Line #71 Main/HandwrapsOfAwesome


1	[[quoteright:300:[[Manga/Reborn2004 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reborn_vol_14.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Who says boxers need RedBoxingGloves?[[note]]His Vongola Gear actually has RedBoxingGloves[[/note]]]]
3
4	Awesome gloves that are made entirely out of wrapping bandages or cloth around the hands and knuckles. Often seen during poses flying free or being wrapped using [[OralFixation the character's mouth]]. Boxers tend to wear these since [[RuleOfCool normal boxing gloves aren't cool enough for fiction]]. Application usually takes place in the montage before a fight.
5
6	When you see these on a female character, don't be surprised if she wears a {{sarashi}} as well.
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8	TruthInTelevision, as wearing hand wraps is generally a good idea. The compression helps reduce metacarpal fractures and braces the wrist, which is very important when your blow doesn't land dead on. That and boxing gloves are really uncomfortable without that extra layer. But not all the time...
9
10	Compare PowerFist.
11	----
12	!!Examples
13
14	[[foldercontrol]]
15
16	[[folder:Animation]]
17	* ''Animation/{{Boxballet}}'': In one scene the boxer's coach tries to cheat by wrapping up some steel nuts in his handwraps. The boxer refuses to do this—and goes on to lose.
18	[[/folder]]
19
20	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
21	* Sasagawa Ryohei of ''Manga/Reborn2004'' is never seen without handwraps.
22	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
23	** Rock Lee wears those. He actually unwraps them during a fight, to restrain the enemy for his MeteorMove.
24	** Neji also had these. He stopped wearing them after the timeskip.
25	** Sasuke also has these for a short time in the Chunin Exam arc. A flashback shows that Rock Lee's mentor Might Gai had them in his youth.
26	** When she was an active Jonin Kurenai Yuhi wore them as well.
27	** [[spoiler: And now Naruto wears some on his right hand, having lost the original one during his final fight with Sasuke, he keeps his prosthetic wrapped up.]]
28	* Yuu from ''Manga/{{Holyland}}'' takes to using these when he's not using his homemade pair of plastic hand guards.
29	* All Muay Thai fighters wear these in ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple''. Since Kenichi's custom-made training uniform (introduced in Chapter 145) was patched up from pieces of outfits for various martial arts (which reflects various fighting styles of his mentors), it also includes a pair of such bandages.
30	** Ikki Takeda also wears these on a constant basis since, well, he IS a boxer.
31	* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] and PlayedForLaughs in ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'' by Kiyoshiro Higashimitarai, a teenage {{otaku}} who wears these around one of his hands constantly with it being revealed by his snarky partner [[{{mons}} Jellymon]] that he does it to look cool.
32	* Ichigo dons these occasionally in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''.
33	* Black*Star from ''Manga/SoulEater'' seems to have swapped his old gloves for a pair of these after his last rematch with Mifune.
34	* In ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid'', [[KungFuKid Miura]] wears these when she's practicing her punches outside of her Barrier Jacket.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Books]]
38	* ComicBook/{{Wildcat}} from Franchise/TheDCU is typically seen wearing these, which makes sense given that he's a boxer.
39	* Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl in ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'', except in her case they go halfway up her arms to hide the cuts on her wrists.
40	* The ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' villain Killer Croc sometimes wears these. Examples are ''ComicBook/BatmanHush'' and ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum''. (In the concept art, at least. His in-game model wears a torn prison uniform and broken handcuffs.)
41	* Katchoo in ''ComicBook/StrangersInParadise'' wraps her hands when she knows she'll have to fight. So do her [[BrawnHilda big sisters]], the mafia bodyguards.
42	* Daniel Rand, The ComicBook/IronFist, has wrist/forearm wraps in his modern green costume, as well as his [[PaletteSwap white costume]], with taped fingers as needed. While awesome, unlike his suit, they are ''not'' fireproof, which he learned the hard way.
43	* In post-''Comicbook/{{Convergence}}'' comics, the partially-depowered Comicbook/{{Superman}} appears to have wrapped his hands in the shredded remains of his cape.
44	* A flashback to Kate Kane's time at West Point in ''ComicBook/BatwomanRebirth'' shows her in a boxing sparring match against her girlfriend, Sophie Moore. Both women are wearing handwraps without any other padded gloves.
45	* Gertrude dons these with Larry's help for the Tower of Battle in ''ComicBook/IHateFairyland''.
46	* Raven wears these (plus feet wraps) during a covert mission in ''[[ComicBook/PrincelessRavenThePiratePrincess Princeless - Raven: The Pirate Princess]]''. They come in handy later during a fight.
47	* Gang leader Billie from ''ComicBook/TwentyFists'' wears these even when she's not fighting.
48	* ''ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws'': ComicBook/{{Artemis}}'s new outfit has these.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Fan Works]]
52	* The same Batwoman sparring scene from the above example in comic books is expanded upon in ''Fanfic/CadetScrap'', including giving reasons why Kate and Sophie wear handwraps instead of boxing gloves.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
56	* ''Film/{{Kickboxer}}''. The final fight has them dip their handwraps in glue, then glass to make their punches more lethal. The scene is parodied in ''Film/HotShotsPartDeux'' with Topper Harley dipping his handwraps in caramel, sprinkles, and gummy bears.
57	* ''Film/RamboIII''. Rambo and his opponent in the opening fight scene (also parodied in ''Film/HotShotsPartDeux'') because they're stick-fighting, so need to hold on to their weapons.
58	* Marcus Wright from ''Film/TerminatorSalvation''.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
62	* ''Series/Daredevil2015''. After losing his first fight with Dex, Matt Murdock wraps his fists in Muay Thai ropes to give his punches more impact.
63	* The male turtles in ''Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'' have these near their wrists and legs.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
67	* Handwraps are very common in pro wrestling, especially with wrestlers who have a boxing or martial arts background. Before the referees stopped ruling disqualifications for punching "taped fist" was a fairly common stipulation for GimmickMatches, where in addition to punching being legal the fist tape would serve the dual purpose of protecting the hands while making it harder to grab things, to encourage punching.
68	* Back in the Wrestling/{{WCW}} days Wrestling/HacksawJimDuggan used to win matches by pulling out a roll of boxing tape, hastily wrapping it around his fist and cold cocking his opponent. Somehow this was far more effective than just punching them without the tape. He claimed his grandmother was a taped fist champion in Ireland.
69	* The story goes, confirmed by many but denied by Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, that Wrestling/TheUndertaker taped his fists prior to Shawn's match with Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin as a warning to Shawn not to pull [[WagTheDirector his usual crap]] to stay champion.
70	* Wrestling/CMPunk's handwraps, in particular, are a very visible part of his usual attire. He always marks the wraps with an X on the back of his hands, a symbol of his commitment to the UsefulNotes/StraightEdge lifestyle.
71	* Kellie Skater tapes her wrists to tell you "DIE WANKER!"
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Video Games]]
75	* Leoneed Burns from ''VideoGame/DemolishFist'', where his handwrapped fists allows him to repeatedly pummel mutant enemies several times larger than him.
76	* Nils, the protagonist from ''VideoGame/SuperPunchPatrol'' wears bandanges around his knuckles instead of gloves.
77	%%(ZCE)* The Scout from ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''.
78	* Budi from ''VideoGame/{{Troublemaker}}'' wears bandages around his fists that exposes his fingers when he's busy punching bullies in the noggins, and removes them when he's studying. Several of the bosses also have this fashion.
79	* Adon, Akuma and Sagat from ''Franchise/StreetFighter''. Sagat and Adon are special cases as they wraps their hands and feet to go with their fighting style Muay Thai.
80	** Cody of ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' also tapes his hands, although this is partially to hide the scars on his fists from continually ''punching through walls'' (usually [[CardboardPrison to escape from prison]] in more recent appearances). His brother Kyle, from ''Streetwise'', takes up the tradition when Cody stops wearing them.
81	* In the recent ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' games, there's Steve Fox, a British boxer. His "main" costume has classic boxing gloves (along with very loud shorts), while his second costume is "civilian" clothes, with fistwraps. Heihachi Mishima also often uses fistwraps, while his descendants seem to prefer half-gloves. Guess he's just "old school." Muay Thai fighters Bruce Irvin and Fahkumram also wear hand wraps.
82	* Johnny Cage ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' has had these as part of his outfit since ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance''.
83	* In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' fist wraps are one of the costume options for gloves.
84	* In ''VideoGame/LostSaga'', if the Boxing Champ hero loses his gloves, his hands are shown to be wrapped like this.
85	* Harada Sanosuke from ''VisualNovel/{{Hakuouki}}'' has red handwraps in both of his outfits.
86	* Nariko in ''VideoGame/HeavenlySword''.
87	* Keats in ''VideoGame/{{Folklore}}'' has these during his [[SuperMode Transcension]].
88	* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' features boxing tape, the most durable and most powerful of the fatigue-inflicting unarmed class of weapons. An unreleased unique version called the Starlet's Hand Wraps has shown up in the ''Dead Money'' ExpansionPack game files. These are notable for being fifteen times more powerful than regular boxing gloves (and doing thirty times the CriticalHit damage of the same), ten times as durable as boxing tape, and have a feature where punching enemies usually ends up knocking them down with stunning electrical blasts to boot.
89	* ''VideoGame/SonicBoom'''s interpretation of the cast sees all of them wrapping some part of themselves with tape.
90	** Knuckles has his arms and hands wrapped with tape, complimenting his punch-centric combat style and {{topheav\|yGuy}}iness.
91	** Tails has his legs and shoes taped as well. [[ShownTheirWork This is known as spatting,]] [[FridgeBrilliance which helps mitigate the risk of injury]].
92	** Sonic has elements from both Knuckles and Tails's designs, for the same reasons listed.
93	** Amy has her wrists taped and a {{sarashi}} around her waist. No point wielding a hammer that size if it throws out your wrists ''or'' your back every time you swing it.
94	* Kagura Mutsuki of ''VideoGame/BlazBlueChronophantasma'' has his wrists wrapped, and he rewraps them as a winpose. Like Amy above, it protects his wrists from his own [[{{BFS}} fuckhuge sword]].
95	* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'': Enemy [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triad]] Brawlers all have handwraps, though it's particularly noticeable with the ones working for Big Smile Lee, since they would be [[SharpDressedMan rather well dressed]] otherwise. In the Zodiac Tournament DLC, Muai-Thai expert Karl Chu also wears these, and beating him and unlocking his outfit (or unlocking the [[Film/OngBak Bon]] [[SignificantAnagram Gak]] outfit in the main game) can let Wei wear these as well.
96	* ''VideoGame/Persona2 Eternal Punishment'': Ulala Serizawa has these wrappings in her official art, and her starter weapon is boxing tape (averted with her later weapons, which are mostly brass knuckles of some kind). She is TheBigGuy of ''EP'''s FiveManBand, and capable of breaking sandbags with her fists.
97	* Zack from ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' is a Muay Thai fighter and appropriately wears hand wraps.
98	* Walt, one of the only two male kangaroo villagers in the ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' series, wears these, alluding to the fact that he is a more discret example of a BoxingKangaroo (Unlike Rooney, the other male kangaroo, who plays the trope straight).
99	* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}''
100	** In [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc the first game]], Sakura Ogami wears them around her lower arms and around her legs, going all the way up to her knees. Fitting for the Ultimate Martial Artist.
101	** In [[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair the second game]], Gundham Tanaka, the Ultimate Animal Breeder, has them on both of his arms, which works quite well visually with the EvilOverlord [[{{Chuunibyou}} persona he projects]]. His actual reason for it, though, is because he sometimes has to break up physical fights between his four hamsters when they get into each others' territory, and gets scratches and bites on his arms in the process.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Webcomics]]
105	* Varpa, a notably good Smoke Knight from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', keeps her hands wrapped in bandages evidently to help prevent injury to them while fighting and make handling poisons safer.
106	* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'':
107	** Heartful Punch, a CuteBruiser MagicalGirl, is seen wearing hand wraps in her [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-2-page-2 first appearance]]. Her design is [[EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference tweaked slightly]] by the time she is properly introduced, and she no longer wears them.
108	** Knuckle Thrash, another magical girl with a {{Japanese Delinquent\|s}} theme, often wears hand wraps in her civilian form. Interestingly enough, they disappear in her Magical Girl form, when she gains a pair of [[PowerFist brass knuckles]] as her weapon of choice.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Western Animation]]
112	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Vi often has her fists wrapped, apparently as an everyday thing. Fitting, since she usually fights with her fists. Notably even with them, she still ends up with bloody knuckles more often than not.
113	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra:'' Korra breifly dons versions that cover her forearms [[spoiler: when she joins an UndergroundFightClub in disguise.]] Subverted, as instead of making her look more awesome, it's part of a SignificantWardrobeShift indicating [[spoiler: her recovery is taking longer than expected.]]
114	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Jedi Master Quinlan Vos has most of his hands and forearms wrapped in dark grey cloth.
115	* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' Nora Cesaire, a skilled amateur kickboxer, is always seen wearing them alongside the rest of her kickboxing gear aside for the gloves and (usually) headgear.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Real Life]]
119	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefillin Tefillin]], a part of Jewish ritual prayer garb. Part of Tefillin is a piece of black leather that ends being wrapped around certain fingers. It's definitely ''not'' intended for use in combat, however.
120	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HandwrapsOfAwesome