History Main / SurefootedBarefooter

* ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'': Towards the end of the film, Pazu encounters a passage underneath the castle that proves too slippery to traverse while pursuing Sheeta after she is kidnapped by Muska. By taking his shoes off, he's able to overcome the passage's tricky surfacing.

* ''Anime/FairyTailDragonCry'': Swan is an antagonist who uses her bare feet to grip and jump around her terrain far more quickly and agilely than Erza Scarlet, who wears boots. Since she is more agile than Erza Scarlet, she is able to hold her own against the master duelist without weapons. Meanwhile, Erza, who is actually wielding swords, cannot keep up with her since she cannot grip the terrain as well.

* ''Anime/PokemonThePowerOfUs'': Risa goes barefoot fashion an InvokedTrope in some scenes because it allows her to run faster.
* ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'': The main character Ashitaka goes barefoot at the beginning of the movie to quickly climb up and down the towers of his village easier as one of its archers and lookouts.

* Creator/{{Marvel Comics}}: Like most jungle heroes, Ka-Zar and Shanna both go barefoot to help them navigate the jungle canopy better.
* Beast of the ComicBook/XMen went barefoot in his field uniform (until he got fuzzy and started going barefoot all the time, at which point he had went from simply being surefooted to having HandyFeet).

-->'''Rose:''' You're throwing your shoes in the bay?
-->'''Wallace:''' Rose, without shoes I'm quicker, faster and stealthier. You give me bare feet in the tall grass on a moonless night, and I'm hunting like a leopard.
-->'''Rose:''' And what might you be hunting?
-->'''Wallace:''' A fun time.

* ''Film/JungleCruise'': This is an InvokedTrope when Frank Wolff goes barefoot for a better grip when he's working and climbing on the sides of his boat the La Quilla.
* Done out of necessity by Hanzo in ''Film/{{Predators}}'': Most of the characters that are parachuted onto the Predator planet are wearing combat boots or utilitarian shoes suitable for a jungle environment, but Hanzo (a Yakuza member) arrives wearing a 3-piece suit with fancy dress shoes. When he sees that they're unsuited for the jungle environment they'll be in, he takes them of and goes barefoot for the rest of the film.
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': Mystique is a shapeshifter who is always [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl nude]], but she is also always barefoot to grip her environment and victims better in combat.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/SquidGame'': In [[Recap/SquidGameS1E7VIPS episode 1.07]], the contestants must cross a precarious bridge of glass panes by jumping from panel to panel. This is an InvokedTrope when they take off their shoes to increase their traction.
[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': In ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', the magician Coriakin is noted to always go around barefoot, using his unhindered mobility and awareness of the ground [[NoiselessWalker to make "no more noise than a cat"]]. As a result, the Dufflepuds (a race of dwarf-like creatures that he rules and looks after) constantly fear that he may be watching them, especially after he becomes invisible.
* ''Literature/JourneyToTheRiverSea'': This trope gets some lampshading as the Xanti people -- a tribe of indigenous people in the Amazon and {{Earthy Barefoot Character}}s -- are explicitly stated to be able to use their senses of touch and unhindered mobility to navigate their terrain better than shod characters.
--> ''Maia could never get over how quiet the Xanti were, how careful of the land. They treated every clump of trees or trickle of water as though they were old friends. They could walk barefoot over thorns and through swamps and piles of leaves which might easily have concealed a snake, but somehow they knew that it didn't. "They have wise feet," the professor said.''
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': Most NotQuiteHuman Tagruta from the planet Shili are usually barefoot as part of their culture, partially because it allows them to grip the terrain better and be quieter while hunting.
* ''Literature/LancelotTheKnightOfTheCart'': This is an InvokedTrope when Lancelot must cross a river by way of a bridge that's literally a giant sword. He {{Invoke|dTrope}}s this when he traverses the bridge on all fours with his hands and feet bare for better grip and dexterity, even though it means getting cut.
--> ''He is going to support himself with his bare hands and feet upon the sword, which was sharper than a scythe, for he had not kept on his feet either sole or upper or hose. But he felt no fear of wounds upon his hands or feet; he preferred to maim himself rather than to fall from the bridge and be plunged in the water from which he could never escape.''
* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': This quality is assigned to Hobbits, who habitually go barefoot and are good at stealthy movement and concealment. This is such a marked quality that Gandalf stakes everything on using Hobbits as his agents. It's the stated reason why, in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', he talks the Dwarves into taking the hobbit Bilbo Baggins along as the resident Thief in their party. The four Hobbits who are central characters in ''[=LotR=]'' also have ample chances to prove their agility and stealth along the way, like Pippin's theft of the Palantir from out of the arms of Gandalf himself..

* Brewstew: In "Trampoline", before a game of Dropkick, Michael is barefoot to be more agile.

The Surefooted Barefooter has roots in agile sports traditionally performed barefoot like martial arts or gymnastics and is sometimes used to invoke motifs of primates and [[PantheraAwesome cats]] naturally climbing and balancing exceptionally well. Thus, this trope is most commonly associated with graceful, stealthy, resilient, and instinctive characters, like the JunglePrincess, the TarzanBoy, the BadassNative, the PhantomThief, and [[MartialArtistsAreAlwaysBarefoot martial artists]].

* ''Film/XMen'': Mystique is a shapeshifter who is always [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl nude]], but she is also always barefoot to grip her environment and victims better in combat.

* ''Literature/JourneyToTheRiverSea'': This trope gets some lampshading as the Xanti people -- a tribe of {{Earthy Barefoot Character}}s -- are explicitly stated to be able to use their senses of touch and unhindered mobility to navigate their terrain better than shod characters.

* Multiple agility-based sports like martial arts, yoga, and parkour are practiced barefoot due to the unhindered mobility and grip going barefoot provides. It's not uncommon for practitioners of said activities to [[PrefersGoingBarefoot Prefer Going Barefoot]].

** Trapeze Artists often perform barefoot since any loss of agility can be dangerous.
* Even with sports that generally require light and flexible footwear, like hiking, running, and rock climbing, there are people who practice said sports barefoot for improved agility.
** The barefoot running community is a perfect example of this.
** While European fencing and HEMA are traditionally practiced in light footwear, many practitioners opt to go barefoot for better grip and mobility.

* Leo Urban and Audrey Nerat practice parkour in nature and are often referred to as real-life equivalents of Tarzan for their skill. Much like the fictional character, they deliberately go barefoot to grip branches better as well as for general flexibility and balance.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun'': The Native American Sandman is able to keep up and participate in the Steel Ball Run race whilst running barefoot, even if he's competing against a field of mostly horse-riding competitors. This allows him to take shortcuts through obstacles that horses can't cross.

* ComicBook/LesPassagersDuVent: Hoel points out to Isa (who's in disguise as a sailor) that her getup wouldn't last for a minute for the simple reason that she's wearing wooden clogs, which would slip in the rigging.

* ''Series/SquidGame'': In [[Recap/SquidGameS1E7VIPS episode 1.07]] the contestants must cross a precarious bridge of glass panes by jumping from panel to panel. This is an InvokedTrope when they take off their shoes to increase their traction.

* Brewstew: In "Trampoline", before a game of "Dropkick", Michael is barefoot to be "more agile".

-->'''Wallace:''' Rose, without shoes I'm quicker, faster, and stealthier. You give me bare feet in the tall grass on a moonless night, and I'm hunting like a leopard.

-> ''"Rose, without shoes I'm quicker, faster, and stealthier. You give me bare feet in the tall grass on a moonless night, and I'm hunting like a leopard."''

* Beast of the {{X-Men}} went barefoot in his field uniform (until he got fuzzy and started going barefoot all the time)

-> ''"Rose, without shoes I'm quicker, faster and stealthier. You give me bare feet in the tall grass on a moonless night, and I'm hunting like a leopard."''

The Surefooted Barefooter has roots in agile sports traditionally preformed barefoot like martial arts or gymnastics and is sometimes used to invoke motifs of primates and [[PantheraAwesome cats]] naturally climbing and balancing exceptionally well. Thus, this trope is most commonly associated with graceful, stealthy, resilient and instinctive characters, like the JunglePrincess, the TarzanBoy, the BadassNative, the PhantomThief and [[MartialArtistsAreAlwaysBarefoot martial artists]],

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': Ed goes everywhere barefoot, and because of her traction, grip and balance, she is extremely acrobatic in everything from mundane tasks to CombatParkour. She uses her feet for everyday things like typing, and she even appears to be more comfortable sitting in more crouched positions. Also, when she actually does wear socks in one episode, she almost immediately loses her balance (due to them not providing much traction on the smooth metal deck of the Bebop) and pulls them off.
* ''Anime/FairyTailDragonCry'': Swan is an antagonist who uses her bare feet to grip and jump around her terrain far more quickly and agilely than Erza Scarlet, who wears boots. Since she is more agile than Erza Scarlet, she is able to hold her own against the master duelist without weapons. Meanwhile Erza, who is actually wielding swords, cannot keep up with her since she cannot grip the terrain as well.

-->'''Wallace:''' Rose, without shoes I'm quicker, faster and stealthier. You give me bare feet in the tall grass on a moonless night, and I'm hunting like a leopard.

* ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'': Jack Frost PrefersGoingBarefoot and is much more agile than the rest of the guardians (except for the BarefootCartoonAnimal Easter Bunny), constantly climbing and balancing on things like roof tops and powerlines effortlessly because of his unhindered grip and mobility.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'': Tarzan is usually an iconic barefooter, who uses his unhindered grip and senses for agility to navigate the trees, but this is demonstrated in the Disney version more than other depictions due to the medium of animation, especially deep canvas technology. The titular Ape Man is frequently depicted as moving extremely quietly and gripping just about every surface he navigates, from gripping the vines he swings on, balancing and surfing on mossy branches, or even gripping a black board with his large flexible feet. He looses a good amount of his grip when he wears shoes, [[spoiler:which leads to his capture]], so his shoes are also the first things to go later.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': Most NotQuiteHuman Tagruta from the planet Shili are usually barefoot as part of their culture, partially because it allows them to grip the terrain better and be more quiet while hunting.

* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'': Aladdin had already honed in on his natural agility and grip from BarefootPoverty to frequently climb across the cityscape of Agrabah to help him escape the boot wearing palace guards on a daily basis, saying, "They're quick, but I'm much faster," in the song "One Jump Ahead". He is even more of a Surefooted Barefooter in the series however, since despite dating a wealthy princess and being fully capable of obtaining shoes, he still goes barefoot for walking quietly and climbing acrobatically around his terrain when he [[JustLikeRobinHood steals from other thieves to give to the poor]].

* TruthInTelevision: If someone really PrefersGoingBarefoot enough, then eventually this trope will apply to them. Although many assume that the sense of touch is hindered as the skin thickens from carotene to protect from rough terrain, the sense of touch will actually become more acute as it is used more, along with strengthening the muscles in their feet more, which both allow for greater balance. They become accustomed to navigating the hazardous terrain around them and avoiding dangers, but their acute sense of touch and grip also allow for them to be much more agile in climbing or traversing extreme terrain. You can even find most barefooters in more agile positions in median situations.

** Many dances are preformed barefoot, as it is seen as graceful and gives the dancers more traction and mobility.
** Trapeze Artists often preform barefoot since any loss of agility can be dangerous.
* Even with sports that generally require light and flexible footwear, like hiking, running and rock climbing, there are people who practice said sports barefoot for improved agility.

* Ancient Greek Olympic games were preformed completely nude for mobility, and this included going barefoot. Even today, games that require very high mobility like artistic gymnastics are still preformed barefoot. Some athletes also chose to compete in the 100m dash barefoot.

* TruthInTelevision: If someone really PrefersGoingBarefoot enough, then eventually this trope will apply to them. Although many assume that the sense of touch is hindered as the skin thickens from carotene to protect from rough terrain, the sense of touch will actually become more acute as it is used more, along with straightening the muscles in their feet more, which both allow for greater balance. They become accustomed to navigating the hazardous terrain around them and avoiding dangers, but their acute sense of touch and grip also allow for them to be much more agile in climbing or traversing extreme terrain. You can even find most barefooters in more agile positions in median situations.

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]