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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/CastAway https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/castaway_seriously_scruffy.png]]]]

->''"With the long hours at a hospital, you don't have a lot of time to worry about your appearance."''
-->-- '''JD''', ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', "My Clean Break"

This trope is about characters who, for various reasons, don't have time for the usual grooming rituals or to keep their personal space tidy. It can be a one-time thing (to show a given character is under pressure or has become obsessed with something) or part of their normal characterisation. Either way, they have something other than their appearance on their mind.

The reasons for this can be external; events out of the character's control are keeping them from a nice warm shower. Or they can be internal; the person in question has let their appearance slide because they're more interested in what they're doing. The former can either emphasise the significance of what they're doing (i.e. their job's hard) or suggest that the character's having difficulty dealing with it (i.e. they're bad at their job). The latter tends to simply mark the character out as devoted to their job (or whatever it is they're doing) and is far more likely to be PlayedForLaughs. Although it can still be PlayedForDrama, especially when it's motivated [[MustMakeAmends by guilt]].

Characters who frequently show this trait include the DefectiveDetective (and their more well-adjusted colleagues when the situation's ''really'' serious), the {{Salaryman}}[=/=]WhiteCollarWorker (especially if they're a BeleagueredBureaucrat), TheAtoner, {{Workaholic}}s and the AbsentMindedProfessor. The PanickyExpectantFather is an example of the "one-time" variation (although looking after their new offspring might make the trope stick). It can also be a sign of a BunnyEarsLawyer, SanitySlippage, VillainousBreakdown, and the reason somebody's a GeniusSlob. Someone who MustHaveCaffeine will often display this trope with or without the two being connected (in the former case, it might be cleared up after they've had their fix). PlotPoweredStamina tends to have this as a side effect when it's being played more realistically.

This is, obviously, TruthInTelevision; Your personal appearance needs daily maintenance (clean clothes, washing, combing hair, shaving, etc.), so it's usually the first thing to slip when someone's pressed for time.

Supertrope to MessyHair and EinsteinHair (which specifically marks someone as a MadScientist). Compare FashionableAsymmetry and RummageSaleReject for other wardrobe problems, BeardOfSorrow and MessOfWoe for depression-induced deterioration, and ForgetsToEat. Contrast ThePigpen (who's a mess because they're lazy rather than busy) and the more positive AdrenalineMakeover.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* As ''Manga/SevenSeeds'' takes place AfterTheEnd and personal grooming is not an urgent priority to them, the majority of the characters will end up looking scruffy as things go along. The biggest visual examples are Hana, whose long hair becomes so unkempt, entangled, and split-ended, she ends up cutting it short; Aramaki, whose short hair grows down to his waist during the 15 years he's spent wandering the earth alone, including a pretty impressive beard that he eventually shaves off; and Tsunomata, who later appears with long stubbles in his face, though he shaves the stubble away to keep behind a scruffy, sort-of beard around his jawline.
* L from ''Anime/DeathNote'' is a genius detective who rarely seems to even ''sleep'' (let alone do something about his [[LooksLikeCesare hair]] or put on something other than a baggy white shirt and trousers) when he's working on a case.
* In ''Manga/DrStone'', Chrome is exhausted and has visible stubble after spending several all-nighters inventing a waterwheel.
* ''Manga/ElfenLied'': Dr. Arakawa is working so hard that she never has time to take a shower. Becomes a RunningGag in a show that desperately ''needs'' the levity.
* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' often shows this trope when the team are burning the midnight oil (along with many empty or half-empty boxes of pizza and cigarette stubs). Mainly Ishikawa (and whoever ends up helping him), since he does most of the [[MissionControl research-related work]]. Togusa also falls into this when he's investigating the death of a former colleague in "Interceptor".
* ''Manga/SkipBeat'' has this occur with Erika Koenji during her second appearance. She has been in an accident and, due to psychological trauma, is unable to move her legs anymore and is bound to a wheelchair. She's still festering about the accident, leaving her hair disheveled, and generally ignoring her appearance, which she usually keeps pristine.
* Inverted by Dr. Stein in ''Manga/SoulEater''. When his appearance is going downhill, it's usually a sign he's [[SanitySlippage in no fit state to work]]. In the anime, [[spoiler:after the Kishin is released]], Soul drags Maka away from her studies to play basketball in order to avert this trope.
* Cher from ''Anime/WolfsRain'' usually looks like this whenever she's engrossed in her work, which was often enough that her marriage ended in part because of it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' comics, a common way of depicting that Shit Is Getting Real would be to depict the normally clean-shaven and fastidiously neat Mister Fantastic as becoming increasingly unkempt and unshaven as he spends longer and longer in his laboratory trying obsessively to find a solution to the team's current problem. This has been downplayed in recent years as the creators have updated his image to just show him growing and keeping a beard (likely to spare him the hassle of having to remember to shave), though he still normally keeps himself neat and tidy.
* ''ComicBook/XMen:'' Tends to happen to any man who spends a long time in the Savage Land. Not women, however. They can spend weeks or months running around it and still look like they just stepped out of the shower. At one point in the mid-seventies, Cyclops gets so scruffy without a chance to shave he starts noticing he looks an ''awful'' lot like Corsair (who was revealed, just not to Scott, to be his father a few issues prior). He's on the verge of figuring it out when Storm interrupts.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* The erstwhile Winter Soldier is technically homeless for the full duration of ''Fanfic/IfTheyHaventLearnedYourName'' in addition to being severely mentally ill, and doesn't usually have access to clean clothes, or facilities where he can bathe or groom himself, never mind that he's usually too mentally disorganized to keep up on the latter. So for most of the story, when he's not in his tac gear, he goes around dressed in a pair of Victoria's Secret sweatpants with "PINK" emblazoned down one leg and a fuzzy lavender cardigan completely buttoned up. [[GoingCommando And apparently no underwear]] even when in tactical gear, possibly because his old employers never provided him any. Why would HYDRA give a damn about their asset's comfort?
* Zuko in ''Fanfic/TowardsTheSun'' looks perpetually disheveled with unkempt hair and bags under his eyes due to stress and overwork from trying to keep the Fire Nation from falling apart.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/Batman1989:'' News anchor Peter [=McElroy=] is well-groomed in his first scene, but in his second, he's unshaven and has several zits due to avoiding shaving cream and skin products because of how Joker has been poisoning household products to kill people.
* In ''Film/TheGraduate'' Once he becomes obsessed with finding Elaine before her wedding, Benjamin grows some scruffy stubble, whereas for the entire film up to that point he has been perfectly clean shaven, and even seen shaving himself multiple times.
* ''Film/{{CHUD}}'': KingOfTheHomeless A.J. has a few days' growth of beard in all of his scenes.
* James Bond ends up with a Beard of Imprisonment in ''Film/DieAnotherDay'', one of the few times he's seen with any kind of facial hair on screen. (His ''[[CarpetOfVirility chest hair]]'', on the other hand...)
* Discussed in ''Film/SpiderMan1''; Aunt May remarks that Peter is so busy that he often leaves his room untidy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''[[Literature/TheBelgariad The Belgariad]]'', Belgarath is introduced as a drifting storyteller with a shabby appearance. It's revealed in the prequel ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'' that this is the careful design on his part: the costume - made by one of the finest tailors of Tol Honeth - has no holes under the patches, the fraying of his tunic is woven into the cloth, and his shoes are unmatching and look like they were found in a ditch, but are actually well-made. The rope for a belt is an artistic touch on his part.
* Combined with MessOfWoe in ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' when Villefort works several days nonstop to keep his mind off the death of his in-laws and his daughter, looking dishevelled and unshaved (though he shapes up in time for the trial).
* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s unshaven and scruffy cop Samuel Vimes prefers to conform to this trope, although his wife is quite insistent that he maintain appearances after he marries her. One of his monologues even notes his disgust at a palace guard's sword, since it didn't show any nicks and dents and clearly never saw any use (as opposed to a well-maintained sword which still showed wear and tear). He's described by far more put-together newsman William de Worde in ''Literature/TheTruth'' as being able to "rumple a helmet."
* Severus Snape from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' is often described with greasy, stringy hair, which only adds to his appearance as an EvilTeacher.
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', while on the run, Harry spots his reflection and notices his hair is almost down to his shoulders and even more unkempt than usual on top of having unkempt facial hair as well.
* Alan Grant is like this in ''Literature/JurassicPark'' as a way of showing himself as a rugged outdoorsman and distancing himself from the more academically-minded sort, such as the well-groomed Malcolm.
* Shows up in ''Literature/LockwoodAndCo'' when the group encounter Quill Kipps off the back of several days battling the Chelsea ghost outbreak and note that he looks exhausted and has developed a haze of ginger stubble. May overlap with BeardOfSorrow as Kipps has also just lost a close friend, [[spoiler:Ned Shaw]].
** Inspector Barnes is also described as scruffy and dishevelled while working the Chelsea outbreak.
* Frequently alluded to by General Thiébault in his ''Mémoires''; he seemed to measure how difficult and time-consuming his staff work was by the number of days he spent without shaving or changing clothes.
* Goosefeather in ''Literature/WarriorCats'' almost never washes himself and has extremely bad breath, possibly due to his role as the {{Mad Oracle}}, and the fact that his prophecies are often misleading.
* The "Work" edition of the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Worst-Case_Scenario_Survival_Handbook Worst Case Scenario Handbook]]'' series of {{Faux To Guide}}s suggests invoking this (messing up your hair and clothes) as a tactic to avoid being made redundant.
* ''Literature/SummerKnight'', the fourth book of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', opens with Harry having abandoned shaving, washing his clothes, showering, eating and sleeping regularly, and cleaning his apartment in favor of finding a cure for his girlfriend's vampirism.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/{{Angel}}'', the biggest sign of Wesley's increasing competence is that he starts spending less and less time on his appearance and manners.
* In ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'''s first "real" episode ("33"), Adama and Tigh are both sporting very noticeable facial hair. As the characters have been attacked near constantly for a week, this is understandable.
* The great detective ''Series/{{Columbo}}'', the walking epitome of shabby-efficient. Like Sam Vimes, his wife appears to make sure he's better groomed off the job.
** Lampshaded in "Negative Reaction" when he enters a soup kitchen and one of the volunteers mistakes him for a vagrant. When he explains he's a detective, she assumes he's working undercover in a disguise.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'': In one of the documentary episodes, the Dean gets Annie to work as a script supervisor while he directs a commercial. He suffers from a severe case of SanitySlippage, and after several days of putting up with his increasingly bizarre demands, Annie is completely out of it and ungroomed. She rationalizes the Dean's behaviour because [[SunkCostFallacy she doesn't want to admit that she's wasted several weeks of her life helping him]].
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': This was the general idea behind the Ninth Doctor ''compared to'' how the Classic Doctors looked. The old, weather-beaten leather jacket and buzz-cut emphasized that he'd been through the trauma of the Time War and now went around [[ThatManIsDead mostly shorn of Doctorish characteristics]] (e.g. long scarf; velvet smoking jacket; cricketing garb; etc.) The TARDIS' interior demonstrated this as well, with a console made of junk and a moodily-lit, minimalist interior instead of the usual clean, white interior of the old series or the Jules Verne aesthetic of the TV Movie.
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}:'' By his standards at least. It's a sign of how rattled Niles gets when he's booted out of his mansion by his wife for standing up to her when Frasier finds him drinking beer from a can and not wearing a suit for once.
* A recurring theme in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' is the difficulty of looking good while working at a hospital;
** "My Clean Break"'s B-Plot is about Elliot's habit of averting this (by getting up early), making the rest of the staff resent her.
** Another episode features Elliot herself trying to get around this trope while chatting up an attractive patient.
** Ted the lawyer always looks a mess thanks to his status as [[DrJerk Dr. Kelso]]'s whipping boy (and constantly dealing with lawsuits).
* An episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' has Jerry and Kramer swap apartments. Thanks to a "Kenny Roger's Roasters" sign which shines into Kramer's window, this happens to Jerry:
-->'''Jerry:''' ''[imitating Kramer's body language]'' Oh,...I'm stressed!
* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' this is used as shorthand to show that there's something physically wrong with a changeling. If Odo has gone too long without a regeneration cycle his usually immaculate uniform starts to darken and flake and his slicked-back hair gets crazy. Also seen with the female Founder in the last season, courtesy of [[spoiler:Section 31's bioweapon]].
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** In Season 7, Sam suffers from hallucinations created by his hell memories, and this results in him being unable to sleep and his normally neat appearance becomes undone.
** After spending almost a year in Purgatory, Castiel looks pretty beat up. His normal perma-stubble has become a full beard and his signature trenchcoat is frayed and dirty. Dean also looks a little scruffier, but he's not as affected as Castiel.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The video for "Le Café" by Oldelaf features an office worker who slowly deteriorates through the day, thanks to the stress caused by work and too much coffee. The result is played for BlackComedy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'':
** Ciro usually appears disheveled, which is mostly due to him living in poverty- not only can he not afford decent personal hygiene, but he works so hard to make money that he doesn't have a lot of time to look after himself. Though it seems to cross over into UnkemptBeauty, considering he's still [[ChickMagnet pretty popular with the girls]].
** Harriet's hair and clothes are constantly a mess, which is partially because she's {{homeless|Hero}}, and partially because she's so depressed that she doesn't care about her personal hygiene.
** Benedict is a one-time variant the morning after he receives his power of SuperIntelligence. The [[MySkullRunnethOver onslaught of information]] stopped him from having a peaceful night's rest, and he comes into school with rumpled clothes, baggy eyes, and even tufts of his hair pulled out.
** Jae is another one-time example during the final exams. Daigo has placed bombs throughout the school, which Jae knows about, and has caused her so much stress that she arrives in wrinkled clothes and with mussy hair.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Wilson, the basic character of ''VideoGame/DontStarve'', grows a beard over time in the game's permanent survival situation. It can even be used as a crafting ingredient.
* Sebastian Castellanos of ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'' originally had PermaStubble as part of his gruff, hard-bitten detective look and dressed in a utilitarian yet still stylish way, complete with a WaistcoatOfStyle. By the time ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin2'' rolls around, he's let it grow into a scruffy BeardOfSorrow and is dressed down in a beat-up army jacket, as indicators of what a dark place he's been stuck in from the emotional trauma he suffered both before ''and'' after his experiences in the previous game.
* In ''VideoGame/LamplightCity'', PlayerCharacter Detective Miles Fordham, starts off as a clean-cut, well-groomed law official in the Prologue. But then the voice of his DeadPartner Bill starts haunting him, causing him stress and a lack of sleep, leading him to sport PermaStubble, MessyHair, and ExhaustedEyeBags for most of the game. Miles' wife, Addy, grows quite concerned over his change in appearance, telling him to consider getting a haircut.
* ''VideoGame/NobodySavesTheWorld'': The originally well-groomed [[InspectorJavert Randy]] gets notably more disheveled every time he tries to catch Nobody and fails, getting a scruffy beard, mussy hair, and a black eye, not to mention all the injuries he accumulates.
* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'': Portraits and Memory Vaults show that Bob Zanotto of the Psychic Six was well-groomed in his youth. In the present day, he's gained weight, wears old and frayed clothes and his glasses are broken.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck has an untidy look (mismatched shoes, untucked shirt, unfastened tie, MessyHair) and only stops [[FlashStep rushing around]] to take a [[MustHaveCaffeine swig of coffee]]. He's appropriately [[MotorMouth enthusiastic]] (and yet [[HistoryRepeats serious]]) about history.
** A downplayed example with Blake occurs during episodes 5 and 6 of the second volume. She develops dark undereye circles (which, combined with her skin and colour scheme, made her [[LooksLikeCesare look like Cesare]], to reflect how she refuses to sleep when trying to track down Torchwick.
** As of Volume 4, the previously clean-shaven General Ironwood has gained {{Permastubble}}, which serves as a visual indication of how he's becoming increasingly stressed and overwhelmed by his responsibilities as one of the few people who knows what's really going on. By Volume 7, he's sporting a full BeardOfSorrow and looks permanently exhausted.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Dr. Stein of ''Webcomic/BloodStain'' is initially always seen with MessyHair likened to dry bramble and wearing lab coats stained by what is hopefully ketchup. [[NaiveNewcomer Elliot]] imagines him as a MadScientist from first impressions, but Dr. Stein explains that his appearance is due to him being TheInsomniac from working long hours on his job.
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'':
** [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110404 Vanamonde von Mekkahn is seen looking disheveled with stubble after spending days prepping for an inevitable follow-up attack on Mechanicsburg.]]
** After [[spoiler:the time skip]] Gil is shown with stubble, dark circles, red eyes, and rumpled clothes due to spending the last [[spoiler:two and a half years]] fighting the Other and numerous rebels and insurrectionists all while he trying to figure out a way to [[spoiler: undo the time stop on Mechanicsburg and save Agatha and Tarvek as well as everyone else in town]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'':
** After chasing Bell’s supporters and getting caught and tortured, escaping, uncovering a royal conspiracy and fighting in a battle Toma has developed the start of a beard. He has Elka help him shave it off when their chase threatens to lead them back into civilized company.
** Bastion grows some stubble after deciding to try and oppose Lady Ilganyag [[spoiler:and having her choke him unconscious for his troubles]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Twilight Sparkle of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has a tendency to turn into a disheveled mess whenever stressed or preoccupied. She usually ends up turning her library inside out in the process. {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero Lesson Zero]]" (where forgetting to write a letter causes her to almost go completely insane).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': After the events of "Hollow Mind", [[spoiler:Hunter is forced to go on the run from the Emperor's Coven, and is found days later living in the closed down auditorium at Hexside. By the time Gus finds him, Hunter's hair is filthy, his face is scratched, and he's ditched his Golden Guard uniform in favor of his old, dirty Flyer Derby shirt and a blue cloak that looks like he dug it straight out of the dumpster. According to Gus, he definitely also ''smells'' like a teenage boy who hasn't seen a shower in a week.]]
* In season 3 episode "The Rickshank Rickdemption" of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', [[spoiler:Mantis/Cronenberg universe from "Rick Potion No. 9"]] Jerry has a big, bushy beard.
* The 100th episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' introduces Principal Skinner with a dishevelled appearance from having a hectic day in his office.
** Parodied in "Secrets of a Successful Marriage". Homer becomes this in a matter of ''hours'', after leaving home following an argument with Marge.
--->'''Marge''': But how do I know I can trust you?\\
'''Homer''': Marge, look at me. We've been separated for a day, and I'm as dirty as a Frenchman. In another few hours, I'll be dead. I can't afford to lose your trust again.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Peridot's hair becomes less of a [[RobotHair perfect triangle]] the longer she's stranded on Earth [[spoiler: knowing it's about to be destroyed.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StressedEric'' plays this trope for laughs with the main character. As he gets more stressed, the vein on his temple throbs [[OnceAnEpisode until it eventually bursts out and strangles him]]. Naturally, his environment tends to be rather cluttered, too.
* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'': The titular character suffers stress from being prevented from helping, or from his curiosity being denied but doing so actually clears it up. The stress takes the form of his eyes changing color, pupils changing size, his fur getting frizzy and brittle, and patches appearing on his hat.
** "The Bad Neighbors" achieves the FacelessEye variant with Commander Peepers growing stubble on his lower eyelid.
* When Jerrica is stranded on a desert island in ''WesternAnimation/JemAndTheHolograms'', the always clean-shaven Rio is seen leading the rescue efforts with a five o clock shadow to signify his tireless searching. Because Rio has purple hair, his stubble is also purple.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* During the early Twentieth century, being clean-shaven was the fashion; therefore, being bearded was a sign of either slovenliness or extreme poverty (or both), the more unkempt the beard the worse the person having it appeared. However, once revolutionaries such as Karl Marx started wearing the beard (both out of necessity and a political statement), it became fashionable for communists everywhere to grow a long, scraggly Beard of the Proletariat.
[[/folder]]
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