History Main / PeltsOfTheBarbarian

* The default male [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] depicted on the cover of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' wears heavy fur armor (and a [[HornyVikings horned helm]])--just to drive a point home that the eponymous setting is a GrimUpNorth. In game the Dragonborn can wear Fur Armor ripped from the cold corpses of bandits or Forsworn Armor from the group of the same name, the latter of which has a lot of skulls (some of which are human). Since fur armor is just a bunch of animal pelts stitched together it is really only good in the early game before the Dragonborn can start forging iron armor. The latter is found alter in the game and is outclassed by the armor you already should have, not like the forsworn need it as their magical resitance and high levels make them pretty durable, especially the [[EliteMook Briarhearts]].

* The default male [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] depicted on the cover of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' wears heavy fur armor (and a [[HornyVikings horned helm]])--just to drive a point home that the eponymous setting is a GrimUpNorth.

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' the kingdom of Forossa collapsed after a war, so the people turned into lawless raiders. The [[http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/bandit-set bandit armor set]] is from there, and it's made of metal, leathers, furs, and a pile of animal skulls on one shoulder. The actual Forossa Knight armor while better put together, still has [[https://40.media.tumblr.com/e84d08972ebbdac3ec943fe164e8f499/tumblr_n6hxpzmLaI1skceqmo1_500.jpg furs over the shoulderplates]], giving it a distinctly wild feel.

Barbarians, particularly those from the GrimUpNorth, typically wear garments made of rough furs, leathers, hides, and simple cloths. Thus such clothing can indicate the wearers are part of a primitive, but ProudWarriorRace (even if not everyone in that race is particularly tough).

The exact clothing worn will vary. Often these people are fully dressed, but just as often they wear mainly {{loin cloth}}s and {{fur bikini}}s. And they tend to dress this way whether they are in their homeland or not (so this trope doesn't preclude ExposedToTheElements).

** Nosferatu Zodd, the BloodKnight Apostle who has stalked the battlefield for over 300 years, wears animal pelts and leather about his loins to emphasize his beast-like and barbaric persona. It's seemingly more his style preference than any particular need to keep warm, since he once fought in the snow barefoot and wearing nothing but a loincloth with no sign of frostbite. Indeed, the first time that Guts encountered him he was fighting [[FullFrontalAssault completely naked]]!
** Pelts and leather is the unofficial uniform of the Black Dog Knights, Midland's [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores penal army]] composed of the kingdom's worst convicted rapists and murderers led by Apostle and PsychoForHire Wyald. They grow their hair long and wild, wearing little besides their cuirasses and the furs around their loins and shoulders. Their leader Wyald in particular wears a great wolf pelt with the animal's face still on it over his head and shoulders, as well as black fur pelts lashed around his shins and forearms by leather thongs. The Black Dog Knights are considered to be more of a mob of barbarians than a proper army, as likely to RapePillageAndBurn the King's subjects as the enemy, for which they are posted on the country's frontiers where their presence won't disgrace the regular military.

** Many of the vikings in this franchise wear big pelts, from Stoic's huge fur cape to Gobber's fuzzy vest.

* In Ralph Bakshi's animated ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'', Boromir wears a thick pelt in addition to a [[HornyVikings horned helmet]], which seems to place him in the "barbarian Northerner" bracket. (In contrast, in [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings the book]], Boromir wore a [[PrettyInMink fur-lined coat]], and his homeland of Gondor is shown as highly civilised and most closely based on Graeco-Roman culture.)

* In the film of ''Literature/TheThirteenthWarrior'', the vikings wear long furry capes as they travel to help King Hrothgar defend his lands.

* The standard outfit of the barbarian heroes of the Literature/{{Discworld}} comprises a leather loincloth, a few scraps of metal, and an optional fur or leather cloak. Spoofed with Nijel the Barbarian in ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}'', who is learning barbarian heroing from a book, and wears his loincloth over the top of woollen longjohns.
* ''Literature/LoneWolf'': The Ice Barbarian of Kalte wear heavy fur clothes to protect themselves from the cold. Of course, the hero and his guides are similarly garbed when they venture in this arctic region.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones''. The Northerners and wildlings in the GrimUpNorth have an excuse, given that it's cold and [[ArcWords winter is coming]]. Certainly everyone south of where they are regard them as barbarians (this includes the Northerners thinking this of the wildlings). In the commentary Lena Headey talks of how attractive the actors are with fur wrapped around them.

* The Norscans of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' (evil satanic vikings) wear animal furs along with ornate armor (the proportions vary depending on how badass/rich they are).
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': The [[Literature/SpaceWolf Space Wolves]] (heroic space Vikings) often wear wolfskins over their armor, usually one they've killed during their rites of passage. The Literature/WhiteScars (heroic space Mongols) do it to a lesser degree.

* Simon Belmont, from ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' has been always wearing his anachronistic barbarian outfit, both in the original timeline and in the [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadowMirrorOFFate reboot]]. In the later at least it's roughly at the XI century, so it's least egregorious. For the record, the original Simon Belmont appears in the XVII century.
* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' the kingdom of Forossa collapsed after war, so the people turned into lawless raiders. The [[http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/bandit-set bandit armor set]] is from there, and it's made of metal, leathers, furs, and a pile of animal skulls on one shoulder. The actual Forossa Knight armor while better put together, still has [[https://40.media.tumblr.com/e84d08972ebbdac3ec943fe164e8f499/tumblr_n6hxpzmLaI1skceqmo1_500.jpg furs over the shoulderplates]], giving it a distinctly wild feel.

* Beastmasters in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' wear animal skin loincloths and hoods... and that's it, really. Orc shamans wear wolfskins as well.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLongDark'' you initially start out with a set of conventional clothing, but as you kill animals you can craft your own fur clothing, which includes deer skin pants and boots, wolf skin coat and bear skin bedroll. These are warmer but heavier than conventional clothing. There is even a Steam achivement called Wrapped in Furs for using all of them at once.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' cartoon, Jim comes across the Sword of Righteousness, which tries to encourage Jim to dress like a real hero, which includes viking style furry clothes as well as a wig. [[spoiler:Then it turns out the sword doesn't know what it's doing, and always failed to help a hero win a fight.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ThundarrTheBarbarian'': Thundarr is a barbarian warrior in a post-apocalyptic world. He wears what is basically a brown fur vest and loin cloth. Every other barbarian we see also has a fur costume of some sort.

->''"Oh please god let this episode be about [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/RebBrown Reb]] killing people with a battle axe while riding on a motorcycle, dressed in furs and wearing a huge horned helmet!"''

->''"Oh please god let this episode be about Reb killing people with a battle axe while riding on a motorcycle, dressed in furs and wearing a huge horned helmet!"''

* ''Series/GameOfThrones''. The Northerners and wildlings in the GrimUpNorth have an excuse, given that it's cold and Winter Is Coming. Certainly everyone south of where they are regard them as barbarians (this includes the Northerners thinking this of the wildlings). In the commentary Lena Headey talks of how attractive the actors are with fur wrapped around them.

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' often includes this as armor options for characters, whether or not they chose the barbarian character class (which in this game is part vocation and part culture).
* The Norsca of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' (evil satanic vikings) wear animal furs along with ornate armor (the proportions vary depending on how badass/rich they are).
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': The [[Literature/SpaceWolf Space Wolves]] (heroic space vikings) often wear wolfskins over their armor, usually one they've killed during their rites of passage. The Literature/WhiteScars (heroic space Mongols) do it to a lesser degree.

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' the kingdom of Forossa collapsed after war, so the people turned into lawless raiders. The [[http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/bandit-set bandit armor set]] is from there, and it's made of metal, leathers, furs, and a pile of animal skulls on one shoulder.

** The Normans and Vikings wear furry clothing.

Two common RealLife groups depicted this way in media are [[HornyVikings Vikings]] and [[{{UsefulNotes/Mongolia}} Mongols]]. You can often tell {{fantasy counterpart culture}}s of them if the people dress this way.

** In the sequel the kids get costume upgrades, with ActionGirl Astrid's new outfit [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140116201123/howtotrainyourdragon/images/2/26/Astrid-httyd-2.jpg being like this]]. She gets a fur hood, boots, and even what's basically a short fur petticoat under her LadyLegionnaireWear.

*** Mostly because Roman legion standard bearers actually wore such pelts, which weren't always lion skins--bear skins in particular were also quite popular.

* The standard outfit of the barbarian heroes of the Literature/{{Discworld}} comprises a leather loincloth, a few scraps of metal, and an optional fur or leather cloak. Sppofed with Nijel the Barbarian in ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}'', who is learning barbarian heroing from a book, and wears his loincloth over the top of woollen longjohns.

* The standard outfit of the barbarian heroes of the Literature/{{Discworld}} comprises a leather loincloth, a few scraps of metal, and an optional fur or leather cloak. Subverted with Nijel the Barbarian in ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}'', who is learning barbarian heroing from a book, and wears his loincloth over the top of woollen longjohns.

!!Examples

[[AC:Comic Books]]
* {{Asterix}}:
** The Normans wear furry clothing. In contrast Roman standard bearers are the civilized version, who wear more stylish lion skin capes.
** One goth in Asterix the Legionary turns out to be wearing a freestanding fur cape as his only clothing.

[[AC:Film - Animated]]

[[AC:Film - Live Action]]
* When we first see the villain in ''{{Film/Highlander}}'' he is wearing skulls and black animal hides. He was raised by the brutal Kurgan tribes from the steppes of Russia.

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:Live Action TV]]

[[AC:Tabletop Games]]

* The Norsca of {{Warhammer}} (evil satanic vikings) wear animal furs along with ornate armor (the proportions vary depending on how badass/rich they are).
* Warhammer40K: The SpaceWolves (heroic space vikings) often wear wolfskins over their armor, usually one they've killed during their rites of passage. The WhiteScars (heroic space Mongols) do it to a lesser degree.

[[AC:Video Games]]

* Princess Anaele of Skalt in ''VisualNovel/SevenKingdomsThePrincessProblem'' comes from a Viking-inspired GrimUpNorth culture and dresses accordingly--in light battle armor and a cloak with a massive fur collar--despite being a representative of her country on a ''diplomatic'' summit. Her entourage follows suit, showing off their fur-trimmed clothes,--and it is strongly implied that they do it on purpose, to annoy the rest of the delegates and to demonstrate that they prefer swords over words.
* Beastmasters in WarcraftIII wear animal skin loincloths and hoods... and that's it, really. Orc shamans wear wolfskins as well.

[[AC:Western Animation]]

* ''ThundarrTheBarbarian'': Thundarr is a barbarian warrior in a post apocalyptic world. He wears what is basically a brown fur vest and loin cloth. Every other barbarian we see also has a fur costume of some sort.

* ''ThundarrTheBarbarian'': Thundarr is a barbarian warrior in a post apocalyptic world.. He wears what is basically a brown fur vest and loin cloth. Every other barbarian we see also has a fur costume of some sort.

* In the film of ''Liturature/TheThirteenthWarrior'', the vikings wear long furry capes as they travel to help King Hrothgar defend his lands.

** In the sequel the kids get costume upgrades, with ActionGirl Astrid's new outfit being like this. She gets a fur hood, boots, and even what's basically a short fur petticoat under her LadyLegionnaireWear.

TV: