History Main / RuggedScar

* Ariminius in ''Series/Barbarians'' has a scar on his right arm that he tells Centurion Metellus was his souvenir from Pannonian steel, which he received in battle in Pannonia. In response Metellus shows him the scars on his left hip, stating that people had to carry him to the latrine for two months after he received those particular scars.

* Invoked by Luffy of ''Manga/OnePiece'', who thinks it would be badass to himself a scar below his eye in tribute to his hero Shanks. Shanks himself has a claw mark scar over his eye from his fight with Blackbeard.
** And after the time skip, Luffy sports another scar in the shape of an X on his chest after the battle with [[spoiler:Akainu]].

* The creator of ''Manga/GingaNagareboshiGin'' and it's sequel ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed'' is fond of this trope. Many characters of his have scars or acquire them at some point. Notable examples are the absolutely covered by them Riki, arguably the most powerful dog in either series, and his son Gin, the protagonist of ''Manga/GingaNagareboshiGin.''

** Clone Commander Cody, Obi-Wan’s right hand man during the Battle of Utapau, has a wicked scar that goes down the right side of his face.

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': Lionpaw wants one of these during ''Dark River''. He gets injured in a battle and hopes that his wound leaves a scar to prove how he well that he fought.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'', [[BareFistedMonk Akihiko]] has been WalkingTheEarth since ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', and he's picked up a couple of scars, notably a giant claw mark on his chest. It's never elaborated on, but it fits his "wild man" redesign and the fact that, when it comes to hand to hand combat, he's probably the best fighter in the game.

* Absurdly common in {{RPG}}s including ''Franchise/Warcraft'' despite almost all such games also including [[HealingMagic widespread using of magical healing]]. Indeed, it is not at all infrequent to see such scars borne by individuals who would be fully capable of healing themselves: Turalyon in the Legion expansion to ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''would be a prime example. This is made all the more strange by the other characters who exhibit such scars having lore justifications for keeping them: Varian Wrynn's scars are a sign that he is the wolf god Goldrinn's chosen champion, Illidan's scars are tattoos used to bind a demon to his body etc. We can only assume that Turalyon's wife Alleria asked him to keep his scars, since they do make him quite the SilverFox.
* Clementine from ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' will have a scar going over her eyebrow in [[VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonThree season three]] if you choose the [[spoiler:"Go with Kenny"]] ending in [[VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonTwo season two]]. She will have a bulletgraze scar on her cheek if you chose the [["Richmond" ending]] instead.

* In ''Webcomic/AliceAndTheNightmare'', Dee and Dum Vena both have ragged scars on their faces, Dee on her cheek and Dum across her mouth.

* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]] subverts this in an episode where she meets her future self. The time-travelling Twilight does indeed have a scar, as well as an EyepatchAfterTimeSkip, but [[spoiler:she's only from next Tuesday and its a harmless little cut]]. Later played straight during the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 movie]] with [[TheHeavy Tempest Shadow]]. A scar across her right eye as well as her broken unicorn horn show she's not someone to trifle with.

* [=EarthForce=] Colonel Ari ben Zayn in the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "Eyes" has one that starts next to his left eye and goes down to his jawline. Pretty clearly meant to make him look threatening since the only explanation given (when Commander Sinclair pisses him off) is that he "got it leading men into battle."

** When Admiral Hacket appears in person in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' we are treated to a face that matches LanceHenrickson's gravel-laden voicework.

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[[folder: Web Original]]

* ''WebAnimation/RWBY'': Weiss has a scar over her left eye, which she got during her battle with the Arma Gigas in the "White" trailer.

* In ''{{Webcomic/Niels}}'', [[BadassGay Agent 250]] is covered in scars like this, notably on his face, arms, and torso. Since he's in the paramilitary branch of the government agency he works for, it can be assumed they're all from previous missions. The only one that he acquires on-panel is the most recent one, a large scar where his bellybutton used to be, from [[spoiler: Niels shooting him in the stomach]].

A relatively simple way for a writer to show a character's [[MadeOfIron tough]] [[ShowDontTell without explicitly saying it]]: give them a prominent scar. Even if the [[EveryScarHasAStory cause of the scar]] is never revealed, it's clear that the character suffered some sort of serious wound and survived. For example, you look at a group of {{Space Marine}}s. Who do you think is the toughest one there? The clean-faced guy or the [[OldSoldier guy with a healed gash across his face]]?

** And after the timeskip, Luffy sports another scar in the shape of an X on his chest after the battle with [[spoiler:Akainu]].

** Colonel Silver, a KnightOfCerebus, has a small cross shaped scar on his chest.

* ''Manga/BusoRenkin's'' Tokiko Tsumura has a large scar running horizontally across her cheeks and nose. It's very fitting, as she's the more aggressive of the main characters (her catch phrase is "I'll splatter your guts!"). It's left unexplained until the epilogue chapter, where it turns out she acquired it when [[spoiler:she was attacked by a humanoid homunculus and activated her Buso Renkin for the first time]]. The author stated in the liner notes that it was partly inspired by the scar he'd put on Himura Kenshin's left cheek in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''.

* Sakyo, TheSponsor of Toguro brothers from ''Anime/YuYuHakusho'' has a big scar that crossed his right eye and good part of his face. Despise of this scar, [[EyesAreUnbreakable his eye is intact]].
* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' doesn’t shy away from acquired scars after so many encounters and battles with blood thirsty demons:

** Sarah Connor was meant to have a similar scar on her face in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', but the makeup process was too time consuming and difficult to implement.

* ''Film/LethalWeapon3'': Martin Riggs and Lorna Cole compare scars in a one-up fashion, which also justifies taking off all of their clothing, followed by inevitable fornication. This overlaps with EveryScarHasAStory, but in this case the actual story of the scars are less important than their symbol of showing someone is tough.

* [[BlindWeaponmaster Blind Master]] in ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'', played by [[Music/WuTangClan the RZA]], has a large gash running down his face. Its cause it not revealed in the movie, but he's shown to be a wise and skilled master.

* Though Wizards in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' do eventually heal sufficiently that scars disappear (they don't necessarily heal faster, but their bodies don't stop healing when a limb is functional, but keep doing so until they're completely fixed), the title character has an impressive number of scars, to the point where Anastasia Luccio, the battle captain of the Wardens (the White Council's military wing) who's about two hundred years old, is astonished by their number during a ScarSurvey, saying that she knows wizards hundreds of years old without half his number of scars. A few books later in ''Literature/SkinGame'', he notes that the fairly thuggish bodyguards at a fancy party are nervous around him because 'they recognised one of their own kind and one who had better scars than they did'. This is particularly notable since he's in a full tuxedo at the time. That said, the classic awesome facial scar he has and the fact he's about six foot ten probably helps.

* [=EarthForce=] Colonel Ari ben Zayn in the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "Eyes" has one that starts next to his left eye and goes down to his jawline. Pretty clearly meant to make him look threatening since the only explanation given (when Commander Sinclair pisses him off) is he "got it leading men into battle."

* Saïx from ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' is the best example for this trope. A stoic, ice-calm commander with a X-shaped scar with the center on his nose is the easily one of [[TheDreaded the most feared villains]] in the whole series. Many characters, including seriously powerful ones, often choose to flee on his arrival. And when [[{{Lunacy}} the moon finally breaks his calm]], the scar nearly covers all of his face, and [[TheBerserker he becomes an unstoppable demon]].

* Ser Royland Degore in ''VideoGame/TelltalesGameOfThrones''. His personal history is only briefly referenced in-game, and his prominent facial scar is never explained. He is the master-at-arms of Ironrath and is immediately established as a tough, reckless and aggressive character, always advising the player to choose the least diplomatic option available. His background is explained a bit better in the game's codex, revealing he indeed is universally regarded as a brilliant and tough commander.

* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]] subverts this in an episode where she meets her future self. The time travelling Twilight does indeed have a scar, as well as a EyepatchAfterTimeSkip, but [[spoiler:she's only from next Tuesday and its a harmless little cut]]. Later played straight during the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 Movie]] with [[TheHeavy Tempest Shadow]]. A scar across her right eye, as well as her broken unicorn horn, show she's not someone to trifle with.

** Harm has a set of claw like scars over his face.

* An InvokedTrope in ''Series/{{Charite}}'' where medicine student Georg Tischendorf gets a dueling scar as a sign of his joining a fraternity, source of this being a strictly regulated duel of academic fencing. The trope is also [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] because the scar doesn't actually make Georg a badass; he has to admit that in a real fight against his romantic rival, a veteran who's been serving several years, he'd be defeated in no time.

* The huge, diagonal scar running the length of Sagat's torso in ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', courtesy of a Metsu Shoryuken from a [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Satsui no Hado]]-infused Ryu. Some adaptations show how it happened, and sometimes it really is as nasty as it looks (such as in [[Anime/StreetFighterIITheAnimatedMovie the animated movie]]).

* BitchInSheepsClothing [[spoiler:Matt Engarde]] from ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' hides a double example under his PeekABangs; he has the claw-like scars over one of his eyes. This highlights that he's nowhere near as innocent as he seems, but hides it well as these never get seen before TheReveal that he's the BigBad of the case.

* ''Manga/BusouRenkin's'' Tokiko Tsumura has a large scar running horizontally across her cheeks and nose. It's very fitting, as she's the more aggressive of the main characters (her catch phrase is "I'll splatter your guts!"). It's left unexplained until the epilogue chapter, where it turns out she acquired it when [[spoiler:she was attacked by a humanoid homunculus and activated her Busou Renkin for the first time]]. The author stated in the liner notes that it was partly inspired by the scar he'd put on Himura Kenshin's left cheek in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''.

** Himejima Gyoumei has a huge horizontal scar on his forehead, acquired from before he became a slayer of demons, fighting his first demon when he was just a normal monk.

** Following chapter 70, [[spoiler: in which he is temporarily killed by being stabbed by Daken, Harry has a scar over his heart]].

** Captain Thunder (Flashpoint ComicBook/CaptainMarvel) has a bunch of inexplicable scars over both his eyes.