History Main / SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains

** Part 2's protagonist Joseph [[BareYourMidriff shows off his midriff]], but he's downright modest compared to the [[{{Stripperiffic}} Pillar Men]].

* Generally in all the ''Anime/TimeBokan'' series the heroines wear more modest outfit compared to villainesses. In ''Anime/{{Yatterman}}'' for examples, the heroes wear jumpsuits while the main female villain wears a revealing leather outfit. Her ugly cronies also have their [[BareYourMidriff midriffs bared]] [[FanDisservice at all times]].

** In "Mirror Mirror", the Terran Empire has female uniforms based around BareYourMidriff and male uniforms with no sleeves and slightly more chest.

* ''Series/DarkMatter'': Not so much with the actual villains of the show (except Alicia Reynaud), but when contrasting our heroes with their evil counterparts. While ruthless murderers Portia Lin (during flashbacks to the pre-mindwipe days on the ''Raza'') and Alt Portia from the AlternateUniverse, and newly-ethical Two, all generally wear tight black outfits, the Portias still manage to dress considerably more revealingly (very low-cut shirts, [[CleavageWindow boob windows]], [[BareYourMidriff bared midriffs]]), to the point where you can easily tell who's who during fake-outs by the amount of cleavage shown by the actress. Even the outfits of One / Jace Corso try to encourage the EvilIsSexy trope by having Corso (and Alt Corso) wear [[ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow guyliner]] and more [[HellBentForLeather black leather]], while One dresses in a range of black, white and earth tones with an aesthetic that's more "space cowboy" while Corso's could be described as "vampire wannabe". Of course, the male version of this doesn't have the UnfortunateImplications that come with visual allusions to the MadonnaWhoreComplex...

* In ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'', this is played straight in Vivi's Funeral Salon in that Lance, the bumbling hero, is fully clothed, while Vivi is a big-breasted villainess in a black, skimpy, [[BareYourMidriff midriff-baring]] outfit.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' gives us Kuja, a [[DudeLooksLikeALady man with an effeminate appearance]] who wears a thong and a [[BareYourMidriff midriff-baring top]].

** The original has [[WhiteMagicianGirl Mia]], [[BlackMagicianGirl Jenna]], and [[MysteriousWaif Sheba]] all dress modestly, with nary a hint of cleavage to be seen (Mia's a [[JustifiedTrope justified case]], as she comes from a snowy mountain region). The villainous [[MsFanservice Karst]], on the other hand, runs around in a [[BareYourMidriff midriff-baring top]], [[ZettaiRyouiki mini-skirt, and thigh-high boots]]. Her big sister, [[PlayingWithFire Menardi]], however, wears [[SubvertedTrope a dress that's every bit as modest as the heroines']].

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', Kukui is one of the main characters and sports a WalkingShirtlessScene, the main protagonist as a Male can have a ShirtlessScene when surfing and the female can show off her [[BareYourMidriff stomach]] with custom outfits. [[spoiler:Lusamine, on the other hand, is completely covered up]]. Plumeria at first play this trope straight [[spoiler:but then it's revealed that she was GoodAllAlong due to her actually being really friendly and only followed orders from Guzma because she had to as she never wanted to do any kidnapping]]. Wicke is played straight as she's actually one of the kindest characters in the game and while her outfit is slightly aimed for {{Fanservice}} it covers up a lot of skin.

** The playable Inklings in the first two games (both male and female) wear a mix of shorts and whatever top they are equipped with, all of which are sensible for both genders. The Octolings you fight in the single-player Hero Modes, on the other hand, are only female and wear shorts along with tank top armor [[BareYourMidriff that shows quite a bit of navel]]. To drive this point home, the unlockable Octoling Armor doesn't show nearly as much skin when worn by an Inkling of either gender. Octarian soldiers showing off their navels appears to be mandatory too, as ''VideoGame/Splatoon2 '' has the final battle being [[spoiler:DJ Octavio and a brainwashed Calli vs. Agent 4 and Marie. Callie in this form wears a revealing black and purple outfit that shows a lot of skin, while Marie and TheProtagonist are covered up]].

* In ''Webcomic/EnsignSueMustDie'', Ensign Sue wears the normal Enterprise uniform for a medical officer, which is pretty all-covering (of her top half, at least -- it still has only a miniskirt for the bottom part), and her mirror universe counterpart Empress Sue wears a [[BareYourMidriff navel-exposing]] tank top and short skirt.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' as the main female baddie Shego is clothed entirely from the neck down, while the heroic Kim Possible [[BareYourMidriff Bares Her Midriff]] every episode (until a costume change during the final season).

* Strangely enough, ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' is an {{inver|tedTrope}}sion. The female villains are usually dressed more conservatively than Starfire, who flies around in a [[BareYourMidriff midriff baring]] shirt and a short skirt, and Raven, who wears a ridiculously tight looking [[LeotardOfPower leotard]] underneath her cloak. Starfire's appearance, funnily enough, is actually [[AdaptationalModesty more modest than her original comic counterpart]], where she'd even appeared naked on occasion.

* In ''Anime/SaberMarionetteR'', the heroes dress more modestly than the {{Stripperiffic}} Sexadolls. This and the sexually aggressive nature of the Sexadolls also serves to mark a contrast on how Junior and his marionettes are children while Star-Face and the Sexadolls are adults.
* Inverted with Goku and Goku Black in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', Goku's outfit has no sleeves and shows his neck in contrast to Goku Black's outfit having a turtleneck with sleeves covering his arms.

* Marvel's Hellfire Club, (most associated with the ''ComicBook/XMen'' sub-franchise, although they occasionally tangle with non-mutant heroes) a gentlemen's club (in both senses of the phrase) for old-money evil mutants, where the ladies dress in fetish gear and Sebastian Shaw likes to bare his chest for action.

* The issues of this trope are lampshaded in an issue of ''ComicBook/AvengersAcademy'' where the Avengers confront Cyclops' post-''Schism X''-Men team. Hawkeye (IIRC) says of ComicBook/EmmaFrost, "I knew someone who dresses like that couldn't stay a good guy!", to which Tigra responds, "What does that make me? Doctor Doom?"
* The comparison shows up when a DC or Marvel good gal gets brainwashed or possessed or simply chooses to be bad. Some examples from Marvel comics: The Phoenix (ComicBook/JeanGrey?) as the Hellfire Club's Black Queen in ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'', the [[ComicBook/InvisibleWoman Invisible Girl]] (as she then was known) turning into skimpily and spikily dressed Malice in ''Fantastic Four'' #280, and Madelyne Pryor when she became the Goblyn Queen. Meanwhile, when Emma Frost became a good guy, she started wearing a slightly less skimpy costume in ''ComicBook/GenerationX''... although the trope was then subverted in ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' when she stayed a good guy while wearing one of her most outrageously sexualised costumes ever.
* Inverted with ComicBook/{{Starfire}}, whose costume is essentially a skimpy swimsuit, and her sister/dark counterpart Blackfire, who wears a full bodysuit.

* Lampshaded in ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy''. While giving Izuku dating advice, Peter mutters about how female supervillains always wear outfits that are way too skimpy or have way too much leather. He goes onto to tell Izuku to specifically avoid morally ambiguous cat burglars, referencing his old flame, ComicBook/BlackCat.

* [[http://www.comicsbulletin.com/main/sites/default/files/soapbox/125461888840692.htm Princess Aura's metal bikini with shoulders and cape]] from the 1980 film of ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'', although some of the heroes were wearing pretty immodest outfits too. Flash himself gets a pretty long ShirtlessScene.

* This trope is the reason Jessica Rabbit of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' is assumed to be a FemmeFatale, because of her revealing lounge-singer dress. [[spoiler: She's actually a heroic, faithful wife]].

* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}''

** Vampire Xander is also a RareMaleExample of the trope. He sports a sleeveless wife-beater tank, while human Xander (at least at this point of the series) was never shown in a sleeveless shirt (save his single FanService moment on "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E20GoFish Go Fish]]", which was explicitly out of character).

* This happens in some seasons of ''Franchise/PowerRangers'': compare the suited heroes and heroines to villainesses such as [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Divatox]] and [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Vypra]].
** Slightly inverted in ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy''. Maya (who in the source material is a male) spends the majority of her scenes in a midriff-baring tank top, while Trakeena (who in the source material wears what amounts to a ChainmailBikini with exposed cleavage, in which even the previously-mentioned Maya didn't wore) spends the majority of her scenes in a full insectoid suit with few openings.

* In Music/{{Miserable}}, all the members of Music/{{Lit}} are fully clothed, with the only real skin showing coming from Allen (the drummer) in his blood red shorts. Meanwhile, Pam/Vallery, the woman making them miserable, is only wearing a bikini and platform stripper pumps.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** Played with in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' with [[BlackMagicianGirl Morrigan's]]. Her NavelDeepNeckline outfit contrasts with the nice modest Chantry robes [[JeanneDArchetype Leliana]] shows up wearing. While Morrigan is a bit mean and a ruthless anarchist, she is still one of the heroes. While one of your clues that [[MyMasterRightOrWrong Ser Cauthrien]] can be reasoned with is that she wears perfectly ordinary heavy armor, almost everybody is dressed sensibly if you ignore the pure fanservice-y skintight robes that every woman not in armor wears.
** Likewise played with in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'': you have the sweet [[FishOutOfWater Fish out of Water]] [[TheIngenue Ingenue]] Merrill wearing a plain, practical Dalish outfit and the sexy GoodBadGirl pirate Isabela wearing a tunic and not much else, but both of them are among the heroes. The villains wear mage robes, Chantry robes, or [[spoiler:in Meredith's case, full plate armour]].

* ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar''.
** Luna wears a peasant dress at first, then practically nothing after her (apparent) FaceHeelTurn.
** While all the women of the Vile Tribe shown in ''Silver Star Story Complete'' and beyond wear skimpy clothes, it should not be a shock which one of them chooses to make a FaceHeelTurn later in the game considering that she's the most conservatively dressed of the three.
* I-NO of ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' is...improperly dressed. Works for "That Man", who appears to be TheManBehindTheMan. Although the heroine, Dizzy, is wearing ''[[InnocentFanserviceGirl even less]]'', Dizzy doesn't have a win pose where she takes her clothes ''off''.
* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' zig-zags this trope a lot with the girls in varying states of dress while the guys are more covered up most of the time, but a few concrete examples exist.
** For the guys, there's Tager vs Azrael. While Tager tends to cover his chest (his arms are too thick for sleeves), Azrael's jacket is never closed, leaving his chest bare for all to see.
** For the girls, there's Noel and Rachel vs Izanami. Noel is somewhat reasonable in both her outfits and Rachel is quite well dressed, whereas Izanami's choice of attire makes you wonder what Relius Clover does in his spare time. In ''Continuum Shift'', Noel vs Mu is played straight for the same reasons.
** There's an inversion with the Intelligence Division, though. Hazama is quite snazzy in his suit, slacks and fedora despite being a total troll at best. This contrasts with Makoto, who is described in-universe as being "one strong breeze or sudden cough away from a massive wardrobe malfunction".
* Downplayed with the player characters in ''VideoGame/ChampionsOfNorrath''. While they're all technically good guys, you can play as a Dark Elf Shadow-Night, and the female version of that class is one of the two ''most'' covered female characters. The most skimpily dressed one is the Desert Mage, who is the only one with a NavelDeepNeckline.
* While every female in ''VideoGame/BloodRayne'' is some degree of {{Stripperiffic}}, Rayne's costume is somewhat protective compared to Ephemera's [[OfCorsetsSexy skin exposure]] and Feral's [[VaporWear animated tattoos]]. In the first, [[spoiler:Rayne's mentor, Mynce, shows more leg, and later is revealed to be a traitor. Subverted, however, at the end of the game as Mynce is not actually a traitor but reveals herself as a DoubleAgent just before she's killed by the BigBad]].
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'':
** The original has [[WhiteMagicianGirl Mia]], [[BlackMagicianGirl Jenna]], and [[MysteriousWaif Sheba]] all dress modestly, with nary a hint of cleavage to be seen (Mia's a [[JustifiedTrope justified case]], as she comes from a snowy mountain region). The villainous [[MsFanservice Karst]], on the other hand, runs around in a [[BareYourMidriff midriff-baring top]], [[ZettaiRyouiki mini-skirt, and thigh-high boots]]. Her big sister, [[PlayingWithFire Menardi]], however, wears [[SubvertedTrope a dress that's every bit as modest as the heroines']].
** ''[[VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn Dark Dawn]]'' continues the tradition with [[BlowYouAway Karis]], Sveta, and [[ShrineMaiden Himi]] all wearing practical, modest outfits while still managing to look good. And then there's Chalis, who... well, [[http://goldensunwiki.net/images/b/ba/GSHeart.jpg see for yourself.]]

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' plays around with the trope:
** While quite a few of the females are {{Stripperiffic}} on both ends of the spectrum, all the well-dressed female champions are good. Compare the morally good, armored from head-to-toe Kayle and sensibly dressed Riven, to the evil, battle bra touting Morgana and Elise. However, this is inverted as of Kayle and Morgana's rework; while neither character is fully good or evil, [[WhiteAndGreyMorality Kayle is much darker morally than Morgana.]] It is also inverted by Ruined Shyvana, who gains a more modest outfit than her normal heroic counterpart.
** Inverted with the male characters. Good male champions can range from armored-like-a-tank Garen to [[MrFanservice pleasing to female gaze]] Yasuo and Varus. Nearly all of the amoral male champions such as Darius and Viktor are almost fully covered.

* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', female members of the Fiends gang dress like pole dancers. Your companions Veronica and Cass dress like they might have to work outdoors in a harsh climate.
* In ''VideoGame/ImmortalSouls'', Isis Corporation Agents wear Badass Suits, John and Raven wear skintight but fully concealing clothes, and the Templars wear full-body PoweredArmor. Meanwhile, the Black Witch and Juliet are {{Stripperiffic}} via ClothingDamage for the former and OfCorsetsSexy for the latter, as well as Juliet's female gang members also dressing equally sexy.
* In ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'', this is played straight in Vivi's Funeral Salon in that Lance, the bumbling hero, is fully clothed, while Vivi is a big-breasted villainess in a black, skimpy, [[BareYourMidriff midriff-baring]] outfit.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword]]'', all of the female villains with the exception of Limstella show some amount of cleavage in their artwork. On the heroes' side, all of the player's female units are modestly clothes and aren't (with the exception of Lyn) too well-endowed with the [[HeelFaceTurn potential]] exception of Vaida, who starts off as an enemy anyway.
** Would seem to be the case in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'': Princess Hinoka of Hoshido wears a modest dress with practical armor and only shows a small amount of leg as a Pegasus Warrior, while Princess Camilla of Nohr wears black lingerie to display her ample assets. Then it's subverted twice: Hoshido has Orochi, Rinkah, and Rhajat (the former two show quite a bit of skin while the latter wears SensualSpandex), while Nohr has the modestly-dressed Flora, Selena, and Beruka. Secondly, either side can be hero ''or'' villain depending on which path you take [[spoiler:and neither in the ''Revelation'' path]].
** In later games, dark mages (who are mostly villainous and tend to be played for {{Heroic Comedic Sociopath}}y if they end up on the heroes' side) have very skimpy outfits consisting mainly of underwear worn over sheer bodysuits. This is ''mostly'' gender neutral (behold, [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/e/e0/FatesDarkMagePortrait.png/revision/latest?cb=20150703010953 Fates' generic dark mage portrait]]), but it's worth noting that most of the named dark mages are women and the sole "sensible" dark mage (Henry) is a man.
* ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'':
** The playable Inklings in the first two games (both male and female) wear a mix of shorts and whatever top they are equipped with, all of which are sensible for both genders. The Octolings you fight in the single-player Hero Modes, on the other hand, are only female and wear shorts along with tank top armor [[BareYourMidriff that shows quite a bit of navel]]. To drive this point home, the unlockable Octoling Armor doesn't show nearly as much skin when worn by an Inkling of either gender. Octarian soldiers showing off their navels appears to be mandatory too, as ''VideoGame/Splatoon2 '' has the final battle being [[spoiler:DJ Octavio and a brainwashed Calli vs. Agent 4 and Marie. Callie in this form wears a revealing black and purple outfit that shows a lot of skin, while Marie and TheProtagonist are covered up]].
** {{Averted}} with Marina, the first heroic Octoling in the series, who wears an outfit even more revealing than the villainous members of her species, showing off her navel and ample cleavage. Likewise Agent 8 in the ''Octo Expansion'' DLC campaign, who spends the entire story mode is still wearing their leather soldier gear (sans armor plating).
* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' is an inversion: The titular heroine wears a skin-tight outfit made of [[GodivaHair her hair]], the same material she uses to channel her spells/powers, which means she tends to flash much skin, if not going all out naked, in combat. Her oppositions, meanwhile, are usually fully-covered from the neck down [[spoiler:(And in fact, moments before her HeelFaceTurn, Jeanne strips down to the same hair outfit that Bayonetta wears)]]. The same holds true for [[VideoGame/Bayonetta2 the sequel]], where her main enemy, the Masked Lumen, shows absolutely no skin until he finally gets unmasked.
* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'':
** The very first trailer and the "Alive" animated short featured rivalry between fully dressed, heroic Tracer against [[NavelDeepNeckline cleavage-baring]] evil sniper Widowmaker.
** Normally, Mercy is fully covered and definitely on the heroic side. However, in the Junkenstein's Revenge mode, where she was the GreaterScopeVillain, she wore a HotWitch costume with exposed cleavage and thighs.
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', Kukui is one of the main characters and sports a WalkingShirtlessScene, the main protagonist as a Male can have a ShirtlessScene when surfing and the female can show off her [[BareYourMidriff stomach]] with custom outfits. [[spoiler:Lusamine, on the other hand, is completely covered up]]. Plumeria at first play this trope straight [[spoiler:but then it's revealed that she was GoodAllAlong due to her actually being really friendly and only followed orders from Guzma because she had to as she never wanted to do any kidnapping]]. Wicke is played straight as she's actually one of the kindest characters in the game and while her outfit is slightly aimed for {{Fanservice}} it covers up a lot of skin.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'': Inverted, as the female villain [[https://www.chronowiki.org/wiki/Queen_Zeal dresses quite conservatively]], while [[https://www.chronowiki.org/wiki/Ayla Ayla wears the furs of some unlucky mammal and nothing else]] (and if you bring her to meet Crono's mom, she gets called out on wearing such unladylike attire). Marle and Lucca dress normally, with Marle ditching her princess clothes at the first opportunity.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'':
** [[spoiler: Shadow Sae]], who represents the more "villainous" side of their counterpart [[spoiler: Sae Niijima]], due to their distorted desires and thoughts corrupting their mind.
** Inverted with [[spoiler: Shadow Futaba]], who's actually the hidden ''good'' side of [[spoiler: Futaba]] but dresses in a skimpy pharoh garb due to the level's Ancient Egyptian themes.
* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' game ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', the majority of the female heroes of the Hyrulean Forces are sensibly dressed. The sole exceptions are Midna and Ruto, who are technically naked but get a pass since both lack certain human attributes and the latter's Ocarina of Time 3DS design makes her look like she's wearing a dress of sorts, and potentially Lana's Bare Your Midriff outfit depending on one's values. On the dark forces' side, though, Cia is dressed in a very Stripperiffic outfit.
* ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammerII'': As with the source material in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', the noble High Elves tend to wear a lot more than their cruel Dark Elf cousins. This is especially visible in ''The Queen and the Crone'' DLC, focusing on Alarielle the Everqueen, Crone Hellebron and a number of units associated with them. Alarielle wears flowing robes that only leave her arms bare, while her Handmaidens and the Sisters of Avelorn wear full-body leather-and-metal armor as would be expected from dedicated soldiers. Hellebron, High Sorceresses and the Sisters of Slaughter, on the other hand, stride into battle with little beyond greaves and {{Chainmail Bikini}}s, and the all-male Doomfire Warlocks aren't wearing a whole lot more. This is best shown with a contrast between the Dark Elf Sorceress, who runs around half-naked with little more than a loincloth, and the High Elf Mage, who wear flowing robes that cover their bodies entirely.
* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' plays with this. While no female main character wears completely sensible clothing, they tend to cover more skin then the villainous Risky Boots.
* ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' is an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] in that the one major villainous female character, Belladonna, might be showing a lot of cleavage, but it's still far and away less skimpy than the default outfits of playable characters Angela and Riesz. But it's played with a bit in the remake's class changes. While they don't actually make the characters evil, the girls' Dark-aligned classes have the general look of an EvilCostumeSwitch, and yes, they're quite a bit skimpier than their Light-aligned classes.
* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'' actually manages to make this into a ''plot point''. The heroes dress sensibly and professionally for court, and the main villain wears a fancy dress that exposes her bare chest. [[spoiler: Ga'ran occasionally made her sister Amara pose as her because Amara had spiritual powers while she did not. Amara also had a scar on her chest from a fire she was caught in- and Ga'ran's prosecutor dress makes it obvious that she doesn't have a scar there.]]

* Strangely enough, ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' is an {{inver|tedTrope}}sion. The female villains are usually dressed more conservatively than Starfire, who flies around in a [[BareYourMidriff midriff baring]] shirt and a short skirt, and Raven, who wears a ridiculously tight looking [[LeotardOfPower leotard]] underneath her cloak. Starfire's appearance, funnily enough, is actually [[AdaptationalModesty more modest than her original comic counterpart]], where she'd even appear naked on occasion.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "A Better World": fascist Wonder Woman has short hair and wears a full-body suit, in contrast to normal Franchise/WonderWoman's luscious locks and {{leotard|OfPower}}.
* Parodied in a ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' sketch that introduced Franchise/WonderWoman's EvilKnockoff Negative Wonder Woman. While [[Franchise/TheFlash The Reverse-Flash's]] costume is The Flash's with the colors reversed, Negative Wonder Woman's is Wonder Woman's covering the opposite parts of her body.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The [[SpaceElves Eldar]]. The good-[[BlackAndGrayMorality ish]] Craftworld Eldar tend to wear long robes and full body armour. Their evil cousins, the Dark Eldar, wear comparatively little to show off their lithe bodies and combat prowess: this is ''especially'' true for the [[DarkActionGirl Wyches]] (who are gladiatrices). Notably, Armor is ''not'' useless here- the Dark Eldar are renowned for having the durability of wet kleenex.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'''s Elves exhibit some degree of this. The noble and good High Elves tend to wear long robes, cloaks, silk trousers, and ornate armour, and while most of their evil Dark Elf cousins often wear just as much (albeit darker, and with more spikes, blades, and chains), many Dark Elf Sorceresses and the frenzied Witch-Elf cultists tend to wear very little indeed. The Wood Elves tend to fall in the middle, as their morality is mercurial, shifting and occupying a middle space between their High and Dark cousins, and, while their leaders and rank-and-file soldiers are fairly well covered up, many of their wilder warriors -- especially the Wardancers -- wear just as little as the Witch Elves.

* ''TabletopGame/ThirteenthAge'': Of the female Icons, the good and neutral ones -- the Elf Queen, High Druid and Priestess -- have at most a low neckline or bit of midriff on display, but the evil Diabolist is clad in a sort of bikini thing to show off her runic tattoos, and two of the Three -- the Blue and the Black -- wear nothing at all, but then, they are dragons.
* In ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'', Fanatic dresses in full armour (most of the time, anyway; technically the swimsuit-clad Xtreme variant is from a different universe) while her FallenAngel ArchEnemy Apostate is a WalkingShirtlessScene, Setback wears a full spandex suit while his villainous ex Kismet prefers a bare midriff, and Bunker wears a mech suit while Fright Train goes shirtless. Averted with Ra and the Ennead, however, since neither Ra nor his archfoes reliably wear much (in Ra's defence, shirts are flammable), and with Tachyon and Friction, who wear basically the same suit (although Tachyon has at least one more sensible variant). Inverted with Expatriette and Citizen Dawn, though, since the former has at least one outfit with a bare midriff while Dawn is generally shown in a full top

* Pointedly averted in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' which has explicitly stated in text that there is nothing evil about skimpy clothes. When Diane has a HeelFaceTurn, she ''does'' start dressing more sensibly, but that's a personal decision, and even her kid-self who's pushing her to self-realisation says [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/tlod-019 that part isn't a morality issue]]. When Nanase gets a GoodAngelBadAngel scene, [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/party-104 the bad angel is wearing a corset]], because that's traditional, but to make up for this, the good angel is wearing a toga with cleavage.

* Pointedly averted in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' which has explicitly stated in text that there is nothing evil about skimpy clothes. When Diane has a HeelFaceTurn, she ''does'' start dressing more sensibly, but that's a personal decision, and even her kid-self who's pushing her to self-realisation says [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/tlod-019 that part isn't a morality issue]]. When Nanase gets a GoodAngelBadAngel scene, [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/party-104 the bad angel is wearing a corset]], because that's traditional, but to make up for this, the good angel is wearing a toga with AbsoluteCleavage.

* One gets the sense that ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' was trying to use this trope, only the female lead characters were so {{Stripperiffic}} that it would have been hard to make the female demons even more so; therefore, the Charmed Sisters are only marginally less sexy than the female demons. Male demons would seem to be a straighter example of this trope, at least in the later seasons, when you had fellows like Zankou using leather outfits as a symbol for their status as evil demons.

* Pointedly averted in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' which has explicitly stated in text that there is nothing evil about skimpy clothes. When Diane has a HeelFaceTurn, she ''does'' start dressing more sensibly, but that's a personal decision, and even her kid-self who's pushing her to self-realisation says [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/tlod-019 that part isn't a morality issue]]. When Nananse gets a GoodAngelBadAngel scene, [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/party-104 the bad angel is wearing a corset]], because that's conventional, but to make up for this, the good angel is wearing a toga with AbsoluteCleavage.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'', Ash's [[http://www.misfile.com/?date=2005-09-19 good angel wears a toga, while her bad angel...]]

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' plays with this. Amongst Shepard's crew, their nicest female allies ([[WrenchWench Tali]], [[PhantomThief Kasumi]], and [[HotScientist Liara]]) run around in sensible clothes, the more morally questionable ones ([[FemmeFatale Miranda]] and [[PrinciplesZealot Samara]]) have ''extremely'' close-fitting outfits (with NavelDeepNeckline in Samara's case), and the only thing the psychotic [[AxCrazy Jack]] wears from the waist up is tattoos and a leather strap that's only just wide enough to cover her nipples. Further, when Jack mellows in the next game, she shows considerably less skin.

Although it's not that common nowadays, this likely started as a form of GettingCrapPastTheRadar. "It's okay if they dress immorally. They're the ''bad guys''! (wink)"

As this trope is mostly found with female characters, it can also overlap with SlutShaming and MadonnaWhoreComplex: the bad women are immodest and promiscuous, and their clothes show it. Also compare DressedLikeADominatrix: an outfit can suggest a villain is kinky, with the implication that BondageIsBad and [[HeteronormativeCrusader sexual deviance is evil]].

Just as good and evil can be ColourCodedForYourConvenience, you can also tell them apart as heroes dress sensibly (more or less), and villains dress in skimpier outfits.

This trope doesn't require the good guys to dress like prudes, nor to never put on revealing clothing (because, you know, {{Fanservice}}). It's just that their regular outfits are significantly less skimpy than what the villains wear (and the heroes can dress like that with an EvilCostumeSwitch).

The exact way an outfit is skimpier can vary. It can be anything from being more form fitting to outright {{Stripperiffic}}.

This often overlaps with EvilIsSexy, except this doesn't require the villain to actually be sexy, just dressed skimpily ([[FanDisservice there can be a difference]]). Furthermore, that trope often has the villains dress just as sensibly as the heroes, or the heroes to dress just as sexy as the villains (most SuperHero comics). Neither of those is this trope.

As this trope is mostly found with female characters, it can also overlap with SlutShaming and MadonnaWhoreComplex, as in the bad women are promiscuous, and their clothes show it.

Compare GoodEyesEvilEyes; ObviouslyEvil; GoodColorsEvilColors.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' as the main female baddie Shego is clothed entirely from the neck down, while the heroic Kim Possible rocks a midriff every episode (until a costume change during the final season).

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' gets in on it sometimes, especially with the more humanoid AlwaysChaoticEvil races and monsters. Heroic characters get depicted on the more-or-less sensible side of things (with exceptions, of course), while evil ones like the [[HornyDevils succubus]] or especially the drow are downright {{Stripperiffic}} {{bondage|IsBad}} fantasies. Justified for succubi since EvilIsSexy is their entire shtick. Drow are given a cultural justification- since most powerful drow will use magic instead of armor for protection, wearing some basically meant announcing "I can't even cast Mage Armor", and this mutated into wearing clothes being overcompensation for one's flaws.

* ''[[Literature/ViridianSaga Awoken]]'' takes this almost to the point of SlutShaming. Miss Epistola is described as being dressed in skimpy clothing in nearly every scene -- even when working as a substitute science teacher, she's wearing a slinky dress under her lab coat. She is, of course, the BigBad of the story, and during the climax, her outfit gets downright {{stripperiffic}}; the protagonist Andi compares her to [[ThirdPersonSeductress a video game character]]. Andi herself, meanwhile, often expresses shame when caught with little clothing on. Given that the book is a StealthParody of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' and other [[YoungAdultLiterature YA]] ParanormalRomance novels, it's more a mockery of this trope than anything else.

Compare GoodEyesEvilEyes, ObviouslyEvil, GoodColorsEvilColors.

Contrast MinidressOfPower, {{Stripperiffic}} (since good girls can wear both). Also contrast StraightEdgeEvil for villains. Another contrast is ArmoredVillainsUnarmoredHeroes (with the inversion of the hero being in fewer clothes or less armored, while the villain is in full armor covering most of their skin). Also contrast ShabbyHeroesWellDressedVillains, although that trope is usually used for males while this trope is usually used for females.

* ''Art/TheFallenAngel'': The recently fallen Lucifer is naked (with only his crossed legs covering his crotch) whilst the angels still in Heaven are fully clothed with robes.

* ''Art/TheFallenAngel'': The recently fallen Lucifer is naked, muscled, and handsome whilst the angels still in Heaven are fully clothed with robes.

* ''TheFallenAngel'': The recently fallen Lucifer is naked, muscled, and handsome whilst the angels still in Heaven are fully clothed with robes.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The first season of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha''. TheHero wears a long-skirted uniform for her combat outfit, and her allies are either dressed casually or garbed in full military uniform. Meanwhile, TheDragon is wearing what's basically a black swimsuit with a short skirt and interestingly placed red belts, her {{Familiar}} wears even less, and the BigBad shows AbsoluteCleavage. This trope stops applying in later seasons, once Nanoha starts [[DefeatMeansFriendship befriending]] people.

** Human Drusilla, who was very religious, was a lot more chaste (as Angel puts it) than her vampire self, or say, [[AbsoluteCleavage the outfit Darla wore at the same time.]]

*** Rinoa, the hero's girlfriend and good girl, versus Sorceress Ultimecia, the game's ultimate villain. Rinoa may be prettier, but evil gets [[AbsoluteCleavage a dress where the neckline ends at the]] ''[[AbsoluteCleavage crotch]]''. And then it's slit up a little further for good measure.

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' plays with this. Amongst Shepard's crew, their nicest female allies ([[WrenchWench Tali]], [[PhantomThief Kasumi]], and [[HotScientist Liara]]) run around in sensible clothes, the more morally questionable ones ([[FemmeFatale Miranda]] and [[PrinciplesZealot Samara]]) have ''extremely'' close-fitting outfits (with AbsoluteCleavage in Samara's case), and the only thing the psychotic [[AxCrazy Jack]] wears from the waist up is tattoos and a leather strap that's only just wide enough to cover her nipples. Further, when Jack mellows in the next game, she shows considerably less skin.

** Played with in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' with [[BlackMagicianGirl Morrigan's]]. Her AbsoluteCleavage outfit contrasts with the nice modest Chantry robes [[JeanneDArchetype Leliana]] shows up wearing. While Morrigan is a bit mean and a ruthless anarchist, she is still one of the heroes. While one of your clues that [[MyMasterRightOrWrong Ser Cauthrien]] can be reasoned with is that she wears perfectly ordinary heavy armor, almost everybody is dressed sensibly if you ignore the pure fanservice-y skintight robes that every woman not in armor wears.

* Downplayed with the player characters in ''Champions of Norrath''. While they're all technically good guys, you can play as a Dark Elf Shadow-Night, and the female version of that class is one of the two ''most'' covered female characters. The most skimpily dressed one is the Desert Mage, who is the only one with AbsoluteCleavage.

** The very first trailer and the "Alive" animated short featured rivalry between fully dressed, heroic Tracer against [[AbsoluteCleavage cleavage-baring]] evil sniper Widowmaker.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'':
** The playable Inklings (both male and female) wear a mix of shorts and whatever top they are equipped with, all of which are sensible for both genders. The EvilCounterpartRace Octolings, on the other hand, are only female and wear shorts along with a tank top armor [[BareYourMidriff that shows quite a bit of navel]]. To drive this point home, the unlockable Octoling Armor doesn't show nearly as much skin when worn by an Inkling of either gender.
** [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 The sequel]] has the final battle being [[spoiler:Evil Callie vs you and Marie. Callie in this form wears a revealing black and purple outfit that shows a lot of skin while Marie and TheProtagonist are covered up]]. It's also {{averted|Trope}} with Marina, the first good guy Octoling who wears an outfit even more revealing than the villainous members of her species.

** [[spoiler: Shadow Sae]], who represents the more "villanous" side of their counterpart [[spoiler: Sae Niijima]], due to their distorted desires and thoughts corrupting their mind.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' as the main female baddie Shego is clothed entirely from the neck down, while the heroic Kim Possible rocks a midriff every episode.

** In the Remake, Tifa is dressed with a sports bra and top, had her bust reduced, while Scarlet became even more buxom, double standards pretty much.

* Played with in various ways in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. This is first played straight with Saber and Rider, one of whom who wears a fully-covered BattleBallgown, and the other a {{Stripperiffic}} mini-dress, and then averted with Saber and Caster, both of whom are fully and totally covered. However, later on, [[spoiler:Rider]] turns out to be actually good, and when [[spoiler:Saber becomes corrupted and turns into TheDragon, her clothes cover her ''[[UpToEleven even more]]'']]. During the final fight between Servants, this trope is actually inverted with [[spoiler:Saber Alter and Rider, who have their roles reversed]].

* One gets the sense that ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' was trying to use this trope, only the female lead characters were so {{Stripperiffic}} that it would have been hard to make the female demons [[UpToEleven even more so]]; therefore, the Charmed Sisters are only marginally less sexy than the female demons. Male demons would seem to be a straighter example of this trope, at least in the later seasons, when you had fellows like Zankou using leather outfits as a symbol for their status as evil demons.

*** Rinoa, the hero's girlfriend and good girl, versus Sorceress Ultimecia, the game's ultimate villain. Rinoa may be prettier, but evil gets [[AbsoluteCleavage a dress where the neckline ends at the]] ''[[AbsoluteCleavage crotch]]''. And then it's slit up [[UpToEleven a little further for good measure.]]

* ''Anime/CrossAnge'':
** {{Inverted|Trope}}. All the main characters pilot suits cover about as much as a bikini, complete with a CleavageWindow and ThongOfShielding, with the prison outfits not covering up much more, while the antagonists cover about as much as regular clothing. When some of the heroes get [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed by Embryo]] they cover a lot of skin in their outfits.

* ''Anime/CrossAnge''
** InvertedTrope. All the main characters pilot suits cover about as much as a bikini, complete with a CleavageWindow and ThongOfShielding, with the prison outfits not covering up much more, while the antagonists cover about as much as regular clothing.
** When some of the characters get [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed by Embryo]] they cover a lot of skin in their outfits.

** Parts 4, 6, and 7 avert this, as they're the only ones where the villains dress conservatively. Par 6 outright inverts it, as Jolyne wears fairly skimpy clothing while Enrico Pucci wears a full priest outfit.
* Inverted in ''Anime/KillLaKill'', wherein uniforms are used as a tool for subjugating the "clothes-wearing pigs" of the populace. Thus LaResistance that combats the (reasonably dressed) fascist regime is known as ''Nudist Beach'', [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl and its members care very little for indecent exposure laws.]] It turns out to be extremely justified, after TheReveal that [[spoiler:clothing is an alien conspiracy to subjugate and eventually devour humanity. As almost all clothing on earth contains traces of alien Life Fibers, going skimpier means less direct skin contact and weaker mind control]].

* Parodied in a ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' sketch that introduced Franchise/WonderWoman's EvilKnockoff Negative Wonder Woman. While [[Franchise/TheFlash The Reverse-Flash's]] costume is The Flash's with the colors reversed, Nagative Wonder Woman's is Wonder Woman's covering the opposite parts of her body.

* ''Film/TheBabysitterKillerQueen'' has its villain [[spoiler:Melanie]] hit both ends of this trope before and after TheReveal. Beforehand, she's wearing a fairly modest dress, while afterwards, she gets a HotterAndSexier EvilMakeover with a [[HellBentForLeather cleavage-baring brown leather vest]] and [[WhoWearsShortShorts tiny jean shorts]].