History Main / TheCoatsAreOff

* Averted by both Nero and Dante in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', and then completely inverted by Dante in ''Devil May Cry 3'', where he has a badass putting-the-coat-on moment and proceeds to kill a small army of demons.

Everyone knows that [[BadassLongcoat wearing a longcoat]][[labelnote:*]]feel free to mentally substitute BadassCape in this description as needed[[/labelnote]] is one of the surest ways to show that you’re a badass, because nothing says “don’t fuck with me” more than having a long dark coat billowing out behind you as you walk. So how does one ratchet up the stakes when such a character is ''really'' [[TheGlovesComeOff serious about delivering a beatdown]]? They take that coat ''off''.

** Rugal Bernstein in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters 1994'' first fights in a full tux and without using any of his special moves, but ditches the jacket and shirt for round 2 when he [[DifficultySpike gets serious on your ass]] and shows you why he is the ''definitive'' SNKBoss. In his subsequent appearances, he has kept the green t-shirt he wore underneath.
** The ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters 1999'' has this. [[SNKBoss Krizalid]] first appears with a coat in which the players could [[AnticlimaxBoss beat him with relative ease]]. After winning the round, he then [[IncendiaryExponent burns his]] [[PowerLimiter coat]] [[RuleOfCool off]] and starts [[DifficultySpike showing off]] [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard his true power]]. He also does this in ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match]]'' as a special intro to certain characters on the Playstation 2. On all other versions, this becomes his regular intro, while standing without his coat becomes his special intro.

* Throughout the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' series, Meta Knight removes his cape before dueling Kirby.

* Done countless times in ''Series/{{Highlander}}: The Series''. It helps that the longcoat is practically [[{{Hammerspace}} mandatory]] for a Highlander immortal.
** Subverted in "Comes a Horseman" where it marks the end of an epic confrontation. After Mac confronts Methos in front of the GMC Jimmy, both guys throw their coats into their cars and drive away.

* On Gnarly Pop's ''Life Love And Lady Wrestling'', Kikyo parodied Kiera Hogan's routine (wearing her merchandise around her waist before the bell) by wearing multiple shirts over her singlet and slowly removing them to spell out "Hi, My Name Is Kikyo, And I'm Gonna Kick Yo Ass". Hogan {{a|ctuallyprettyfunny}}dmitted it was clever.

** At one point, Crystal takes off her coat that she always wears while going off to save a boat belonging to Bill the Pokemaniac by capturing a Flaafy and a Dunsparce that were attacking the boat. She leaves the coat off until she goes to rescue him from a cluster of Staryu at an amusement park. At that point, it is revealed that the shirt she wears underneath her coat is sleeveless and that she wears wristbands underneath its sleeves.
** And in a more traditional example, Giovanni and Red both do this before the climactic battle in the ''FireRed/LeafGreen'' arc.

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** The Strawhat crew tends to wear environment-specific clothing over their normal getups, perhaps specifically so they can invoke this trope and take them off (as in the final set of fights in the Alabasta arc).

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': If the character is male and wearing a coat, vest or other article of clothing on his torso, it will be discarded as soon as things get serious. Especially if that character is [[WalkingShirtlessScene Gray]]. Jellal is a noticeable example, simply for the fact that he took his off ''while it was on fire''.
* Fujiko's introduction in ''Anime/LupinIIIDeadOrAlive'' comes from a mix of tropes. She enters a gladiatorial area in a cloak covering her entire body, hiding her face as well. [[KnifeNut General Headhunter]] removes it for her by throwing boomerang-knives that circle her and [[ClothingDamage destroy her cloak]], which is taken as a signal to begin combat.
* In ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'', Nagisa and [[spoiler: Takaoka]] throw their jackets off before their final fight.
* Inverted in ''Anime/CowboyBebop''. Whenever Spike puts his trench coat on, you know shit is about to get real.
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' ''Re'', Arima throws off his iconic coat [[spoiler:before engaging in his final battle with Kaneki.]]

* Said almost word-for-word by Takato in ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' when Rika tosses hers aside to go with him and Henry to fight the D-Reaper.

* A particularly impressive version of this is pulled off by Shadow the Hedgehog in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''. In an alternate future where Shadow is king, an aged Sonic attacks him. Unfortunately for him, Shadow is still in his prime because he was created to never age. To illustrate this, Shadow throws off his royal cloak, and beats Sonic into the ground before it hits the floor.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** In ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns,'' when Batman faces off against the Mutant Leader for the second time, he removes his cape. This is actually for a practical reason; Batman lured him to a giant knee deep mud pit, where a cape would have simply gotten in the way. It's also to represent the fact that Bruce realized that the only way he could win was if he fought smarter than the Mutant Leader, as opposed to the spectacular failure of brute force from their previous battle.
** A classic Batman story from the '70s has him remove the cape prior to a sword fight with Ra's al Ghul.
* Franchise/WonderWoman wore a black leather jacket during J. Michael Straczynski's ''ComicBook/WonderWomanOdyssey'', which she takes off in one issue before she goes to battle, before she gets rid of it for good in later issues after it receives ClothingDamage. [[SleevesAreForWimps Bonus points for always going with her shoulders bare.]]

* Necromancers in ComicBook/DeathVigil have this habit of taking their tops off when it's time to get serious, as the Sigils they use to summon {{Eldritch Abomination}}s are tattooed on them, and are only useable when they are visible.
* ''ComicBook/RichardDragonKungFuFighter'': ComicBook/LadyShiva wears a long green coat just so that she can dramatically cast it aside before ruining someone's day.

* Not a coat, but you can count on Creator/BruceLee to kick a lot more ass if his top is torn or removed.

* In ''Jackie Chan's Film/WhoAmI1998?'' the final fight features Chan in a tag-team battle with two skilled martial artists. When Chan uses the first one's jacket and tie against him, the second one sensibly removes his before he jumps into the fight.

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'' has an excellent example: Gandalf sheds his grey cloak in Théoden's hall, revealing himself to be Gandalf the White, and all that goes with that name. He proceeds to be a badass wizard.

** In Chapter 13 of ''Series/TheMandalorian'', [[spoiler:Ahsoka Tano]] takes off her cloak in almost the exact same way as Obi-Wan immediately before a duel. Clearly she learned well from spending so much time around him.

* A variation in ''Film/{{Deadpool 2016}}'': Negasonic Teenage Warhead wears a BadassLongcoat and a turtleneck over her X-Men uniform on the way to the final battle. However both are incinerated the instant she ignites her powers to fight Angel Dust.
* In ''Film/SpidersIIBreedingGround'' before Alexandra sets off to save Jason she takes off her black shirt.

* ''Film/BringMeTheHeadOfTheMachineGunWoman'': Any time the Machine Gun Woman removes her [[PrettyInMink fur jacket]], it means that many people are about to die bloodily.
* In ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', Lockhart throws his cape off dramatically before beginning to demonstrate dueling. Some fangirls in the audience catch it. However, Lockhart is ''not'' a badass and is defeated handily by Snape, who just showed up without a cape in the first place.
* In ''Film/JohnnyReno'', Yates takes of his jacket when he challenges Reno to a fight in the saloon. Reno responds by removing his own jacket, and Yates sucker punches him while he is doing so.
* Dean from ''Film/BackstreetDreams'' takes off his jacket right before getting involved in a nightclub brawl.
* Done for BlackComedy in ''Film/BillionDollarBrain''. Harry Palmer is knocked out by a Soviet soldier and wakes up in the bathroom of their barracks. A Soviet soldier then enters, sees Harry and removes his belt and coat. Harry starts to remove his own coat to fight him, [[NotSoDire only for the soldier to enter a bathroom stall]].

* In the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' season 9 finale "Salvation", Clark Kent disposes of his coat before proceeding to [[spoiler: kick Zod's ass.]] [[BattleInTheRain In the rain.]]

* Played for laughs in an episode of ''Series/{{Alf}}''. Lynn notes that an angry visitor has taken off his jacket, apparently in preparation for a fight. Alf quips that someone should stop him before he wipes his shoes.

* ''Series/TheDoctorBlakeMysteries'': Lucien does this in "An Invincible Summer'' when he confronts a local thug who has pushed Mattie down and slapped Jean. He strips of his suit coat and proceeds to pound the crap out of the thug with GoodOldFisticuffs.

* In the "pool hustler" episode of ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', Uncle Phil takes off his jacket before proceeding to beat the pool hustlers that swindled Will at their own game in what is easily one of his most awesome moments.

* In ''VideoGame/OnePiecePirateWarriors'', Garp's taunt action is to have him take off his marine coat with the kanji for "Justice" on the back, which he normally drapes over his shoulders like a cape.

* Throughout the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' series, Meta Knight removes his cape before dueling Kirby.
* ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'':
** [[spoiler: Saya]]'s final part of her support attack has her tossing her coat revealing quite [[{{Fanservice}} the eye-candy]] before catching her two swords in the air and slashing them to her enemy.
** Some of [[VideoGame/SakuraWars Erica's]] attacks have her tossing off her nun outfit, revealing a cute cat suit beneath.

* In ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'', after you deal two Deathblows to [[spoiler:Lord Genichiro]] during his boss battle atop Ashina Castle, he'll shed his armor in order to wield his ultimate technique, [[spoiler:the [[ShockAndAwe Lightning of Tomoe]]]].
* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' features the Phantom Striker, a mysterious warrior shrouded in a blue cape; he dramatically casts it away at the start of every fight. Specter Knight is an inversion, befitting his Grim Reaper motif; the only time he loses his BadassCape is when he's defeated, causing it to burn away and revealing the dessicated husk beneath.

* In the Heaven's Feel Route of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', [[spoiler: Dark Sakura ''seems'' to kill Kotomine, leaving only his priest’s robes behind. But in the true ending, when Shirou goes to destroy Avenger, he finds Kotomine barring his path. This is the only scene in the entire game where Kotomine ''isn't'' wearing his coat, and it's also his most badass. He manages to give a really long speech ''and'' nearly beat Shirou to death, despite the fact that his heart completely ceased to function--a condition he survived for ''two days''.]]

* WebVideo/{{Lindybeige}} makes a point to generally do this in combat situations, since cloaks tend to wave around wildly while in high motion combat, and generally get in the way. Lloyd recounts one time while [[{{LARP}} LARPing]], someone slipped and fell when Lloyd started running in a direction while his comrade was standing on his cloak. Otherwise, he feels that a thick, woolen cloak is incredibly useful for keeping warm and dry while on long marches through cold or rainy climes.

** Before ''that'', King Bumi sheds his robes to reveal that [[ObfuscatingStupidity he is surprisingly ripped for a 100+ year old man.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' tears off part or all of his kimono at least every other episode. Usually loses the top knot, too.

Compare TheGlassesComeOff. Also compare the slightly less literal ThrowingDownTheGauntlet.

Compare TheGlassesComeOff.

* In ''Webcomic/WeakHero'', when he's about to punish Rowan for ([[FrameUp purportedly]]) stealing his bag, Wolf strips himself of his school blazer. The intimidation factor is increased even more by him slowly emerging from the shadows as he does so.

* In Squaresoft's ''VideoGame/TheBouncer'', the BigBad, Dauragon C. Mikado, wears a BadassLongcoat for most of the game, including when you first get to fight him. In the Final BossFight, he starts out wearing it, too, but after you knock enough health off of him, he tosses the coat and [[UpToEleven becomes a]] ''[[UpToEleven LOT]]'' [[UpToEleven stronger]]. In the True Final Boss Fight, he removes the suspenders, too, and fights you [[ShirtlessScene full-on shirtless]].

* A time-honored tradition in the ''Videogame/{{Yakuza}}'' series. Most of the major boss fights are precluded by the characters throwing off their shirt in a single swoop so that they can show off their [[TattooedCrook Irezumi]].

* This happens incidentally in outdoor contact sports, like rugby or American football when the weather gets cold.When a player is on the bench, they'll often put on a coat (or drape it over themselves in football, the coat won't fit properly over the chest and shoulder pads). When it comes time for them to sub in and do violence, they shrug off the coat and run onto the field.
* Boxers usually wear robes prior to coming to the ring

* On Gnarly Pop's ''Life Love And Lady Wrestling'', Kikyo parodied Kiera Hogan's routine(wearing her merchandise around her waist before the bell) but wearing multiple shirts over her singlet and slowly removing them to spell out "Hi, My Name Is Kikyo, And I'm Gonna Kick Yo Ass". Hogan {{a|ctuallyprettyfunny}}dmitted it was clever.

** Strangely averted with Mace Windu in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones''. There's a significant shot of him walking down a hallway to confront the Separatist leaders that would be the perfect time for him to ditch his robe, but he doesn't. When he ''does'' ditch it, its been set on fire, and thus not this trope.

** In Chapter 13 of Series/TheMandalorian, [[spoiler:Ahsoka Tano]] takes off her cloak in almost the exact same way as Obi-Wan immediately before a duel. Clearly she learned well from spending so much time around him.

* A particularly impressive version of this is pulled off by Shadow the Hedgehog in ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog''. In an alternate future where Shadow is king, an aged Sonic attacks him. Unfortunately for him, Shadow is still in his prime because he was created to never age. To illustrate this, Shadow throws off his royal cloak, and beats Sonic into the ground before it hits the floor.

** The ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters 1999'' has this. [[SNKBoss Krizalid]] first appears with a coat in which the players could [[AnticlimaxBoss beat him with relative ease]]. After winning the round, he then [[IncendiaryExponent burns his]] [[PowerLimiter coat]] [[RuleOfCool off]] and starts [[DifficultySpike showing off]] [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard his true power]]. He also does this in ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match]]'' as a special intro to certain characters.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Elliot takes off the top of his martial arts uniform (which was over a [[SleevesAreForWimps sleeveless shirt]]) and ties the belt around his head during a lull in his battle with Nanase. While doing this he [[WorldOfCardboardSpeech gives a speech about not using his full power earlier]].