text=Between%201861%20and%201913%2C%20all,period%20of%20time%20in%201948. whole article about that]] on Website/TheOtherWiki.

* In online cultures, a neckbeard is an informal term for someone (usually a man) who is socially inept and physically unappealing, especially one who has an obsessive interest in computing. The term came from their style of beard where they shave the face but keep facial hair on their chin and neck. This style of beard is also stereotypically associated with incels, young men who consider themselves unable to attract women sexually, typically associated with views that are hostile towards women and men who are sexually active.

* ZigZagged with {{Hipster}}s, many of which favor traditionally manly face fuzz like handlebar mustaches, muttonchop sideburns, and big, bushy, Grizzly Adams-type beards, yet the popular image of hipster is of a skinny, vaguely-effeminate guy who's obsessed with his own personal sense of stylishness and a strong desire to appear trendy; traits that demand a rather loose definition of "manliness".
** Similarly, the "soy boy" internet stereotype is meant to throw shade at certain men who are not deemed masculine while usually depicting said men as sporting a large beard.

* UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt's epic manliness was complimented by an impressive mustache.

* In [[UsefulNotes/{{Amish}} Amish]] and Mennonite cultures, shaving off one's mustache is actually seen as a rejection of militarism and a non-verbal declaration of pacificism.

* As mentioned above, many {{UsefulNotes/Amish}} communities practice against men shaving, with the belief being that men were created by God to grow beards, and that shaving them off would be a sin, especially after marriage.

In real life, mustaches are considered more professional than beards and they were mandatory in certain services. In the southern parts of India, [[https://www.logically.ai/factchecks/library/7b41d1a6 police officers are encouraged to grow a mustache or have mustaches as part of the uniform]] because police officers with a mustache were believed to be more effective, more respected by the public, less intimidating, and better at interacting with the community. Mustaches and beards are also considered a sign of innate masculinity and virility in India.

From 1860 to 1916, it was [[https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/03/01/mustache-law/ mandatory for British soldiers to wear mustaches]] and they would be arrested if they removed their facial hair. In Ancient Rome, beards were considered slovenly and a sign of living in squalor but were accepted as long as they were well-groomed and worn by someone in a position of authority. In certain countries [[note]] The Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, and Brazil to name a few. [[/note]], unkempt beards are considered improper and unprofessional while serving in the military and soldiers will have to be clean-shaven because the organization has to present discipline, hygiene, and uniformity. However, mustaches are only acceptable in certain countries as long as they are neatly trimmed and well-groomed during the soldier's service.

In [[UsefulNotes/{{Amish}} Amish]] and Mennonite cultures, shaving off one's mustache is actually seen as a rejection of militarism and a non-verbal declaration of pacificism. In online cultures, a neckbeard is an informal term for someone (usually a man) who is socially inept and physically unappealing, especially one who has an obsessive interest in computing. The term came from their style of beard where they shave the face but keep facial hair on their chin and neck. This style of beard is also stereotypically associated with incels, young men who consider themselves unable to attract women sexually, typically associated with views that are hostile towards women and men who are sexually active.

Facial hair is widely perceived as masculine and mature. Be it a well-groomed moustache or a lush and untrimmed beard, prominent facial hair on a male character is used to show them as [[RatedMForManly a bona fide tough guy, a man's man, a veritable buffet of manliness]].

* Ron Swanson on ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''. Not only is the man himself RatedMForManly bar none with the strength and toughness that comes with it (by sitcom standards, of course), the mustache ''itself'' is badass enough to come back to full form within mere days of being singed or trimmed off. In fact, when Ron got back with his ex, Tammy 1, the loss of his moustache is legitimately seen as a sign of emasculation by his friends and co-workers.

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', the academy students all consider Saguaro to be a [[RatedMForManly huge Manly Man]]. Naturally, he has quite an impressive mustache to back up this assumption.

SisterTrope to CarpetOfVirility, which achieves the same effect with chest hair, and LanternJawOfJustice, the way to go if you want to look manly without a beard. SuperTrope to BeardOfBarbarism (where long facial hair is used to mark someone as being from a violent warrior culture) and SeadogBeard (where a bushy beard is on an experienced seaman). Compare GirlsWithMoustaches, mustached or bearded women are usually presented as funny or disgusting since women should not be manly and should not have facial hair. And note that [[FacialScruff not all facial hair is manly]] -- a PornStache might make people giggle instead, and a WizardBeard serves more to make them look wise and old. BeardOfSorrow is also not manly, but rather a sign that a man has become depressed and given up on his grooming (though it could be worn by a HeartbrokenBadass). A BeardOfEvil is also unlikely to be manly, given its likelihood to be worn by an older, [[BrainsEvilBrawnGood wimpy intellectual]] villain like a MadScientist or EvilChancellor.

** Major Alex Louis Armstrong, despite being totally bald save for one lock of hair, sports a prominent handlebar moustache. Fittingly he's one of the most overtly manly characters in the series: he's got incredibly large muscles and has one of the most physical fighting styles among the State Alchemists.
** Sig, Izumi's husband, is a bearded butcher who's equally as tough and muscled as Armstrong [[BadassNormal and can fight alongside him despite not being an alchemist himself]]. Notably, when Armstrong meets him for the first time, Sid's face is one of the things he admires. He also has a [[BaritoneOfStrength deep voice]] to match his manliness [[spoiler and was able to kill Sloth with Alex Armstrong with his bare hands]].

* ''VideoGame/TheWolfAmongUs'': Sheriff Bigby Wolf's normal style of facial hair is a 5 o'clock shadow beard that grows into a medium-length beard with a stubble mustache when he gets angrier and is forced to use his innate powers. As a character, Bigby is a tough fighter as many fables have gone into brawls with him, he smokes a lot, and is hot-blooded. Bigby's fighting prowess and toughness were the exact reasons why he was chosen to be the sheriff of fabletown as he's the most iconic fable (resulting in his high durability) and he is considered one of the best fighters in fabletown.

Beards have also fallen in and out of fashion throughout history. The elaborate military whiskers of the Victorian and Edwardian Eras fell quickly out of fashion during UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne because they interfered with the fit of [[DeadlyGas gas masks]] (except for the toothbrush mustache as it would fit beneath the mask, but it was DarthWiki/RuinedForever by [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler one guy]]). They were out in the 20th century thanks to the rise of widely-available shaving equipment making it easy to get rid of facial hair but made a comeback in the 21st.

** Sid, Izumi's husband, is a bearded butcher who's equally as tough and muscled as Armstrong [[BadassNormal and can fight alongside him despite not being an alchemist himself]]. Notably, when Armstrong meets him for the first time, Sid's face is one of the things he admires.

* ''ComicBook/GroupOf7AMostSecretTale'': Both Bethune and Smythe were mustachioed men who fought in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, though this seems to be more true of Smythe. The reason being that he's one of the group's hand-to-hand combat experts, and the first thing he does when he learns that John [=McCrae=] will be leading the team is challenge him for the leadership position. [=McCrae=] still beats him one-handed, but props to him for being gutsy enough to try it.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'': Used as TertiarySexualCharacteristics in the Jellicent line. Both [[PinkGirlBlueBoy male (blue) and female (pink)]] Jellicent have white lining underneath their eyes; in females, this resembles a puffy collar, but in males, it resembles a moustache.

SisterTrope to CarpetOfVirility, which achieves the same effect with chest hair, and LanternJawOfJustice, the way to go if you want to look manly without a beard. SuperTrope to BeardOfBarbarism (where long facial hair is used to mark someone as being from a violent warrior culture) and SeadogBeard (where a bushy beard is on an experienced seaman). Compare GirlsWithMoustaches, mustached or bearded women are usually presented as funny or disgusting, since women should not be manly and should not have facial hair. And note that [[FacialScruff not all facial hair is manly]] -- a PornStache might make people giggle instead, and a WizardBeard serves more to make them look wise and old. BeardOfSorrow is also not manly, but rather a sign that a man has become depressed and given up on his grooming (though it could be worn by a HeartbrokenBadass). A BeardOfEvil is also unlikely to be manly, given its likelihood to be worn by an older, [[BrainsEvilBrawnGood wimpy intellectual]] villain like a MadScientist or EvilChancellor.

Beards have also fallen in and out of fashion throughout history. The elaborate military whiskers of the Victorian and Edwardian Eras fell quickly out of fashion during UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne because they interfered with the fit of [[DeadlyGas gas masks]] (except for the toothbrush mustache as it would fit beneath the mask, but it was DarthWiki/RuinedForever by [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler one guy]]). They were out in the 20th century thanks to the rise of widely-available shaving equipment making it easy to get rid of facial hair, but made a comeback in the 21st.

* ''Animation/LingLongIncarnation'': The older character, Elon, is the only one who can take on the younger protagonist, Mark, in a fist fight. Probably has something to do with the fact that he has a full beard, which adds extra manliness that Mark's PermaStubble can't match.

* Dwarfs from ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' never stop growing beard hairs and never willingly shave their facial hair, and as such a (male) dwarf's beard length is directly associated with his age and position in the social hierarchy. As such, this trope is in effect for dwarfs InUniverse, with long-bearded dwarfs automatically being given reverence and respect for their age, wisdom and their long beards. On the flip side, [[TraumaticHaircut being forcefully shaved is just about the worst thing you can do to a dwarf]], and many who suffer it [[DeathSeeker willingly take the Slayer's Oath over the loss of their beard]]. The [[{{Conlang}} dwarf language of Khazalid]] contains several words on respect or disdain owed to a particular dwarf's magnificent or scruffy-looking beard.

* The indie platformer game, ''VideoGame/BeardBlade'', where you're a badass warrior with a [[PrehensileHair prehensile BEARD]] have you kicking ass while turning your beard into fists, blades, maces and assorted weapons. Early in the game, the wizard who gave you your powers claims "everyone has a ''special'' trait that grants their worthiness in magic", and apparently your special trait is your awesome beard.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': Whenever Ganondorf sports a beard, he's depicted to be brawny, having a stout body and heavily emphasizes on swordsmanship. So confident in his skills, he doesn't use magic in his {{Boss Fight}}s, a stark contrast to his other appearances which put heavy emphasis on dark magic.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'': Used as TertiarySexualCharacteristics in the Jellicent line. Both [[PinkGirlBlueBoy male (blue) and female (pink)]] Jellicent have white lining underneath their eyes; in females this resembles a puffy collar, but in males it resembles a moustache.
* ''VideoGame/{{Shing}}'': Its no coincidence that Wilhelm, the manliest member of the player characters, who walks around [[WalkingShirtlessScene bare-chested]] and [[BloodKnight slaughters Yokai by the hundreds]] with an [[AxeCrazy axe]], is also the only one with a beard.

** Ghira has a very large and full beard that blends in with the rest of his hair and compliments the [[CarpetOfVirility hair on his chest and arms]]. When forced to fight by the White Fang's attempt to assassinate him, his style is very physical, and includes physical intimidation such as flexing his muscles while roaring. Even being stabbed in the back doesn't stop him from fighting, or holding up a large section of a falling ledge with his arms and shoulders to stop Ilia from being crushed.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'': Zig-zagged with protagonist Cleveland Brown. While his mustache is a great source of pride for him (at one point he's shown to have an entire grooming kit for it), he displays few stereotypically "masculine" traits in connection with facial hair. While losing his mustache causes his voice to noticeably rise in pitch (no filter), his level of vanity in regards to his facial hair could be considered stereotypically feminine.

* Not only is Creator/ChuckNorris considered ''the'' archetypal MemeticBadass, but his beard is also portrayed a force of nature unto itself.
* ZigZagged with {{Hipster}}s, many of which favor traditionally manly face fuzz like handlebar mustaches, muttonchop sideburns and big, bushy, Grizzly Adams-type beards, yet the popular image of hipster is of a skinny, vaguely-effeminate guy who's obsessed with his own personal sense of stylishness and a strong desire to appear trendy; traits that demand a rather loose definition of "manliness".

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Centurions}}'', Max Ray (who was [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed modeled after]] Creator/TomSelleck) sports a PornStache, while Rex Charger has a sandy blonde beard that gives him a [[UsefulNotes/TheVikingAge Viking-like]] appearance. Both characters (like all the other Centurions) are manly {{Action Hero}}es.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' has an episode where Dexter uses HollywoodScience to give himself a bushy red beard, in emulation of his hero [[SoulBrotha Action Hank]], and Dexter even ends up fighting alongside him against various bearded villains. Unfortunately he loses his prosthetic facial hair in the process, but Action Hank reassures him that [[SpoofAesop "It's not the beard on the outside that counts, but the beard on the]] ''[[SpoofAesop inside."]]''
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter grows a moustache and becomes innately more badass: he rescues a guy from a burning building. However, the moustache is burnt off in the attempt, reverting him back to normal.