Line #88 Main/QuirkyCurls


1	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1330158227017240100
2	%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
3	%%
4	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pinkie_pie_swings_a_rubber_chicken_s1e07_10.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:Pictured above, this trope (left) and [[RegalRinglets a completely different curl trope]] (right).]]
6
7	Characters with elegant RegalRinglets are refined and high class, but characters with tightly coiled, all over the place curls tend to be the opposite. Where ringlets are large, sleek coils that look like they were made with a huge curling iron, Quirky Curls tend to be rendered as zig-zagging kinks which stick out all over the place, much tighter than their more elegant counterpart and are prone to frizzing.
8
9	This type of curly hair, especially in girls, represents non-conformity or high energy. These characters are the type to march to the beat of their own drum, sometimes on purpose, other times because they simply feel they don't fit in. They may be [[GenkiGirl quirky and fun]], [[SpiritedYoungLady rebelling against expectations]], or just eccentric or different. There also seems to be a correlation with this type of hair and being nerdy or intelligent, which contrasts popular girls having long straight hair, and too add to their 'differentness' is not uncommon for characters with Quirky Curls to also have glasses or freckles. If in a fantasy work, if a character has very tight zigzaggy curls they may have lightning or fire powers, or if they have softer waves, they may have water magic.
10
11	They may try everything they can to get sleek, straight hair, possibly representing a desire to fit in or be popular. Often there will be a scene where [[StubbornHair they try to tame their wildly curly hair but as soon as they have it smoothed down, it poofs up again]].
12
13	Compare NonconformistDyedHair, MessyHair and UnkemptBeauty. When a character only has one weird curl, it's probably an IdiotHair. Contrast RegalRinglets and OjouRinglets. This hairstyle was one of the defining styles of [[TheSeventies the late 1970s]] [[EightiesHair until]] [[TheNineties the early 1990s]].
14
15	----
16	!!Examples:
17
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
21	* ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'': Richter has blonde, coily, curly BarbarianLonghair that loops up on top of each other and is wildly untamed. He also has a really bad hot temper and is fatally violent.
22	* Dorian from ''Manga/FromEroicaWithLove'' with his long blond curls. Energetic, loud, openly CampGay aristocrat and Super-thief who steals for the love of the hunt/art rather than monetary gain and likes tweaking the nose of a certain NATO agent who would happily strangle him given the chance. His quirks regularly get him into trouble, since he likes to try things just to see if they can be done (stealing the Pope, anyone?).
23	* ''Manga/{{Lady}}'': Charles has curly long blonde hair that's bunched up and untamed, and adds to his PrettyBoy appearance. In contrast, his sisters [[spoiler: Lynn and Sarah have straighter hair, though Lynn's is somewhere in the middle.]]
24	* ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'':
25	** Sherlock Holmes has long, wavy curls, which he throws back into an untamed ponytail. His personality is just as eccentric and rebellious as his hair.
26	** Mycroft has even more untamable curls than his brother does--the only difference is that he makes the attempt. [[AllThereInTheManual According to his official profile]], he spends a full half hour every morning trying to style it, and it still doesn't make it through the day. Needless to say, Mycroft is at least as strange as his brother and more devoted to hiding it.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Comic Books]]
30	* Delirium from ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' has a very mutable appearance, which often includes wild, messy curls. This fits her being a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, which makes her RealityWarper powers kind of... dangerous. It's implied she was once the personification of Delight.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
34	* ComicStrip/LittleOrphanAnnie, a funny and lively GenkiGirl.
35	* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'': Freida has Naturally Curly Hair and, as originally presented, fancies herself quite the conversationalist. She got {{Flanderized}} into only being conversational about her naturally curly hair though.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
39	* Princess Merida from ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', who has very curly red hair and doesn't fit with her mother's expectations of how a princess should act.
40	* ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'': Although it may be {{downplayed\|Trope}} when she becomes a queen, Iduna (Elsa and Anna's mother) as a kid is shown to have curly hair, [[spoiler:freely wandering around the Northuldra settlements where she was born and raised.]]
41	* The eponymous character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' is a rather free-spirited character with curly hair.
42	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Bumbling, awkward, and horribly inarticulate, Linguini's red curls reflect his quirkiness.
43
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
47	* ''Film/DuckButter'': Nima has short, very curly hair. She's an openly queer, peppy, bohemian actress.
48	* ''Film/HollySleptOver'': Holly's free-spirited nature is partly shown by her hair being in a loose afro when she comes to visit her more straitlaced white ex-girlfriend Audra.
49	* In ''Film/LikeWaterForChocolate'' Gertrudis is the only one of the three sisters with curly hair. Her character-defining moment is when she runs into the desert and rides away on horseback with a Mexican revolutionary. A few years later, we find that she married the man and is now a general in the revolutionary army.
50	* Mia from ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries'' has naturally curly hair and at the beginning of the film she is gawky, not very popular and very much quirky, as is her mother who has wavy hair and is an artist. When she finds out she is a princess, she has to have her hair straightened to look acceptable as a princess.
51	* In ''Film/TheUnbearableWeightOfMassiveTalent'', [[EccentricMillionaire Eccentric Billionaire]] Javi (played by Creator/PedroPascal) sports some stylishly wavy hair, though he has it straightened for special occasions.
52	* Amanda Peet's character from ''Film/TheWholeNineYards''. Talks about her assignment to kill Oz ''while he's in the room''.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Literature]]
56	* ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'': Violet Beauregarde is described as having a big mop of curly hair. While her coif doesn’t directly factor into her character, this is the girl who set a world record by chewing a single piece of gum for three months straight, which definitely has “quirky” overtones.
57	* ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'': Trisana Chandler has wildly curly red hair which is always frizzing. She's also a DeadpanSnarker, Bookworm and loner who doesn't fit in, and has extreme abilities in weather magic, including lightning. In fact, her hair tends to either trap or produce lightning. When her abilities as a mage advance, she actually begins to use her hair to store her magic in tight, carefully wound braids.
58	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Susan Sto Helit, granddaughter-by-adoption of the incarnation of [[TheGrimReaper Death]], has hair like this in her first couple of appearances; after that, her hair seems to settle down, although it remains [[PrehensileHair self-styling]]. Her hair seems to rebel in proportion to how much effort she puts into [[IJustWantToBeNormal being normal]]; in ''Literature/SoulMusic'' she makes the biggest deal about it, and that's the book where she attempts to braid her hair and it always manages to unravel itself. (Although the braids could simply be to conform to her school's dress code, rather than a reflection of her personal preferences.)
59	* ''Literature/GivesLight'': Skylar St. Clair. It's one of his defining characteristics.
60	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Hermione Granger has the 'nerdy girl frizz' version of these curls, and her story arc includes the classic instance where she straightens them out and transforms into a beauty (once for a big school dance - which took hours and a lot of magical hair-care potion - and once for the wedding of Ron Weasley's brother, Bill).
61	** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', while desperately trying find a spell that will aid Harry in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, Hermione stumbles across one that will make one's nose hair grow into ringlets and snaps the book shut in annoyance. Fred Weasley, who overhears the conversation, remarks that he actually wouldn't mind having that done, as it would be a humorous talking point.
62	* ''Literature/HeavenOfficialsBlessingTianGuanCiFu'': Quan Yizhen is described as having curly hair (unusually for ancient China), and sticks out from everyone else due to his NoSocialSkills.
63	* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Flavius, Katniss Everdeen’s hair stylist, is described as having bright orange hair arranged in corkscrew curls.
64	* ''I Like Myself'': The unnamed narrator might make a good trope image, actually.
65	* ''Literature/AMasterOfDjinn'': Fatma's hair is very curly, and she keeps it short, fitting with her gender nonconformity as she has a masculine style, wearing fine Western men's suits with a bowler.
66	* ''Literature/RainbowMagic'': While most fairies with curly hair are feminine and proper, a few squeak by with more quirky personalities.
67	** [[Literature/RainbowMagicTallulahTheTuesdayFairy Tallulah the Tuesday Fairy]], who is sporty and always on the go, has curly hair in a puffy ponytail.
68	** Paula the Pumpkin Fairy, a partygoer with some adorable cat-eye glasses, has curly hair in locs with some [[OdangoHair odangos]] as well.
69	* ''Literature/SorryBro'': Erebuni lets her curly hair hang loose, unlike lots of Armenian women, as a sign of her laidback and freespirited personality.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
73	* ''Series/AmberBrown2022'': Amber has her loose afro, which fits well with her energetic, cheerful air.
74	%%* Maeby from ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''.
75	* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': Stella Bonasera. Her mentor, Professor Papadakis, told her they were what drew his attention to call on her in class all the time.
76	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
77	** WhatCouldHaveBeen: Initial plans were to give these to the Second Doctor, to play up his quirkier personality as compared to his predecessor, though when the team saw him in the wig everyone hated it (Troughton said he looked like [[Creator/TheMarxBrothers Harpo Marx]] and would often joke that Creator/TomBaker stole his look). Creator/AnnekeWills (who played the companion Polly) combed Troughton's hair into the iconic messy moptop as a last-minute replacement.
78	** The Fourth Doctor is a clear male example. The curls were Creator/TomBaker's natural hair, and mesh well with Four's characterization as goofy, cheeky, and anti-authoritarian to a greater extent than any incarnation before or since. Tellingly, when Four's personality became more melancholy and wizened in his final season, his curls turned into a softer '80s perm, the result of Baker's hair straightening out from burnout after seven years in the role.
79	** In a different way, the Sixth Doctor's curls (also Creator/ColinBaker's natural hair; no, he's not related to Tom) matches his characterization as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, who behind the more acidic personality is still, at his core, the Doctor.
80	** River Song, a rebellious sociopath.
81	** Creator/PaulMcGann, who played the very {{Cloudcuckoolander}}ish Eighth Doctor, got some bright ideas about buzzing his near-shoulder-length curls off between the audition and filming. So they made him wear a wig (which gets obviously frizzier throughout the MadeForTVMovie). He once stated in an interview that hair generally seems to be an important part of playing the Doctor. His eventual insistance that the Eighth Doctor ''didn't'' still have the curls, in a Creator/BigFinish photoshoot where he kept his buzzcut, conveniently coincided with the Eight Doctor audios getting DarkerAndEdgier.
82	** The Twelfth Doctor's hair becomes longer and curlier in Series 9, [[ExpositoryHairstyleChange coinciding with]] [[CharacterDevelopment his development]] into [[DefrostingIceQueen a somewhat more relaxed and approachable character]].
83	* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''Series/{{Extras}}'' when a BBC exec makes Andy wear a curly wig for his sitcom, insisting that "curly is funny".
84	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Meera Reed's hairstyle. Karl Tanner even compliments her (in a not so flattering manner) for it.
85	* Blaine from ''Series/{{Glee}}'' shellacks his hair down with a ton of hairgel, but when he's finally persuaded to go without in public, he's got these curls. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments They frighten Brittany]]. Appropriately enough, he's got all the quirky and highly energetic traits that go with this trope, but spends a lot of time trying to act more sober and grown up than he really is.
86	* Lizzi in ''Series/{{Greek}}''. As part of her makeover in her last episode (to break her out of being just a PluckyOfficeGirl being stepped on by the other Nationals, particularly Tegan), Casey and Ashleigh got rid of the frizz and gave her a more professional, dead straight haired look.
87	* Parado of ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' is PsychopathicManchild who gets bored [[AttentionDeficitOhShiny extremely easily]], so he is either toying with something, [[MagnificentBastard scheming]] or [[DeadlyGame fighting]]. He has frizzly curly mess of hair in second and third dozen of episodes, but it starts to get somewhat straighter afterwards, coinciding with him being forced into less ''quirky and fun'' and more ''fighting for survival''.
88	* [[Characters/MCULokiLaufeyson Loki]]'s hair is practically shellacked down in most of his film appearances, but in [[Series/Loki2021 his own series]], he [[ExpositoryHairstyleChange leaves it looser and only brushed back from his forehead]], which reveals its natural state to be a mass of slightly frizzy curls. It [[GoodHairEvilHair goes along with his becoming]] [[HeelFaceTurn a much kinder, nobler person]].
89	* The Harfoots in ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'' all have curly [[MessyHair unkept hair]]. They are more rustic than their more sophisticated descendants, and their subplot is more comical.
90	* [[TheLastDJ Dr. Cox]] from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' has loads of thick curly hair whose length tends to vary greatly over the course of each season.
91	%%* ''Series/Numb3rs'': Charlie Eppes.
92	* Cassie from ''Series/{{Skins}}'', who is the resident {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, although averted with Michelle who also has curly hair. Cassie's hair isn't particularly curly, more just unbrushed; sometimes she styles it wavy.
93	* ''Series/SquidGame'' has 212Mi-nyeo, whose hair is as wavy as her carefree, [[NoIndoorVoice loud]] and untrustworthy personality.
94	* Dave Starsky's exuberant mop of dark '70s style curls in ''Series/StarskyAndHutch,'' matching his irrepressibly cheerful, enthusiastic, sometimes-ditzy personality. In one episode he teases them out to be even quirkier than usual when he goes undercover as a patient at a mental hospital.
95	* ''Series/YouMeHer'': Izzy has loose curls and she's an energetic, fun-loving young women who helps her [[{{Polyamory}} two lovers]] get more uninhibited like her.
96
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Video Games]]
100	* Takatsuki Yayoi from ''VideoGame/TheIdolMaster'', an energetic and hardworking CheerfulChild. Her hair is usually rendered as wavy rather than extremely curly in the game and anime adaptation due to the difficulty of properly animating curly hair, but in illustrations it's more clearly curly.
101	%%* The heroine in ''VideoGame/SwordOfMana''.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
105	* Gaap from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' has a very curly haircut, and her characterization follows TheTrickster pretty closely.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Webcomics]]
109	* Angelica, the ditzy Russian strange girl from ''Webcomic/BloodyUrban'', has very thick, curly, bright orange hair.
110	* [[CatGirl Catalina Bobcat]], the little boisterous gingery closet-lesbian girl from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''. It was revealed that she deliberately styles her hair that way, and it is naturally flat. Also has freckles.
111	* Pato, the DeadpanSnarker from ''Webcomic/M9Girls'', has very thick, brown curls.
112	* Claire Augustus from ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' has the full trifecta of quirky curls, freckles, and (sometimes) glasses. Bonus points for being a redhead, too.
113	* While Amaltea's hair in ''Webcomic/SwordPrincessAmaltea'' ''looks'' like it was [[RegalRinglets made with a curling iron]], her brash personality makes you think more of this trope than its regal and dignified sister trope.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Western Animation]]
117	* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': [[TheLancer Mabel Pines]]' quirky curls are on the end of her hair, but doesn't change the fact that she is a combination of GenkiGirl and {{Cloudcuckoolander}}.
118	* From ''Literature/TheMagicSchoolBus'', Miss Frizzle has extremely curly hair. She's also incredibly weird, or (depending on whom you ask) [[CoolTeacher incredibly awesome]].
119	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
120	** Pinkie Pie is an extremely hyper and high-energy GenkiGirl and {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, and the only member of the Mane Six with this kind of curly hair. She apparently maintains it by sheer exuberance: in a flashback in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", she had straight hair as a filly before she learned how to smile and bring cheer to others. In "Party of One" her hair goes back to being straight when she convinces herself her friends don't want to hang out with her anymore, and in "The Best Night Ever" she gets her hair straightened, only for it to quickly poof back to its usual curly mess.
121	** Pinkie's SpearCounterpart Cheese Sandwich shares her frizzy mane, passion for parties, [[CompanionCube fondness for rubber chickens]] and pretty much constructed his personality after being inspired by Pinkie herself, though unlike her, his mane style isn't affected by his mood. For bonus points, he's voiced by none other than Music/WeirdAlYankovic, who's notable for having frizzy curly hair.
122	* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': While their hair are kept in a pixie cut (Luz, although due to mishandling a sword she got from a convention, while trying to cut herself her hair) or straighten (Camila), it’s revealed that both of them have natural curly hair. When they both left them curly in Season 3, it symbolizes they are more accepting of their nerdy authentic self.
123	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': Miss Grotke, the GenkiGirl HippieTeacher.
124	* The titular Steven of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' is a peppy FriendToAllLivingThings with a Jewfro.
125	* In ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'', of the three Trix witches, Icy and Darcy have long straight hair while Stormy has a cloud of kinked curls. Guess which one is the spitfire. Guess which one has the storm powers.
126	* Irma from ''WesternAnimation/{{Witch}}'' is a FunPersonified type of girl who has wavy hair.
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Real Life]]
130	* Carrot Top is a famous RealLife example.
131	* Creator/DannyElfman used to have these.
132	* Creator/DavidKrumholtz of Series/{{Numb3rs}} springs immediately to mind (this trope is ingrained enough that many naturally curly-haired actors and actresses get [[TypeCasting typecast]] into the roles the trope is designed for).
133	* Creator/GeneWilder had naturally quirky curls, which fit well with the eccentric/frazzled characters he played for Creator/MelBrooks -- to say nothing of [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory Willy Wonka]].
134	* Music/{{Lorde}} is a prime example.
135	* Melanie Brown - a.k.a. Mel B of the Music/{{Spice Girls}} - arguably fits this trope. Her nickname "Scary Spice" was famously inspired by her wild curly hair
136	* Music/WeirdAlYankovic kept his frizz even when he ditched his glasses and mustache.
137	* The guy who runs the blog ''Polymathically'' [[https://polymathically.wordpress.com/2015/02/01/weekly-photo-challenge-depth-or-a-study-in-curls/ apparently has two feet of them]].
138	[[/folder]]

Context Main / QuirkyCurls