[[quoteright:200:[[ShakuganNoShana http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_shakugan_no_shana_-_Hecate_has_a_nice_hat.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:200:''[[PersonOfMassDestruction Clearly]]'' not a hat to be trifled with.]]
->'''Minsk''': [[FunetikAksent Und any plan vere hyu lose hyu hat iz?]]\\
'''Gorb''': A bad plan?\\
'''Minsk''': Right again!\\
-- ''GirlGenius''

To show that you mean [[SeriousBusiness business]], it's important to have ''style''. Enter: the ''nice hat''. It may actually have utility -- even [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman conveying special powers]] -- but more often than not [[RuleOfCool it just looks cool]], or [[YouCanLeaveYourHatOn even sexy]].

A discerning hero/villain just can't be seen without their Nice Hat! Harming the nice hat may be akin to [[KickTheDog kicking the dog]], with [[BerserkButton disastrous results]].

Fedoras are the most common NiceHat, probably because they inherently invoke 1920s-era {{Gangsterland}} and FilmNoir we all know and love. Wizards have [[RobeAndWizardHat their own style]] to worry about. CommissarCap is also a common enough version of this to have its own sub trope.

Despite the name, this doesn't just cover hats, but most kinds of headgear, as long as [[RuleOfCool it's cool]].

The crowns of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs (since crowns are always cool) make this OlderThanDirt. In fact, as crown as RequisiteRoyalRegalia is always an overlap with this trope.

Particularly memorable hats may end up as part of a MemeticOutfit. See also HatShop. Tack on [[MaskPower a mask]] and a BadassLongcoat for the CoatHatMask effect.

----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Advertising]]
* Bradford and Bingley. [[FunnyAneurysmMoment OK, not such a good result there...]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Van from GunXSword sports a nice hat with a Jigen notch, a ring on one side (which he spins the hat around with to indicate its HumongousMecha time), and is apparently pretty precious to him, considering we ''never'' see him without it.
* In ''BlackCat'', Sven is almost always seen with his hat (not to mention the really nice business suit complete with pirate eye patch)
* Hecate of ''ShakuganNoShana'' is lookin' kinda stylish, but where would she be without that huge hat?
* Vita of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha A's'' and ''[=StrikerS=]'' has a stylish red hat complete with stuffed bunnies on each side, and [[UnstoppableRage quickly got serious]] when Nanoha tore it.
** In that same incident, the first clue that the Wolkenritter [[AntiVillain aren't all bad]] is when [[LadyOfWar Signum]] shows up and the first thing she does is repair Vita's hat. The hat was a gift from their master, and they all love her very much.
* Ritsuko's German army helmet from ''KujibikiUnbalance''.
* There are a lot of Nice Hats in ''OnePiece'' (after all, it's a {{Pirate}} anime). Monkey D. Luffy wears the straw hat Shanks gave him. After Nami joins the crew, he leaves it in her care when he can if he's in a BigBad fight. Tony Tony Chopper has a pink top hat the size of his ''head'' that his antlers can somehow poke through.
** Don't forget Admiral Sengoku, who has a whole stuffed seagull on top of his hat.
** Trafalgar Law's nice hat makes up a good 50% of his appeal. (The rest is all style.)
** Portgas D. Ace's hat is fairly nifty as well.
* Liz and Patty from ''SoulEater'' are rather fond of fancy hats.
* ''[=~Pokémon~=]'''s hero Ash is sometimes having his hat stolen by his Aipom (he also once had it stolen by a Mankey that he later caught as a Primeape, and his own Pikachu in the second movie stole it to get Ash to follow it). The very first hat he is seen with was said to be earned by entering an official Pokémon League contest, and the other two were given to him by his mom.
** In the ''Electric Tales of Pikachu'' manga, Misty used Ash's hat as the goal for the Cerulean Gym battle... against his will. [[HilarityEnsues Then it got sillier.]]
** Assuming the thing on Brendan's head is hair (seriously, even the [[http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=21jwt2b&s=5 artists]] seem to get confused), his [[AlternateContinuity counterpart]] Ruby from ''Pokémon Special'' has a nice enough hat for the both of them.
** Also count is Red from PokemonSpecial. He had his hat on while swimming, taking a bath, and even when he's literally half-naked in FRLG. It never fell off even in the most dire of consequences only on the last part of FRLG because the writer wanted both pikachus to return it in Emerald saga.
* ''VampireHunterD: Bloodlust'' has this trope title as an actual line when ActionGirl Leila sees the portrait of Carmilla, whose [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carmilla_hat.jpg hat]] resembles a large red sausage placed on her head, made of part of her hair and odd, cap-like things on the end.
** The titular character has a nice Cavalier-style hat with a neat mother-of-pearl pin.
* [=MIYU=]'s Traveller's Hat from ''{{Mai-Otome}}'', so spiffy her canary made of {{nanomachines}} could sit on it.
* It would be an epic crime not to mention Lilith's giant Traveller's Hat with a Great Big Eyeball from ''{{Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito}}''. Heck, the Hat is in the title. "Traveller Yami, Hat, and Book".
* Meital from ''GalaxyExpress999'' is synonymous with her large, furry hat.
* The "[[FanNickname Girlycard]]" version of the protagonist of ''{{Hellsing}}'' in the prequel ''The Dawn'' wears a white pillbox hat that at least once fanartist has shown being ''eaten''.
** And don't forget about Alucard's awesome fedora hat!
*** Obviously why Seras hasn't quite matched her master's power: no hat.
* The main villain in ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNiKai'' instantly gets a nice hat (a ''beret'', which could be a subtrope in itself) following TheReveal.
** Also Rena, the resident [[TheCutie cute]] [[TheDitz dit]][[ObfuscatingStupidity sy]] girl,sports a hat. [[spoiler:It actually helps solve something, or could have, in a anime only, filler, arc.]]
* ''{{Digimon}}'' likes hats (although not as much as gloves). [[DigimonAdventure Sora, Mimi, Takeru,]] [[DigimonAdventure02 Miyako,]] and, well, DigimonFrontier gets its own entry (which was formerly misplaced in the VideoGames section. [[DigimonTamers Hirokazu]] had a Nice Visor.
** Tomoki/Tommy from ''DigimonFrontier'' wears an orange hat 1.5 times the size of his head. In real life, that hat would be ridiculously ugly. He takes it off several times in the series.
*** Every character except Junpei wears a hat or some type of headgear. (Takuya -- goggle hat, Kouji -- bandana, Kouichi -- baseball cap (in flashback scenes), Izumi -- purple cat-eared beanie)
* Knuckles the Echidna of ''{{Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' fame randomly got a Nice Hat in the Sonic OVA. For the sadness of many (okay, some), the OVA is the only time where he wears the hat. The hat also made an appearance in the [[Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehog Archie comics]], and was worn by an ancestor of his. He never wears it, and according to a letter page it's because he doesn't want it to get damaged.
** He does wear it, however, in stories set in a future timeline.
* In ''{{Bleach}}'', Kisuke Urahara's stripy bucket hat has gotten quite a lot of respect from fans, as evidenced by [[http://www.tokyopop.com/Scarletmeteor/avatar/1007999.html?PHPSESSID=321abb3301fda4614e877ec7a827bacd this avatar ]]
**Also, Kenpachi Zaraki's bells, Shunsui Kyoraku's straw hat (and jeweled hairpins), and Byakuya Kuchiki's head... shingle... thingy. Subverted with Renji's expensive sunglasses, though, those never lasted long enough to be memorable. Later on, though, Ulquiorra Cifer's half-helmet mask remnants count.
***No love for Mayuri Kurotsuchi's pointy hat?
* Baron Will A. Zeppeli in the first part of ''JojosBizarreAdventure'' has a rather awesome checkered top hat. After [[spoiler:his death in the Room of Dragon Decapitation]], Speedwagon wears it for the rest of the part. In the second part, Zeppelli's descendant Caesar has apparently inherited the hat, though he sadly ditches it after his introduction.
** By the third part, both Joseph and his grandson Jotaro have picked up nice hats -- Joseph with a tan-colored Panama and Jotaro with a biker's cap.
** And nearly everybody in Part 7/Steel Ball Run has a hat of some sort. Most notably, Gyro Zeppeli's cowboy hat, and Johnny's hat with a horseshoe adorned on the front.
* A minor joke among the ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!'' FanFic: when the monster called [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Cosmo_Queen Cosmo Queen]] is played, it is greeted with "Nice hat".
* Mr. Tiellagory of ''LeChevalierDEon'' has a sweet hat with a nice big feather in it. Durand is the first character to damage it in a SwordFight, only to find that damaging the CoolOldGuy's hat is [[ImplausibleFencingPowers often followed by swift humiliation]].
** Later in the series, while fighting a pack of magically engraged dogs, a shot cuts to Tiellagory holding his hat, surround by them. When another character rushed to his aid, he turns to them and says, "My hat...", following which the dogs fall down dead.
* In one episode of ''DigimonAdventure02'' Takeru "TK" Takaishi's signature hat becomes an indicator of his [[NotHimself state of mind]] when he crumples it and throws it to the ground in anger -- disturbing Iori/Cody who, prior to that moment, saw Takeru as a CheerfulChild -- just before he storms off on his own and physically attacks the Digimon Kaiser/Emperor. Later, once his anger had abated and his usual affable persona had been mostly restored, a still visibly shaken Iori gives him his hat back.
** On a somewhat related note, he also takes it off toward the end of the series as a solemn gesture of respect and mourning during the death of Yukio Oikawa.
* The outrageous headgear used by both heroes and villains in ''ViolinistOfHameln'' (manga and anime): Hamel's pointy, wide-brimmed feather hat is a huge plot point, even, since [[spoiler:he hides a small horn -- the only proof of his demon blood -- under it. The hat's removal is usually followed by a CrowningMomentOfAwesome, a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming, or a horrible, horrible mob scene.]] Raiel's hat is even more epic, but it just underlines his usual dorkery.
** And Sizer's dragon helmet is awesome. And Tron wears a very frugal crown. Even Flute's hat becomes iconic. This manga knows about nice hats, evidently.
* After ''CodeGeass'''s Lelouch Lamperouge [[spoiler:crowns himself Emperor]], he makes himself the nicest hat in the world. [[http://randomc.maximum7.net/image/CODE%20GEASS/CODE%20GEASS%20R2%20-%2022%20-%2021.jpg It's got a freaking winged eye on it!]]
** The hat itself was also subjected to much MemeticMutation, and garnered much snickering from the fanbase. [[spoiler:It also makes Lelouch look like a younger version of [[NorioWakamoto M.]] [[StreetFighter Bison]], adding even MORE GenerationXerox to the mix.]]
** Look at the ''artbook'' version. It's even [[http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c189/la_locura666/lulusuzaku.jpg BETTER.]] ([[YourMileageMayVary Worse?]])
*** '''Definitely'' better. Does this make Suzaku the Sagat to Lelouch's Bison?
*** Wait, Suzaku was in that picture? I couldn't take my eyes off that ridiculous-yet-incredible hat.
*** Getting a definite FiveStarStories vibe from that hat.
** And let's not forget Kanon's magnificent headgear -- many fans concluded that Prince Schneizel held less than platonic feelings for the turquoise and gold creation. Fics were written, pictures were shooped.
** Don't forget that Lelouch had a [[MyHeroZero nice]] [[MaskPower mask]]...
* Kuroudo "Doctor Jackal" Akabane from ''GetBackers'' allways wears a wide-brimmed hat with a cut in the brim.
** The creator lampshades this by mentioning it seems the hat brim (along with his hair and coat) seem to get longer every time he shows up.
** All damage Kuroudo's clothing ever sustains quickly regenerates except for the one cool cut in his hat.
* Quite a few people were concerned that, three hundred years into the future, the United State Navy may tailor fanciful hats as part of an officer's standard uniform, as evidenced in ''{{Gundam 00}}''.
* In ''ThePrinceOfTennis'', one of Ryoma's trademarks is his Nice White Cap. Sanada has his contrasting Nice Black Cap, Kaidoh uses a Nice Bandanna (or several), Wakato from the anime also uses a Nice White Cap, and the Kisarazu twins started using Nice Headgear (a white cap for Ryo, a red headband for Atsushi) after [[spoiler:an accidental TwinSwitch.]]
* Dr. BlackJack quickly acquires a black fedora in the ''BlackJack 21'' series. There's no particular reason for it; it's just there for the sake of looking cool (which it [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fedorasareawesome.jpg totally does]]).
* In the ''LupinIII'' series, Jigen's hat, in addition to being a fedora and therefore granting instant coolness, also holds the secret of his superhuman marksmanship -- he sights along its brim.
** Lupin also wore a fedora once in the manga when not in disguise. Although many of the original covers for the original manga series featured him in one.
* Zangetsu the Midday from ''GiantRobo: The Day The Earth Stood Still'' only appears for about ten or fifteen minutes, in the ''final episode''. However, fans of the show have taken quite a liking to him, if only because of his nice hat.
* In the Korean comic WitchHunter, a witch's powers come from her magical hat. Also, [[spoiler:protagonist Tasha Godspell gets his own magical abilities by using a device that eats the hats' mana source.]]
* [[MoeAnthropomorphism The Holy Roman Empire]] in ''AxisPowersHetalia''.
** As well as Turkey. Sweden also sports a sweet beanie-thing during the New Year's comic. Egypt wears a traditional head-covering, and Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sealand all have hats.
*** Let's not forget Prussia's hat, which is suspiciously similar to HREs... He doesn't always wear it though.
*** Among the Asians, [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1229815456781.gif Vietnam]] has a very nice straw hat and [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asia003.png Mongolia]] has one with some sort of braid.
* Any high-ranking person in ''TrinityBlood'', most notably the vampire Empress.
* Lala of ToLoveRu certainly has a NiceHat. It has wings. It also happens to be an intelligent robot that functions as her clothing.
* Iono Mito Archeline of ''IonoTheFanatics''. See [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/iono_cover_v1.jpeg here]].
* Some of the headgear of the soldiers of ''[[SeireiNoMoribito Seirei no Moriboto]]'' is quite impressive, in both looks and elegance.
* What's the best part of rising up through the ranks of [[TheMafia the Camorra]]? For [[{{Baccano}} Firo Prochainezo]] at least, it's the awesome new hat that they buy for him (a fedora, of course). Having a senior executive buy a new executive a hat the day before his promotion is a tradition of the Martillo family.
* Wannyuudou in ''JigokuShoujo'' has an awesome wide-brimmed hat. In the first two seasons, he's rarely seen without it -- which is understandable since he's bald underneath. In the third season, Ai's helpers are usually seen at school in disguise, so the hat appears less often.
** Ai herself has been known to wear a [[http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/archives/jigoku_shoujo_ep7.html baseball cap with her symbol on it]].
* In ''KodomoNoOmocha'', Sana's mother Misako wears increasingly elaborate hairstyles that incorporate the family's pet squirrel in some way, along with positively Rube Goldberg-style devices.
* [[ParadiseKiss Isabella and George]] often include hats in their [[UnlimitedWardrobe many outfits]]. George usually settles for cowboy hats, while Isabella wears spectacular picture hats with ribbons and flowers most of the time.
* Slyly subverted in ''[[{{Yotsubato}} Yotsuba&!]]'', in that Yotsuba's most awesome adventures are signaled by her putting on a hat that can be charitably described as a pudding with a brim. Ena's hat, seen occasionally, looks even more like a pudding, without a brim. Not at all nice hats.
* The Millennium Earl of ''DGrayMan'' wears a different one every time he shows up; there have even been contests for fans to design more of them. [[spoiler:It turns out they're to cover up the fact that he has horns.]] [[FourStarBadass General]] [[TheGunslinger Cross Marian]] has an epic hat as well, along with a BadassLongcoat and [[MaskPower a mask covering half his face]]. You cannot find a more badass outfit anywhere.
* [[{{Kobato}} Kobato's]] hat (and outfit) changes every day mysteriously (considering she has little money and no possessions) and there are hints that Kobato should never take off her hat for reasons unknown as of yet.
* [[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]] has several instances of this. Shampoo has her odango covers. Multiple characters have headbands or bandanas of some kind. In fact, Ryoga wears several ''layers'' of bandanas, and will often attack with them. Ranma's pig tail is bound with [[spoiler: the whisker of a dragon, which when boiled can produce a broth to regrow hair. Unfortunately for men who already have good hair, this will result in their hair growing until it all falls out, unless bound with said whisker.]]
* A few of the witches in ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' have Nice Hats, and Erika has a Nice... Doily?
* Yoite from Nabari no Ou has a pretty nice gatsby. Enough that quite a few people recognize it as "The hat anime."
* Card captor Sakura, have some nice hats from time to time.
* ''{{Kuroshitsuji}}'' is full of nice hats. Ciel wears a tophat whenever he goes out, which often has a ribbon or some other decoration on it. The most memorable hat is probably the one he had to wear while [[{{Crossdresser}} crossdressing]] which incuded a ribbon, bow, and many flowers. Considering the [[VictorianLondon time period]] the series takes place in, hats were a must for men, women, and children when leaving the house, at least for the wealthy. This troper also seems to have a thing for the adorable paperboy hat Ciel wears when he goes undercover.
* In MahouSenseiNegima, Natsumi gets a [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/c263/18.html nice hat]] as part of her artifact.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Art]]
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donatello%27s_David Donatello's David]] (not to be confused with the more famous ''Michelangelo'''s David), which is made all the more amusing when you realize he's only wearing the hat and boots.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* The DC elseworld ''{{Superman}}: Red Son'' is particularly noted for giving {{Batman}} a rather amusing Russian fur cap with tiny bat ears on top, which fans have taken to calling the [[FanNickname Bat-Hat]].
** When asked about the Bat-Hat, the artist responsible justified it with "I took a lot of crap from friends about this hat. But I still like the design. Russia is cold, why can't Batman have a warm hat?"
* Perhaps not quite the same, but in the newspaper comic ''Curtis'', the title character often gives commentary on the church ladies' more and more extravagant (and silly) hats.
** Curtis himself is always seen with an oversized green cap -- he even sleeps with it on.
* [[MarvelUniverse Galactus]] cares not what lesser mortals think of his hat!
* Jay Garrick, TheFlash, wears his father's WorldWarOne army helmet, modified to look like Mercury's winged hat. It's stylish, it protects his head, ''and'' it's a [[XenaWarriorPrincess devastating weapon]] when thrown at SuperSpeed!
* It might only appear in a single issue of Superman, but still - wouldn't it be neat if he always wore [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=28&Itemid=45&limitstart=4 that hat]]?
* In an issue of the Marvel ''GIJoe'' comic series, Firefly unveils his new outfit. The Joes he's facing are less than impressed. He notes that "you don't get the full effect without the hat" and puts his on (it's more of a helmet, but whatever), and despite the fact that he's supposed to be a terrorist but is wearing neon green, he does look commensurately more badass.
* In the ''Hitman'' comic, Tommy Monaghan's best friend is Natt 'The Hat' Walls. The hat in question is very nice indeed, and damage to it appears to serve as a BerserkButton for Natt.
* {{Transformers}} [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformer_clothing wearing clothes]]? Generally kind of silly. Nightbeat [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Image:MarvelUK-230.jpg with a Film Noir detective-style fedora and trenchcoat?]] Totally in-character, and pretty cool.
* K'Kruhk's conic straw hat in ''StarWars'' has reached MemeticMutation levels on [=TheForce.Net=], where it is referred to simply as "the Hat". The Hat even has [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/K%27Kruhk%27s_hat its own entry on Wookieepedia]].
** Ki-Adi-Mundi also wears a wide-brimmed hat at times (hence the FanNickname "Don Ki-Adi-Mundi"), most notably in the ''Outlander'' story. It helps hide his very tall head.
* In ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'', Magneto's helmet tends to signify whether or not he's a villain this week; you're a lot likelier to be able to have a reasonable conversation with him if he's not wearing it.
** Plus the fact that, in the movies, it serves as a psionic shield makes this [[AwesomeYetPractical Evil, Stylish, and Practical]]. No wonder he's a major villain.
** There's a particularly interesting use in Excalibur v2 #11, where Magneto comes [[HoYay back home to Xavier]] after taking Scarlet Witch away from the Avengers. Charles reprimands him about wearing his helmet and Mags responds defensively, only calming down once he's taken the bucket off his head. Of course, this likely had more to do with [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity the ridiculous amount of power he had just used]], but the helmet was a good symbol.
* The Juggernaut's Helmet which also keeps Charles out of his head.
** And the skull cap he wears underneath, which is also psy-proof.
* Some (DC's) Enchantress fans (including [[TheHerald this one]]) weren't happy that she didn't have [[RobeAndWizardHat her trademark witch's hat]] in the ''Shadowpact'' series.
* In an issue of ''Books of Magic'', Zatanna is having a conversation about good and evil with the AffablyEvil Tala. The latter is wearing a particularly stylish hat. Zatanna finishes her argument about how good is better with "It's the only thing that keeps me from stealing your hat."
** Not to mention Zatanna's own NiceHat. Way to work the top hat, girl.
* [[{{Runaways}} Molly Hayes]] has a whole collection of {{Nice Hat}}s.
* [[{{Watchmen}} Rorschach]] wears one, a fedora. Probably part of his "face" (his "scalp"?).
** During the [[FilmOfTheBook movie version]], [[spoiler: during the fight with Ozymandius]], whenever his hat falls off, he won't fight until he's put it back on. This seems to hint that he considers it to be a part of his 'body', as he does his mask.
* Alpha Flight villain/hero Smart Alec has a big, bulky helmet that also enhances his intellect and feeds him information at a superhuman rate.
* The Mad Hatter is a {{Batman}} villain who not only has a hypnotic (literally) chapeau of his own, but who's fascinated with all headwear, especially the Nicest one of all-- Batman's cowl. His hatliness is carried over into both the AdamWest and [[BatmanTheAnimatedSeries TAS]] versions of the character.
** Lots of Batman villains have very nice hats: The Riddler has been known to sport a green bowler hat with a question mark, the Penguin usually wears a massive top hat, and the Joker sometimes accessorizes with a [[http://bittenandbound.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/the-joker.jpg purple gambler hat]]. ''Niiiice.''
*** Though he only wore it once and it was part of a specific tourist-themed outfit, the Joker's straw-brim hat from when he shot Barbara Gordon is also memorable.
* Half the Gauls in ''{{Asterix}}'' wear nice helmets. The winged headgear worn by Chief Vitalstatistix actually has a chicken ''fall in love with it''.
* DC's Doctor Fate has a helmet which is the source of his power; it originally contained the spirit of Nabu that possessed Fate when he wore it. If put on by an enemy, the helmet would drive them insane. Later on, the helmet also fought evil on its own, approximating a body with his gloves and cape. Although Nabu left the helmet to usher in the new Age of Magic, it still has enough magic to impart knowledge to its host and contend with those that might abuse it for their own ends.
* Dum Dum Dugan from ''Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos'' is very attached to his fedora. A major subplot in one of the issues involves the hat getting destroyed and Dugan's attempts to replace it. (His [[TheSquad squad-mates]] get together to buy him a new one. D'awwwww.)
* [[TheSandman Death of the Endless]] has a floppy hat collection. She also borrows Emperor Norton's hat (see Real Life below) when she comes to collect him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films]]
* Amongst the reasons for one to watch ''MyFairLady'': [[{{HoYay/Film}} Gay Subtext,]] AudreyHepburn, fantastic songs, Awesome Sets and [[NiceHat Fabulous Hats.]] For the latter, [[http://marziucciaaa.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/audrey_hepburn_my_fair_lady.jpg check this out.]]
* [[PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Sparrow]], to the point that when Jack tells the crew to leave it behind, they ''know'' he's serious.
*** In ''Curse of the Black Pearl'', Jack suggests an alliance with Barbossa. Offering to buy him a big floppy hat seals the deal.
**** Also, the exact line gets used to describe Will's giant feathery musketeer hat when he decides to rescue Jack at the end of ''Black Pearl''.
* [[TheWestern Every western]], ever. Cowboy hats are just naturally nice hats.
* ''IndianaJones''' spiffy fedora, which he never leaves behind [[IndyHatRoll even when he's about to be crushed by slowly descending doors]]. Many fans know it simply as "The Hat".
** In one scene in ''The Last Crusade'', he thinks he's lost it and he has a moment of silence for it.
** In ''The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', picking up and putting on his hat is the first and last things he's shown doing on screen, both times with his theme playing, symbolizing his status as "Indy" or "hero".
* Oddjob's razor-sharp bowler hat in the JamesBond novel/film ''{{Goldfinger}}''.
** We haven't mention that Bond has some nice hats too. Some early films show him throwing it into Moneypenny's office and it landing on the hat-stand. You can imagine the takes this took.
* In ''The Apartment'', the protagonist starts wearing a neat little bowler when he gets a promotion.
* ''[=~Miller's Crossing~=] is all about guys in {{Nice Hat}}s. Near the beginning of the film, the fedora'd protagonist Tom Reagan has a [[DreamingOfThingsToCome prophetic dream]] about losing his hat.
* ''{{The Spirit}}'' is deeply attached to his fedora (and the rest of his outfit) and is caught multiple times ensuring it doesn't get away and recapturing it after fights. The Octopus doesn't have a consistent hat but in his first appearance he dons a ''very'' nice hat.
* The Neimiodians are, quite literally, a PlanetOfHats - [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Neimoidian_headgear Nice Hats]], that is.
** Not to mention all of Queen Amidala's...can we call them hats? Anyways, they were big and pretty.
* [[Film/{{Arthur}} Nice...............hat."]]
* Literal "Nice Hat" in JurassicPark; Dennis Nedry to Lewis Dodgson. "What are you trying to look like, a secret agent?" The hat itself is not particularly notable apart from being a fedora.
* David Lo Pan in ''BigTroubleInLittleChina'', as well as the Storms.
* Major Kong from ''DrStrangelove'' replaces his flight helmet with a cowboy hat when he thinks that thermonuclear war is in progress.
* ''TheMask'' wears a massive bright yellow zoot hat, complete with feather.
* Ryan Evans from ''HighSchoolMusical'' is known for his collection of fabulous hats- mainly fedoras, but other types of hats have been seen. Due to his parents' immense wealth, he has enough hats to never repeat throughout the entire series. They are seen as his trademark- in the entire series, there are only two scenes in which he is seen without a hat.
* Humphrey utters this exact line in a hilarious way in Cannibal! the Musical, addressing one of the trapper antagonists.
* The Shoveller in ''MysteryMen'' sports a miner's helmet. When he gets his costume upgrade, the light on the miner's helmet goes from ordinary-blah white to ooh-and-aah blue.
** Not to mention The Blue Rajah gets a shiny new BLUE turban (the old one was mostly yellow) with a "rearing cobra head" made from a bent spoon (natch...his "power" was flinging forks with deadly precision)
* Ramirez' musketeer-style hat with the peacock feather sweep in ''Highlander''. The Kurgan had a very impressive hat as well, made of a skull and fur.
* John Shooter's wide-rimmed black bowler in ''SecretWindow''. Doesn't have any special powers, but it is important to the plot.
* ''Marvel Adventures SpiderMan'' has it's own version of [[TheGwenStacy Gwen Stacy]] on her first appearance she mainly tried hats on people. Mainly Peter.
* In ''CannibalTheMusical'', one of the bullying trappers wears a hat made out of a skunk. Whenever he tries to put down the main characters, Matt Stone's character always retorts, "Nice hat!", causing the trapper to look up at it self-consciously.
* Van Helsing in ''VanHelsing'' - your average 17th-Century vampire hunting hat. See also Real Life examples.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''TheCatInTheHat''.
* In the novel ''Design for Great-Day'', a fancy hat wearing species is also capable of completely dominating the minds of many other creatures simultaneously... from a very long way away. They never use this tactic to defend their hats in the book.
* Witches' and Wizards' hats are ''very'' important to their respective owners on the {{Discworld}}, as they let onlookers know to instinctively not screw with them. Rincewind's is a bit of a subversion, as his "Wizzard" hat is actually very shoddily put together and is falling apart. He still won't let go of it; though. ("How else would anyone know he was a wizard?") And, after he gets blown apparently irretrievably into the Dungeon Dimensions, the Librarian keeps his hat safe for him when he returns -- because a wizard will ''always'' come back for his hat. [[spoiler:He does.]]
** Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully's hat is particularly nice, as it contains a tent, hunting and fishing supplies, and a bottle of booze in the tip.
*** He had it made by a special firm of certified mad hatters to avoid the problems that stemmed from the former ceremonial Archchancellor's hat, which was worn by so many magical heads it developed a life of its own.
**** Which brings us to... the former Archchancellor's hat. Quite apart from being incredibly fancy, it was sapient, highly intelligent and a more powerful wizard than most actual wizards.
** Nanny Ogg's hat is reinforced with willow, enough to [[TheWizardOfOz protect her from falling houses]].
** Granny Weatherwax considers her hat to be ''the'' definitive symbol of witchdom. She makes a new one every year. Heaven help you if you mess with it.
*** And she bestows some of her awesome on Tiffany Aching by giving her a hat of her own. Which is ''invisible''. Of course, some of her peers insist she's not wearing a hat, [[TheLibby but who listens to some bimbo]] [[LittleMissBadass who's never even invaded fairyland with only a frying pan and a personal army of pictsies?]]
** In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', Moist von Lipwig gets to wear a fairly Nice Hat as postmaster (it's gold, with wings on it). The old silk top hat he gets to wear as master of the Royal Mint in ''Discworld/MakingMoney'' isn't nearly as nice, but is improved considerably by the application of a coating of gold sprinkles.
* The Sorting Hat from the ''HarryPotter'' books. Not to mention Luna's lion hat.
* Jarlaxle, of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt series, is famous for several things -- the most immediately noticeable his wearing of an "outrageous plumed hat" -- it is, effectively, the closest thing one can come to a pimp hat without actually being a pimp (though he may have been one at some point; who can tell with Jarlaxle?). Typically, said hat is [[AwesomeYetPractical loaded with useful magics]].
** Bruenor has a nice hat of his own, sort of -- his distinctive helm with one broken horn.
* In ''The Man of La Mancha'', Don Quixote mistakes [[GoldenHelmetOfMambrino a barber's shaving basin]] for the Golden Helmet of Mambrino. HilarityEnsues.
* BartholomewCubbins' hats pulled off a huge RefugeInAudacity-based plot that resulted in the disinheritance of an unworthy heir to the throne and Bartholomew getting 500 gold pieces. They're like the Puss In Boots of hats!
* TheMoomins children's books and spinoff media have two major characters with {{Nice Hat}}s: big-brother figure Snufkin wears an odd, tapering, wide-brimmed, green very nice hat, and a big black top hat serves as Moominpappa's [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics tertiary sexual characteristic]], contrasted with Moominmamma's big red apron.
** There was also a hat so awesome it ''warped reality'' at one point. As in, a giant ant-lion turns into a hedgehog, a lot of Eye-Watering Words come alive and so forth.
* In NeilGaiman's ''Anansi Boys'', we learn that the titular Anansi, [[TricksterMentor trickster-god]], spider-god, and the original owner of all stories, has a really nice hat: A bright-green fedora, which ONLY looks good if worn slightly lopsided, and even then only if you walk in just the right way. When the hat is passed on to one of the titular Boys, namely Fat Charlie Nancy, and he proves capable of wearing it just right, it clearly demonstrates how he's mastered the divine powers that comes with his origin. Especially since his brother, Spider, who's otherwise been awesome at EVERYTHING, has to admit that it doesn't look good on him.
* Let's not forget the classics: the Mad Hatter in ''AliceInWonderland'' wears an impressive top hat. He's probably borrowing it from his store, as it's labeled "10/6", representing a price of ten shillings and sixpence. ThatOtherWiki says this would be about $100 today when adjusted for inflation, and notes that "this was likely to indicate a nice hat".
* The minor ''WildCards'' character Topper uses her hat as her primary weapon, since she can pull anything that exists out of it.
* Subverted in ''[[TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Life, the Universe, and Everything]]''. When Slartibartfast, Ford and Arthur are at the flying party looking for the Silver Bail, Ford comes upon what seems to be a NiceHat, and tells its owner this, but she said wasn't wearing a hat, at which point Ford says, "[[RubberForeheadAliens Nice head.]]"
* In ''TheLookingGlassWars'', by Frank Beddor, the character of Hatter Madigan is a member of the Millinery, where one of their biggest rules is that every member have one hat, and one hat only. It just so happens that that hat turns into a bladed boomerang disc. Nice hat? Oh, yes.
* ''BattlefieldEarth'''s Johnny "Goodboy" Tyler, in a part of the book that never got into the movie, wears a NiceHat to try to impress alien ambassadors; it is an [[BlingOfWar ordinary military helmet covered in layers of gold and super-shiny iridium]], with a Chinese dragon sculpted on top of it holding a pearl. It even has its own dedicated spotlight on it during meetings.
* [[{{Aubrey-Maturin}} Captain Aubrey's]] chelengk-adorned Number One Scraper.
-->Holden was already sitting at his old shipmate's table, one hand holding a glass of wine, the other stretched out, pointing at a singularly magnificent diamond spray in Jack Aubrey's hat. "What, what is that?" he cried.\\
"It is a chelengk," said Jack with some complacency. "Ain't I elegant?"\\
"Wind it up again. Wind it up for him," said his friends, and the Captain set his hat, his best, gold-laced, number one full-dress scraper, on the table: the splendid bauble -- two close-packed lines of small diamonds, each topped by a respectable stone and each four or five inches long -- had a round, diamond-studded base; this he twisted anti-clockwise for several turns, and as he put on his hat again the chelengk sprang into motion, the round turning with a gentle whirr and the sprays quivering with a life of their own, so that Captain Aubrey sat in a small private coruscation, a confidential prismatic firework display, astonishingly brilliant in the sun.\\
"Where, where did he get it?" cried Holden, turning to the others, as though Captain Aubrey might not be addressed while the chelengk blazed and trembled.
*''GoDogGo'' contains an entire Nice Hat subplot, with two dogs meeting several times over the course of the book and one asking the other if he likes her hat, eventually leading to an extravagant headpiece.
* Holden Caulfield spends a buck on a red hat in ''TheCatcherInTheRye''. It is, according to his roomate, a rip-off.
* In ''TheFangsOfKaath'', at the end of his successful military campaign, Prince Raschid takes to wearing a traditional headdress given to him from his new friend, a desert nomad warrior king. He thinks it looks stylish and subconsciously marks his growing distance from his domineering mother, who can't stand it.
* Bertie Wooster is prone to wearing hats he thinks are very nice; his man Jeeves disagrees.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In {{Merlin}}, the official servant's ceremonial clothes include a huge feathered monstrosity of a hat. Gwen even comments, "nice hat," in between giggles.
* Johnny Carson's shtick as Carnac the Magnificent was well known for the giant turban that apparently granted him psychic powers.
* In the SciFiChannel's production of ''{{Dune}}'' there were several {{Nice Hat}}s, mostly notably the Bene Gesserit, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ghm.jpg seen here]] (the hat is the thing extending back from her head).
** You can always tell you're in the (far distant) future if people are wearing ridiculous hats.
* Mention ''must'' go to Jayne Cobb's "cunning hat" in the ''{{Firefly}}'' episode "The Message"... knitted for him [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas by his mom]].
-->'''Wash:''' A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything.
** There's also Badger, who, despite being a villain with a questionable taste in ties and suits and sports a bare chest under his coat and vest, wears a ''nice'' little derby, referred to by Mal as a "very fine hat".
** Also, an inversion, where a NiceHat doesn't help:
--->'''Mal:''' That's a mighty fine gun. Gun like that, boy must be your best shooter.\\
'''Patience:''' We call him Two-Fry. He always makes it quick and clean.\\
'''Mal:''' Two-Fry. Nice hat.\\
''(Jayne's sniper shot puts an entry hole in Two-Fry's hat, and his head)''
** And even Mal aspires to Nice hat-dom. "And I'd like to be king of all Londinium and wear a shiny hat."
** Aaaand just one more example: "I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you."
* Benton Fraser's Mountie standard issue wide-awake hat in ''DueSouth'', which has a brim stiff enough to ''knock someone out'' when hurled Frisbee-style.
* Several incarnations of [[DoctorWho the Doctor]] sport some distinctive headgear, notably the [[http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42714000/jpg/_42714351_sarahjane_seeds400.jpg fourth]], the [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uiRi-iHWGHo/RrSQnZTP5sI/AAAAAAAABaA/AcSgQmKVUi0/s320/200px-Fifth_Doctor.jpg fifth]], and the [[http://farm1.static.flickr.com/75/173072935_e70ba9e64c.jpg?v=0 seventh]] (owned by the actor).
** Not one to be outdone in the fashion department, Romana sported at least four (if you count "Shada"). Not counting the awful Burberry one from "The Stones of Blood" that today screams uncool, there's "The Androids of Tara", "City of Death" ([[FetishFuel topping off a rather memorable outfit]]), "Shada" and the time she wore the entire Fourth Doctor get-up.
*** Though they're all tame compared to what [[http://www.whoniverse.org/tardis/pictures/time_lord.jpg most Time Lords wear]].
** The Second Doctor was somewhat prone to hat envy: "I should like a hat like that."
*** Don't forget the Second Doctor occasionally wore a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Second_Doctor.jpg stovepipe hat]] as well.
**** The Third also in his first appearance tried on a flat cap, before settling on a Fedora. In his other installments, he went bare-headed.
* On ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Whoopi Goldberg's character Guinan often wore what looked like a card table draped with velvet on her head.
** Spoofed in ''Sev Trek: Puss in Boots'' where Guinan's hat is used for serving drinks in Ten Forward.
* ''DeepSpaceNine''. Worf first meets Kira and Dax as they're exiting the Holosuite in ridiculous medieval regalia, complete with huge garish headgear. Worf's only response: "Nice hat."
** Apparently DS9 actually had a specific part of their budget allocated toward making hats for various PlanetOfHats aliens. Unfortunately the camera operators kept complaining the hats were obscuring the actors' faces, so the idea was dropped.
** Who could forget Kai Winn's omnipresent [[http://ds9.trekcore.com/castcrew/images/cast/Kai%20winn.jpg little yellow hat]]? It was a lot neater than the ridiculous headgear she had to wear as a mere Vedek that made her look [[http://www.strekonline.com/ds9/images/s1/handsofprophets-48.jpg like Sydney opera house]].
* Played with in ''TheMightyBoosh'' episode "Electro." Howard meets the Spirit of Jazz, an intimidating ghost with a white top hat that's always on fire. At the end of the scene, the Spirit freaks out because he didn't realize that his hat was on fire. Howard apologizes for not warning him, saying he thought it was "just his look."
** The Hitcher also wears a rather nice top hat, with polo mints imbedded into the band.
* Of course, ''KolchakTheNightStalker'' never went anywhere without his porkpie hat.
* In one episode of ''MichaelPalin's New Europe'', he wears a huge hat made of oak leaves whilst celebrating a Latvian midsummer festival at which it's traditional for men to dance wearing one.
* When Cain escapes from the Longcoats in ''Tin Man'', he takes the time to wreak a little extra vengeance on the one who stole his hat.
* In the Canadian children's show ''Today's Special,'' the main character, Jeff, is a mannequin brought to life by his magic hat (cap, really). When he takes it off, or it comes off, he turns back into a mannequin.
* The ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode where she has the flu and is languishing in the hospital as Das Kindestod stalks the hall of the children's wing. It wears a Nice Hat, and when she brawls with it, the hat comes off. He seems to defeat her, picks the hat back up, and -- this is the key point -- makes sure the brim is straightened as he stalks off.
* Frank from ''[[{{ptitleolsdue4jfzga}} 30 Rock]]'' has a collection of humorous trucker hats, a variation on the FunTShirt.
* Angel Batista from ''{{Dexter}}'' usually sports a very sharp-looking hat.
* Steed from ''TheAvengers'' always wears an impeccable bowler hat, as befits his status as a perfect English gentleman. The fact that it has a steel plate concealed in the crown is just a bonus.
* Jamie Hyneman, of ''{{Mythbusters}}'', is never seen without his beret.
** Meanwhile, his co-host Adam Savage will put just about anything on his head.
*** Though he does regularly wear a nice, brown IndianaJones number pretty regularly.
* The first season of ''GhostWhisperer'' had a recurring evil spirit best-known as "Wide-Brim" after his distinctive, and yes, very nice hat.
* Fruit from ''TheWire''; in fact his pimp hat is a necessary distinguishing feature to get the audience to recognize him among the huge influx of new drug dealer characters in season three.
* A recent episode of ''TheDailyShow'' featured the Secretary of the Interior giving Jon Stewart an exceedingly nice cowboy hat, matching the one said Secretary was already sporting.
* Sister Bertrille was known as ''TheFlyingNun'' because her hat was so nice it let her fly.
*''JeevesAndWooster'' actually lets us ''see'' the hats that were only described in the [[PGWodehouse original novels]] and that have driven ''so'' many plots with the arousal of Jeeves' Ultimate Fashion Police ire: The Alpine, the 42nd Street skimmer, the 10-gallon...
**And let's not forget that iconic size-14 bowler.
* ''BattlestarGalactica''. While on New Caprica, Brother Cavil wears a hat that gives him a suitably sinister look, especially when he's arranging for the arrest and execution of several hundred hostages.
* In ''HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'', Detective Lewis is rarely seen outside of the station house without his cool trilby. Detective Pembleton is also at times given to wearing a pretty sweet fedora. Various other rather cool hats make their appearance throughout the show.
** Played with in the latter half of season three, wherein Bolander frequently wears a trilby... because he's been recently shot in the head and wears it to conceal the horrific scars.
* 1975's ''The Ghost Busters'' was pretty much all about the nice hats. Tracy, the gorilla sidekick, would go through about 10 hat-changes or more through the course of each episode.
* In the pilot episode of ''WhiteCollar'', Agent Burke's secretary(?) compliments Neal Caffrey on his hat when she first meets him, leading Caffrey to think that she's flirting with him, when Burke tells Caffrey that [[spoiler:"She'd rather be wearing the hat"]], implying that [[spoiler:she's actually a lesbian (which is confirmed later in the episode)]].
* Since he keeps his gut-pouch covered, the only thing preventing [[StargateSG1 Teal'c]] from [[HumanAliens passing for human]] is his gold forehead tatoo. The obvious solution is a selection of {{Nice Hat}}s, or in one case a [[FunnyAfro fake Afro]] and bandanna.
* ''{{Leverage}}'': If Nate Ford can wear a hat, he will. And he looks damn good doing it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Jay Kay, lead singer of British funk/soul group Jamiroquai, frequently employs {{Nice Hat}}s during his live shows.
* LL Cool J. His Kangol hat is "like a shark's fin"!
* JonathanCoulton's coonskin cap, a la Davy Crockett.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyDhsDUorGA This video.]] Enough said.
* Common
* '''Erykah Badu'''
* Former Guns 'n Roses and current Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash is never seen without his trademark top hat.
* DaftPunk are never without their [[http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=daft%20punk%20helmet&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi Cool Helmets.]]
** Similarly, [[http://chicago.decider.com/events/deadmau5,8949/ DJ Deadmau5.]]
* This Trope plus Rap times Spinal Tap equals [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106880/ Fear of a Black Hat]].
* Ray Stevens considered it as the ultimate route to fame in country music in 'You Gotta Have a Hat'; ultimately, he gave it up.
* Devo's Energy Domes, originally modeled somewhat after ziggurats (not to be mistaken for flowerpots, lampshades, or pet dishes).
* One-man band That One Guy, who gets bonus points for wearing a nice hat on top of ''another nice hat''.
* MichaelJackson.
* [[http://i29.tinypic.com/106zgg6.jpg Pick]] [[http://i28.tinypic.com/nn046c.jpg a]] [[PetShopBoys Pet Shop Boy.]] [[http://i30.tinypic.com/291dpiw.jpg Any]] [[http://i26.tinypic.com/2uigb9c.jpg Pet]] [[http://i30.tinypic.com/26287j5.jpg Shop]] [[http://i28.tinypic.com/1z4ab7q.jpg Boy.]]
* Taiji Sawada, bassist of XJapan and now of The Killing Red Addiction, and his cowboy hats. Now he alternates between a cowboy hat and a hoodie.
* For a time in the 1960s, [[TheMonkees Mike Nesmith]] was never seen without his wool hat ([[HypeBacklash by the end of the decade, he could no longer stand the sight of wool hats]]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology]]
* In another OlderThanDirt example, Odin had a [[RobeAndWizardHat wide-brimmed hat along with his cloak]] whenever he went out for a stroll or to impregnate Jotun women and so on.
** Since Mat Cauthon from the ''WheelOfTime'' is an Odin {{Expy}}, he gains a really nice wide-brimmed hat in ''The Shadow Rising'' that he wears constantly even in battle.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:New Media]]
* Yahtzee from ''ZeroPunctuation'' has a nice hat. He goes so far as to mention it in his bio ("a sweet hat and a chip on his shoulder") and draw it on his crude sprite in his reviews.
** It's rather unfortunate that he didn't actually wear it the first time he appeared in live-action video, but he has some photos from his visit to Valve, and the next live-action segment featured Yahtzee wearing the hat instead of his microphone headset, communicating entirely in mime. And he says he hates the fans!
*** As a matter of fact, Trilby, from his adventure game series, the ChzoMythos, wears the same hat. That's why he's named Trilby - that's what the hat is.
** In his review of ''MetalGearSolid 4'', the sprite's brain pops out at one point... and has a miniature version of the nice hat on it.
* Since it originated as an Avatar based forum, ''GaiaOnline'' has ''lots'' of nice hats. Some with eyes, some with teeth, some that are in the shape of rude gestures. Many of them actually have real life counterparts available for sale. (Well, not the rude gesture hat, but most of the other ones). The hats are so iconic, that one of them actually has an enemy based off of in in the MMO.
** In the realm of NPCs, the king of Nice Hats is Ian, with his iconic feathered fedora hat. ''His cat'' even wears one for a while. After being outed as a vampire (don't ask) and going back to his natural hair color, he ditched the hat. You can craft a replica of it though.
* Homsar's reality-defying bowler hat from ''HomestarRunner'' has to qualify.
*Many of the contributors for ThatGuyWithTheGlasses have Nice Hats. Most notably: Linkara (a sexy fedora) Bennett the Sage (a patched green and blue Flat Cap) and the Nostalgia Critic's iconic black hat. However, [[CrazyHomelessPeople Chester A. Bum]] does not have a NiceHat.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* {{WWE}} [[ProfessionalWrestling wrestler]] The Undertaker's entire persona would be a lot less creepy and intimidating if it weren't for his BadassLongcoat and trademark wide-brimmed hat together making him look like a gigantic psychotic [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Amish]] gravedigger.
* {{ECW}} Superfan "Hat Guy" is actually an inversion; his straw hat and loud tourist shirts made him look like he's, as Joel Gertner put it, "still hung over from the Reagan administration."
* {{WCW}}'s Buff Bagwell wears that giant top hat during his entrance theme.
* The Miz after joining with John Morrison.
* Triple H and occasionally Stephanie would don flat caps during the [=McMahon=]-Helmsley Era/Faction/Regime/Factime. These day's Haitch wears a baseball cap.
* Along with Shawn Michaels wearing a cowboy hat.
* No love for JR and the Resitol? Jerry Lawler and his crown? Paul Heyman and his baseball caps?

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In certain section of ''{{Exalted}}'' fandom, the Dawn Caste, two-fisted fighter Demetheus is known as the hat man, simply due to a wide-brimmed hat he's been illustrated with a few times.
* Murlynd's Hat. In the ''Greyhawk'' [[DungeonsAndDragons D&D]] setting, Murlynd of The Company of Seven's leather chapeaux can have near any non-magical object be pulled out of it, not to mention granting a degree of protection. He also had revolvers and a whip, making him probably the most badass wizard/paladin in existance. But the hat man...the hat.
* The Commissars of the Imperium from ''{{Warhammer 40000}}''. ''They'' aren't nice to anyone, [[YouHaveFailedMe least of all their own troops]], but the [[CommissarCap hats]] are pretty cool.
** Though at least [[CiaphasCain one commissar]] would rather wear a helmet...
*** Or, better yet, be several planets away from any actual fighting.
** In ''DawnOfWar: Dark Crusade'', while assaulting the Imperial Guard stronghold with the Orks, Warboss Gorgutz will lament the fact that the Commissar's hat gets blown away with his head, because ''he'' wanted it.
*** All [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]] of the Blood Axe clan seem to love Commissar's hats, or simmilar peaked caps looted from other officers.
** [[MemeticMutation Kharn is the new Commissar now!]]
** And don't forget Aun Va, also known as "[[FanNickname Tau Pope]]."
* The Chaos Dwarves in {{Warhammer}} apparently had hats whose height reflected the wearer's status. The superstructure of their warships also tended to look like giant versions of their hats.
** As could be expected from a race whose theme is a mix of Prussia and ancient Babylon. (see examples above)
* In ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'', your character gets an 'Outrageous Hat' as a trapping if you have Charlatan as a career.
* ''{{Warhammer}}'' also has the Witch Hunters's Hat of Doom. Characters have take a will test against fear just by seeing it.
** The Lizardmen Skink Hero riding a [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Stegadon]] gets a choice between a skull hat (for a wizard) and a rather badass gold stegadon mask for a fighty hero. And for all your giant mummified frog fashion needs, there's Lord Kroak's deathmask. Of course, since so few Lizardmen wear any clothing at all, they ''have'' to make the headgear badass.
* The Magic Burner for ''BurningWheel'' covers wizard characters, who as part of the traditional RobeAndWizardHat can find themselves with the "Impressive Hat" described as follows:
--> This character's hat is mightily impressive. It can be seen for miles! It's so impressive that people often remember the hat more than the person.
* ''{{Munchkin}}'' has several, such as the BadAss Bandanna, the Helm of Peripheral Vision, the Horny Helmet, and the Helm of Courage (which is on backwards). For the grand prize, we have...the ''Magnificent Hat'', complete with what appears to be [[GirlGenius a Jägermonster]] looking unusually proud. Does any other game have a hat so nice it reflects curses? [[ThisIsASentenceBitch I didn't think so, bitch]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The Three Daedric helmets from ''[[ElderScrolls Morrowind]]'': The Daedric Face of God, Terror and [[http://media.photobucket.com/image/Daedric%20Face%20of%20Inspiration/mcmuffinizor/Daedric%20WIPz/daeFoItextured01.jpg Inspiration]].
** And the Helm of Oreyn Bearclaw, not to mention the less-useful Masque of Clavicus Vile.
* The ''DynastyWarriors'' game series features a number of memorably bizarre hats taken from the Three Kingdoms era of China, most notably the Propeller Hat, which is TruthInTelevision.
** Lu Xun's hat is particularly bizarre, up until the character design changes in the 6thgame. Fans have often taken the liberty of making fun of his hat in fanfiction.
** Sun Quan's Propeller Hat looks like a thin piece of cardboard stuck to a sardine tin strapped to his head. Sun Quan wears a particular ostentatious version due to naming himself the King of Wu.
** Sima Yi's headgear gets crazier with each installment. It's anyone's guess what he hides under the thing.
** Lu Bu, the period's biggest {{badass}}, makes his presence known with a tiny cap sporting two enormous feathers that reach down to his feet. Only a [[RealMenWearPink real man]] could pull that off. In Peking theater, feathers denote a battle role.
** [[PhysicalGod Sun Wukong]] also wears a similar hat to Lu Bu.
* ''Kessen II'' also takes place during the Three Kingdoms period and features some [[http://kongming.net/kessen2/portraits/ pretty redonkulous hats]]. Of particular note is Zhang Liao's antler helmet and Sun Quan's eagle hat.
* Games set in the Sengoku era of China, such as ''SamuraiWarriors'' and ''SengokuBasara'', also feature some pretty spectacular hats. There's Date Masamune's crescent helmet, Honda Tadakatsu's deer antler helmet, and Naoe Kanetsugu's helmet which is engraved with the kanji of "love." Mitsunari's ridiculous hat looks like he turned a sheepdog into a hat. Tokugawa Ieyasu's crazy tall hat, provoking Takeda Shingen to make the remark, "Ieyasu has two things that exceed his own worth, that warrior, Tadakatsu, and that ridiculous hat of his." Also Azai Nagamasa's helmet/hat.
* ''[[SuperMarioBros Super Mario 64]]'' has several nice hats, including the Wing Cap to [[{{Flight}} fly]], the Vanish Cap that makes Mario invisible and the Metal Cap that makes him become metallic. Also when an enemy takes off Mario's own hat in a desert level, he takes damage from the heat. Noticeably, in any level, being hit by an enemy while hatless will make you take one HitPoint more damage than you would with the hat. Apparently Mario's hat projects its own forcefield.
** In the remake of this game for the DS, picking up a playable character's hat (Mario, Luigi, or Wario) will turn you into that character. If you started the level as one of these characters and lose your original hat, hitting a Power Flower block will unleash an angry Bob-omb rather than the helpful flower.
** In ''Super Mario Sunshine'', Mario's health slowly drains if an enemy steals his hat. Apparently the stress of losing his hat weakens him, although, given that he's in the tropics, this is kinda understandable. Sunburns hurt!
* Lechku and Nechku in ''{{Okami}}'' pull random objects out of their hats as attacks. Waka also has a pretty bitchin' hat which never comes off [[spoiler: until he thoroughly gets his ass whooped by Yami]].
** How can you mention ''{{Okami}}'' and ''leave out'' the fact that Orochi has ''eight'' giant, brightly colored [[NiceHat Nice Hats]] that denote his current weakness? How?
* I-No in ''GuiltyGear'' has a ''living'' hat that looks like [[HarryPotter the Sorting Hat's]] EvilTwin.
** Johnny and May naturally have some pretty sweet hats, too, being pirates. Johnny's is even a possible homage to Johnny Cash.
* ''{{Kirby}}'' has tons of hats, one for (almost) each of his powers. He plans to open a haberdashery. Particular examples include the headdresses he gets for Fire, Ice and Plasma, the jester cap he has for Beam (and the ''shiny'' one for Mirror), [[LegendOfZelda Link's cap]] for Sword, and the [[EarthBound reversed ball cap]] he has for [[KillerYoyo Yoyo]].
** When he absorbs a power in the ''SuperSmashBros'' series, he usually adopts his victim's headgear as well. Mario's cap, Samus's helmet, Sonic's quills, even Snake's headband (and goatee). [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=255 VG Cats' Scott shares his rendition.]] (The top half are real, the rest are [[RuleOfCool just cool]].)
* The classic Red Mage hat from the ''FinalFantasy'' franchise. Widely known as the "Pimp Hat" to players of ''FinalFantasyXI''.
** In ''[[EightBitTheater 8-Bit Theater]]'', Red Mage's hat is a common victim of Black Mage's anger (it's even on his [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/04/20/episode-410-a-friend-in-need/ "death list"]]).
*** Despite this, when Red Mage was dead/incapacitated Black Mage started wearing his hat ''on top of his own''.
*** Presumably as a trophy. Of course, Red Mage ([[ManOnFire on fire]]) ''is'' a nice hat...
* In ''FinalFantasyXI'' the NPC Maat tests your fighting ability in your job to advance from 70 to 75. Beating Maat in all fifteen of the original and advanced jobs (ToA and WotG not included) nets the player a special scene with Maat's story and the reward of his iconic beret. A challenge less than .5% of all 500k+ players have completed.
* All of the caster classes of FinalFantasyTactics (save the Calculators) have a NiceHat: Black Mages have a RobeAndWizardHat, White Mages are InTheHood, Time Mages have a pointy pope-esque hat, and Summoners have positively [[FreudWasRight Freudian]] headbands; furthermore, the Mediator's hat looks like a pillow, and the Lancers have some pretty sweet helmets evokative of dragon's heads.
* Kain Highwind's dragon helmet in ''FinalFantasyIV'' is goddamn awesome.
* In ''[[MetalGear Metal Gear Solid 3]]'', Ocelot is rather fond of his hat. During his duel with Naked Snake, Snake's allies actually suggest shooting off Ocelot's hat as a tactic.
** Though it does not look very impressive, Naked Snakes bandana is still an impressive piece of headgear. Shortly after the beginning, on a covert operation within enemy territory, his [[BigBrotherMentor Mother Mentor]], [[BloodBrothers Blood Sister]], and [[TheStraightWillAndGrace best friend]] Boss betrays Snake and joins the BigBad, who orders her to kill him. After having the crap beaten out of him, she throws him from a bridge into the river below and in a last desperate try to catch himself, his hand only gets a hold on her bandana. He narrowly survives and returns with the mission to stop the Big Bad and kill her, wearking the very same bandana...
* Razputin's aviator cap (and requisite [[GogglesDoNothing goggles]]) in ''{{Psychonauts}}''.
* Link's elfy cap in ''TheLegendOfZelda'' series.
** It's so cool, that it even got a major role in ''Minish Cap,'' where it talked and had magical powers.
** The hat and his love of it became a RunningGag in at least one fanfic, the [[FanFicRecommendations highly recommended]] ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/344741/1/Legend_of_Zelda_The_Return Legend of Zelda: The Return]]''.
** Of course, there's always someone to [[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic1-032607.php take it to extremes]]...
* There's not a scene in ''CallOfDuty'' featuring Captain Price without him wearing his swanky red beret. Even in ''CallOfDuty 2'', [[FridgeLogic where he's never in the Paras...]]
** It's a black beret in ''CallOfDuty 2'', which is correct as he's in an Armoured Division.
** His IdenticalGrandson in ''CallOfDuty 4'' has a different (but still pretty nice) hat.
** Sgt. Reznov's red star-adorned ushanka from ''World At War'' is rather nice, too.
** Possibly subverted with [[strike:Cpl.]] Sgt. Roebuck, who is notable for (almost) never wearing a helmet.
* ''{{Touhou}}'' is infamous for giving many of its characters silly hats. The number of characters without head ornaments can be counted on one hand.
** This has led to a recurring joke in the fandom that programmer and designer ZUN is a "hat fetishist."
*** In one of his interviews, he is seen wearing what is [[http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Image:ZUN_thenetstar.jpg clearly]] a NiceHat.
** Even in Touhou, however, where frilly hats are the norm, Shikieiki's hat stands out as a particularly nice hat. She ''is'' the Judge of Life and Death, though, so maybe that's ceremonial garb.
*** It's based on the traditional garb of the Great King Enma, seen [[http://www.shinmanga.com/local/cache-vignettes/L317xH360/Enma-9bea0.jpg here]] and [[http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/data/choukoku/images/enma04_l.jpg here]].
** Suwako's ''eye-hat''. [[MemeticMutation Fandom]] tends to give it a mind of its own, with theories ranging from TheManBehindTheMan to [[PeoplePuppets a parasited body]].
** Not to mention Keine's lunchbox/pagoda hat, which is constantly speculated upon in fanworks.
* You can equip hats in ''TheWorldEndsWithYou'', and you eventually get Minamimoto's cap as an item. It gives you more stat boosts than most good items do in one stat, in ''all three'' stats.
* In ''SoulCalibur IV'', Talim gets her own Nice Hat as part of her costume's redesign for the game.
** The Character Creation and customization modes have a bunch of them, so you can give them to just about anybody.
* The obscure game ''Animamundi: Dark Alchemist'' - the main character has an expy of {{Vampire Hunter D}}'s hat, with his own little flourish. It's still a nice hat.
* Most of the named characters in ''Archaic Sealed Heat'' (and some of the generic units) that don't have amazing hats have [[AnimeHair ridiculous hair]] instead. Some of them have both at once. Now add goggles and eyepatches to the mix, and things just get awesome.
* Maximillian's cap(s) in ''DarkCloud 2'' are probably the only thing that differentiates him from other standard [=RPG=] heroes appearance-wise. And they're neat looking, to say the least.
* Luso in ''FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' has a nice pink mushroom-looking cap.
** As do the Moogle Flintlocks, whose design were based on the British royal guards. Several of the Nu Mou classes also sport some nice (and big) hats.
* It's utterly the game mechanic of ''Hikari no 4 Senshi''; players switch jobs by changing their hats.
* Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th in ''RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy'' wears a nice black cap as part of his school uniform.
** Made a Nice Hat even moreso by the fact that he will wear the cap ''when wearing nothing else'', seriously.
*** The sequal suggests there may be good reason for it - one demon negotiation branch suggests he's covering something important up.
* Bishop Sarasai from the ''{{Suikoden}}'' series wore a stunning example that was almost bigger than he was. Many tears were shed when he abandoned it for the third installment.
** In the same game, Yuber wore a rather stylish hat himself. Whether this makes up for the loss of Sasarai's is up for debate.
* A recently-added quest to ''WorldOfWarcraft'' involves meeting up with an old guy with a nice sombrero hat. Turns out that this old man used to be quite the [[RetiredBadass fighter]] back in the day, and many would challenge him to a fight for said hat. Naturally, you can go back in time, find the younger version of the man, and beat him up in order to receive the hat as a reward (as well as another hat in the Heroic version of the dungeon, which summons the ghost of the man's coyote companion whom you killed to beat him). The quest name? [[http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=12513 Nice Hat...]]
** There are also other hats which are worn just for their looks, including a pirate hat (which summons a matching parrot) that is incredibly hard to obtain. Another special case is a quest reward hat that you can reach into for a random beverage.
** High Inquisitor Whitemane's chapeau [[http://shoomlah.deviantart.com/art/lol-guys-new-hat-42237163 is also quite remarkable]].
* [=GMs=] in ''MapleStory'' have a NiceHat as part of their uniform. Said hat also gives them a [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman godly stat boost]].
* Dizzy of ''GearsOfWar 2'' has a [[http://i28.tinypic.com/96z2nb.jpg cowboy hat]], which can actually come off in multiplayer. Damn shame.
* ''RagnarokOnline''' has an awesome variety of Nice [[strike:Hats]] [[http://rosprites.110mb.com/headgears.html Headgears]], and the players are obsessed with getting the nicer ones. Since they ''are'' the only noticeable change to player sprites, the obsession is pretty much justified.
** Also, note that some {{Nice Hat}}s DO give Nice Bonuses to some classes. SoYeah.
* In ''TalesOfVesperia'' you can accessorize some of your party members with ''very'' NiceHats, and they even show up in cutscenes.
* In "Fat Princess" you pick your character class by putting on the appropriate hat.
* Joshua's hat in ''FireEmblem 8''.
** There is also a ROM hack featuring [[MemeticMutation Gheb]] and it includes Joshua and his hat. The coolness of his hat is taken to such ridiculous extremes that it is treated as a ''living being'' and lord help anyone who [[BerserkButton insults his hat]] .
* Isamu's newsboy-style hat in ''ShinMegamiTensei Nocturne'' practically became its own character in fan art and 4Koma comics. Even his "God" wears the damn hat.
** In Luisfe's LetsPlay of ''Nocturne'', Isamu was [[FanNickname renamed]] "Sidekick [=McHat=]"
* In ''GuildWars'', the ritualist class can get an ''extremely'' nice [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/gw/images/b/b5/Ritualist_fow_front.jpg hat]], though it is one of the most expensive items in the game and to get it you need to enter the BonusLevelofHell.
* Inverted somewhat in ''MegaMan 9'', where you can spend the game's currency for the privilege of playing as Mega Man ''without'' his trademark headgear.
** However, Mega Man takes ''double damage'' when he's not wearing his helmet. Some ''Mega Man'' games have helmets of the character you are using as one up items. In ''Mega Man and Bass'', the game over screen shows your character's helmet on the ground.
** Meanwhile, in the MegamanX series, the hero can always find additional upgrades to his helmet that has extra functionality and generally is part of a collectible series of items to unlock some sort of super awesome secret.
* The male player character in ''{{Pokemon}} Sapphire/Ruby/Emerald'' has a hat so nice that it's practically indistinguishable from hair.
** Player Character's hat from R/S/E? Pah. Riley from D/P/Pt's pimp hat is WAY nicer.I WANT THAT HAT.
** {{Pokemon}} protagonists' often have really nice hats. Notably, [[http://archives.bulbagarden.net/w/upload/3/39/HGSSSoul.png Soul]]'s. It's large, is the most notable thing about her [[http://archives.bulbagarden.net/w/upload/5/5c/Goldandsoul.png sprite]], and goes well with her outfit. However, [[SeriousBusiness peo]][[FanDumb ple]], mostly people that dislike her, due to her current status as a ReplacementScrappy (though, she technically didn't replace anyone, and may be based off the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen original design]] for a girl in the original games), note that it makes her look even more like [[SuperMario Mario]].
* ''{{Fallout}} 3'' has the Pre-war Hat, which is a spiffy fedora. Aside from looking nifty, it gives a bonus to Perception, making you shoot better. The downside is that it's rather fragile, and doesn't give much protection. But it's worth it for a killer hat. There's also the "Shady Hat" which not only increases your Perception, but your Sneaking ability as well.
** ''Fallout 3'' has so many nice hats it's a pity the player is restricted to one at a time. Further examples include Euology Jones' Pimp Hat, a 18th Century style wig, and Abraham Lincoln's stovepipe hat, which is just made for wearing while mowing down the slavers of Paradise Falls. Or the incredibly rare and hard to find Chinese Commando Hat, wear with a Duster of any kind and you can pretend to be a Soviet conscript!
* Beyond the Grave from ''{{Gungrave}}'' sports a nice purple cowboy hat, complete with a [[CreepyCoolCrosses silver cross on the front]]. In ''Overdose'', when the [[AndYourRewardIsClothes Alternate Character]] option is turned on, Grave wears his costume from the original game, NiceHat and all.
* ''WarioLand 1'' has different types of hats as the power ups, including a hat with horns which increases strength, a dragon hat which breathes fire (even underwater) and a jet cap which is pretty much a head mounted jet pack.
* ''[[DotHack .hack//]]'', both original tetralogy and G.U., has some very nice hats. To name a few, Kite's big red hat with earflaps, Mistral's enormous hat, Elk's more moderate one, Marlo's bitchin' helmet, Endrance's rose-covered one, Sakubo's transforming hat (with one end curving up into a point, the other curving downwards,) Atoli and Shino's big poofy hats with tassels, and assorted hats on NPCs. Yeah. It's a Hat Series.
* Naoto from ''{{Persona4}}'' wears a nice hat that may or may not help [[spoiler: her be a WholesomeCrossdresser]].
* [[ShirenTheWanderer Shiren's]] straw flat-topped [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasa_(hat) kasa]] that usually obscures the top half of his face except for a small tear on one side that lets us see his left eye while he's wearing it. Apparently, it is magical enough to allow Shiren to avoid the effects of a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill kill-everything-in-the-room scroll]] by [[{{Hammerspace}} hiding completely inside it.]]
* [[FatalFury Terry]] [[KingOfFighters Bogard]] is almost always seen wearing an ordinary (but still rather nice) baseball cap. It never leaves his head until a fight ends.
** In the case of his FatalFury appearance, TheAnimeOfTheGame upgraded his cap to include a ''metal plate'' for no discernable reason at all. Still looks {{Badass}}, though.
***Probably had the brim blown off too much with all those ki attacks flying around.
* Kung Lao from ''MortalKombat'' is best known for his wide, blade-rimmed hat which he throws as a projectile and utilizes in most of his fatalities, including the classic in MK II where he slices an opponent in half ''vertically''.
* Most gun kills in ''TotalOverdose'' cause the victim's hat to hover in the air briefly. Moving in to position your head beneath it at that time gives a 'Hat Catch' bonus plus extra points per kill while wearing it. There's also the 'Sombrero of Death', a Day-of-the-Dead costumed zombie in a sombrero, who packs a grenade launcher to fight for you.
* Another case of a hat hurting you... Caffeine Nicotine out of ''SamuraiShodown 2'' wears a nice-sized one. When armed, he swings it as his weak slash/punch. When unarmed, he just swings it for all side moves. And if he does a dive roll, the hat itself is what's seen as rolling along its brim.
* The Pilot's Helmet in ''RatchetAndClank'' is intended simply as a plot MacGuffin letting you use certain aircraft. It is, however, possible to equip it on dry land. It makes Ratchet stop looking like a weasel and start looking like a hero.
* ''KingdomOfLoathing'' has a lot of nice hats, but the nicest one of them all is arguably the [[http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Plexiglass_pith_helmet Plexiglass pith helmet]]. As the description states, it is shiny, indestructible, and undeniably badass. Not to mention the enchantments it carries - even going only by usefulness, disregarding formerly mentioned aspects of niceness, it IS one of the nicest hats around.
* ''RomancingSaGa: Minstrel Song'' features a ''lot'' of nice hats as part of TheRemake giving the whole cast a makeover. Examples include Aisha's odd hair-wrappish thing (complete with twin braids hanging out the back in a way that leaves you wondering how she arranged it like that in the first place), Sif's HornyVikings-invoking [[SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset literal skull-cap]], Hawke's puffy {{Pirate}} hat, and Diana's teensy crown that doubles at invoking EveryGirlIsCuterWithHairDecs.
* The male protagonist of ''LegendOfMana'' wears a big red floppy hat that gets complimented (and made fun of) on at least one occasion; for the female one, it's her kickin' rad [[RapunzelHair hair]] [[ImprobableHairstyle pipes]].
* ProfessorLayton ''defines'' this trope with his orange-banded top hat.
* One of the technological designs in ''{{Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magic Obscura}}'' is the "Chapeau of Magnetic Inversion", which is a top hat that deflects bullets with SCIENCE!
* In ''[[SuperRobotWars Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier]]'', though it's never addressed in dialogue separate from his overall outfit, Haken seems to be ''very'' fond of his futuristic cowboy hat. Most of his dialogue portraits have him adjusting it to fit his expression in some way, and it even has a [[LupinIII Jigen]]-style [[http://img1.livegen.fr/thumb/00/00/06/03/0000060394.jpg notch]] for him to look through for his SuperMovePortraitAttack.
* The Spy from ''Team Fortress 2'' can now get a stylish fedora as an unlockable item, which only gets knocked off his head in the event of his death.
** There's also the Sniper's crocodile-dundee hat, and the Soldier's helmet with cigarettes and an ace strapped on. The best is the Engineer's hardhat - already so good that the writer of ''NerfNow'' claimed that some people play the class just for the hat, and that the unlockable version is the addition of a mining light. But then, all the unlockable hats are like this (except the Demoman's, which is a fro); there's a reason they're rare.
* The hats in ''BatenKaitos'' can give every hat in the this ''entry'' a run for its money. For crying out loud, ''[[http://tinyurl.com/lcs7mk look]] at the [[http://tinyurl.com/lucaod shopkeepers]]''.
* In ''Simon the Sorcerer'', titular sorcerer has a nice wizard hat which he uses to store his inventory. Including ten-feet-long ladder.
* Maxwell from ''{{Scribblenauts}}'' wears a strange but neat red hat that has been dubbed the "rooster hat" by fans and its creators. The best part? In some countries, a real life version of this hat is available as a pre-order bonus!
* If your family member general is insane in Rome TotalWar, they will often give odd (or rather, crazy) pre-battle speeches, such as:
--> "Although the Enemy have the Moon People on their side, we need not fear, for we have our lovely hats, and they shall protect us from their fearsome gaze!"
* From Software's Evergrace features many nice hats, which are also quite benficial since normal clothing works just like armor, just with less durability. Fear be-hatted catgirl Sharline, FEAR
* The sentient phases of ''{{Spore}}'' offer an increasing selection of clothes, including [[NiceHat Nice Hats]].
* Diablo and Diablo II have the Harlequin Crest. The original has a drawback of -3 to your Armor class, but the +2 to all attributes is tempting.
* In [[DemonsSouls Demon's Souls]] there is a way to get a very nice, very large yellow hat.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* The Jägermonsters of ''GirlGenius'' wear a wide variety of headgear, but whatever they wear, they take very seriously. It's implied that dead Jägers are buried with their hat.
** This makes the scene where [[spoiler:Lars, the love interest best known for the "danger sense" that rises from his cowardice, throws himself between a sword and Agatha in a HeroicSacrifice]]... well, [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070209 listen to Maxim]].
** A throw- er, ''blow''away [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071116 character]] in the comic is listed in the cast page only as "The Idiot in an Awesome Hat".
*** The Idiot is the guy with the radio tuner hat. Lord Selnikov's hat is pretty epic too, though.
** [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080514 Gilgamesh's hat]] takes the cake, though. Easily. It has wings, spikes, tubes, his name in big letters with "[[FunetikAksent Schmott Guy!]]" underneath and is ''[[IncendiaryExponent on fire]]''. Possibly the Nicest Hat ''ever''.
*** It even has a name, according to the cast page: Gil's Fabulous Hat. And someone whose job it is to take care of it.
*** [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ggmain/strips/ggmain20081110.jpg TA-DAH!]]
** All of this is somewhat TruthInTelevision, since the Jägers (and the GG Verse in general) have heavily exaggerated elements of {{Prussia}} in their role and backstory: Prussia, the kingdom that brought you [[http://www.kaisersbunker.com/dunkelblau/helmets/dbh25.htm this]]. Prussian general Gerhardt "Vorwarts!" von Blücher, having helped win the Battle of Waterloo, donned Napoleon's captured hat, thus making clear to all the world that after 23 years of constant war, it was Really Truly All Over.
*** [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome Even the eagle on top of that hat is wearing a hat.]]
** This may also have something to do with PhilFoglio's taste in accessories. His AuthorStandIn character is always depicted with the same black bowler (which he lit on fire to signify his short-lived FaceHeelTurn in ''What's New?''), and his card in one of the Munchkin expansions was "Phil Foglio's Magnificent Hat". There was even a ''{{Nodwick}}'' strip where Phil's bowler somehow wound up in the dimension of the characters and gave DumbMuscle Yeagar epic powers.
*** [[http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/gamespyarchive/index.php?date=2002-08-28 Here you go]]
** Hell, the standard issue hats that the Wulfenbachs give out to their soldiers are good enough to satisfy a Jagermonster's fancies.
* One of the few recurring characters of ''{{xkcd}}'' is only known as the Black Hat... because of, naturally, his distinguishing feature. [[http://xkcd.com/405/ Do not mess with his hat.]] When startled, he actually [[http://www.xkcd.com/412/ retreats into his hat like a turtle]].
** Another recurring character also has a hat. This one likes to go on adventures, and otherwise [[http://xkcd.com/291/ follow his heart]].
** And now, ''[[http://www.xkcd.com/455/ a challenger has appeared]]''.
** What do you mean, "only known as the Black Hat"?? He is clearly identified as The Classhole, from Classy, um, you know.
* ''{{Narbonic}}'s'' ANTONIO SMITH, FORENSIC LINGUIST gets the all-caps treatment ''only'' when his hat is on.
* In ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'', it's eventually revealed that Roy's blood oath of vengeance against Xykon was originally triggered over a NiceHat (well, a crown). [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0434.html No, it wasn't magic; Xykon just thought it looked nice, so he killed the guy who owned it.]]
** For a panel, Belkar had what was undoubtedly the most pimping hat on the planet. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0377.html See it in all its glory.]]
** Not to mention his [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0063.html Kobold head.]]
* Dina's safari-style hat in ''[[{{Walkyverse}} It's Walky!]]'' She only removes it when [[spoiler: she's seconds away from death.]]
* Ozymandias ([[OzyAndMillie the fox]], [[NamesTheSame not]] the [[strike:superhero]] [[strike:supervillain]] {{Watchmen}} character [[AncientEgypt or the pharaoh]] or the old guy at the beginning of the Tripods books) wears a very, very large top hat. He and his best friend lampshade both his specific example and the trope on an epic scale [[http://www.ozyandmillie.org/d/20060817.html here]].
** Relatedly, Lothar Hex, the cyborg-echidna mercenary/criminal of ''ExterminatusNow'' wears a signature hat, and is sent into an UnstoppableRage [[BerserkButton when it gets incinerated]].
*** He has a new one... covered in ''asbestos''. The EN crew aren't necessarily the brightest stars in the galaxy.
*** He also owns a special ''{{Firefly}}'' viewing hat.
* In ''Flipside'', Maytag's jester hat isn't just nice, it reflects -- and maybe affects -- her personality. New characters quickly learn how different she is without it.
* See [[http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=080916 this strip]] of ''SluggyFreelance''.
* In [[http://san.pengguo.com/ San: Three Kingdoms Comic]], which uses the DynastyWarriors character models, Cao Cao's hat has a small duck atop it, and is referred to as [[http://san.pengguo.com/index.php?mode=view&view=33 "The Duck Hat".]] One of his advisors, Guo Jia, wears a Baozi (Meat Bun) Hat. Both hats have the power of hypnosis, but Guo Jia's is apparently [[http://san.pengguo.com/index.php?mode=view&view=50 stronger]].
* ''PVPOnline'' occasionally features the 'Gaming Fez', a Fez which makes you awesome at (virtually) any game BECAUSE the Fez makes you look awesome. Only the remarkably thick-headed Skull the Troll has proven able to handle its awesome, [[PowerGlows shining power]], while anyone else who've donned it soon became drunk on its power...
* ''{{Freefall}}'''s Florence Ambrose receives a gold cloth hat that proves to be quite popular with robots for its transponder-blocking qualities: [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1500/fc01424.htm starting here]].
* Marten's (and, consequently, Hannelore's) [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1204 "Worry Hat"]] in ''QuestionableContent''.
* In ''ElGoonishShive'', Sarah's beret is so cute/awesome that the principle allows her to wear it despite it being against the school dress code. (Also, author Dan Shive is quite aware of the importance of hats, as seen [[http://www.egscomics.com/sketchbook/?date=2003-03-30 here]].)
* The Brigade du Chapeau from ''{{Kukuburi}}'' consists of a gang of strange creatures wearing hats with special abilities (such as Rendo's {{Hammerspace}} bowler hat).
* [[{{Megatokyo}} Largo's]] outfit [[http://megatokyo.com/strip/1221 in a recent comic]] is impressive enough… but the hat is [[http://megatokyo.com/strip/1222 impressive in its own right.]] It out-steampunks Gil's!
* In ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Galatea's beret contains a holographic projector to make her appear human.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''MightyMax.'' Nothing more need be said.
* The hat in the ''Sorcerer's Apprentice'' sequence of ''{{Fantasia}}''.
* Aang wears a ''very'' nice hat to attend the theatre in [[AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar's]] "Ember Island Players", which is the same as another character wore [[NurseJenny while pretending to be one of three people]]. Also, the earthbending soldier's hat Toph wore in the invasion.
** How could you mention that and not the badass-as-hell helm Sokka picks up? Y'know, the one shaped like a wolf's head?
* Fievel of ''AnAmericanTail'' has a Nice Hat, though it becomes nicer in the sequel, ''Fievel Goes West'' when it gains the ability to turn into a cowboy hat when flipped inside out.
* DarkwingDuck has a real nice hat.
** An episode or two had an alien race of nice hats. Although, considering they were trying to take over the world as mind-control parasites, I'm not so sure "nice" really applies.
*** The ''evil'' aliens were set on GrandTheftMe. The ''good'' aliens were '''very''' nice hats, and their leader, Klattuu-tu, is a hat on par with the Pope's hat.
* ''{{Chowder}}'' has a frickin' nice hat (or "vacation home" as it is known by recurring character Chestnut).
* The 1960 Paramount cartoon ''Top Cat'' (by Famous, the studio that produced [[CasperTheFriendlyGhost Casper]] and such) features a cat who sings about the paramount importance of wearing the right kind of hat. As he demonstrates, if you want to succeed in life, all else pales to unimportance.
** No relation to {{Hanna-Barbera}}'s ''TopCat'', who sports a jaunty little straw boater.
* And while we're on the subject of Hanna-Barbera and straw hats, ''HuckleberryHound''.
**Let's not forget about HokeyWolf and his sidekick Ding-A-Ling.
* An episode of ''Duck Dodgers'' had nearly the entire cast mistake a brain probe on the main character's head for an awesome hat. Even the enemies who planted the probe on him mistook it for a cool hat.
* ''AdventureTime!'' has Pen's hat/hood. His [[MemeticMutation hat is AWESOME!]]
* The magic portal hat(s) in the Pixar short "Presto!" Not one awesome hat, but two!
* All of the main four characters of ''SouthPark'' wear hats (though one would be hard pressed to consider them particularly "nice"). The episode, "Follow That Egg", however, has the following exchange:
-->'''Kyle:''' Do you really think my hat is stupid?
-->'''Stan:''' As a matter of fact... I think it is the nicest hat I have ever known.
* The Mayor from ''ThePowerpuffGirls'' has a very nice hat, and woe be unto he who steals it from him. "But we don't get to fight crime anymore!" "I don't care." "He's turned your office into a pig stye! Literally!" "I don't care." "He's tarnishing the image of what it means to be mayor!" "I don't care." "He's wearing your hat." "...!!!!!"
* Lampshaded somewhat during the "Kamp Krusty" episode of ''TheSimpsons'' when Bart is listing the atrocities that were suffered at the camp.
-->'''Bart:''' And one of the kids was eaten by a bear!\\
'''Krusty:''' OH MY GOD! ''(sobs uncontrollably)''\\
'''Bart:''' Well, it really only ate his hat.\\
'''Krusty:''' Was it a NiceHat?\\
'''Bart:''' Oh yeah.\\
'''Krusty:''' OH MY GOD! ''(sobs uncontrollably)''
* [[http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijitus Hijitus]], a cartoon series very popular in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and emitted in Argentina between 1967 and 1974 and credited as the first serialized Latin-American cartoon, starred the eponymous character, a homeless boy with an unraveled top hat (his "sombreritus") which allowed him to transform into "Super Hijitus".
*Doug Dimmadome of TheFairlyOddParents has a hat so nice, it can't always been seen in full; some episodes have it extend past the top of the screen regardless of how far away from the camera he is.
* Numbuh 5 (a.k.a Abigal Lincoin or just "Abby"} from ''{{Codename Kids Next Door}}'' rarely takes off her red cap (due to the fact it was a present from her older sister before her {{Face Heel Turn}}) The only time she does is mostly to use it as weapon.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Toys]]
* Too many {{Lego}} kits to list.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1104 The Pope]].
** TruthInTelevision: His Holiness has quite a few {{Nice Hat}}s, from the modest [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zucchetto zuchetto]] skullcap, to the more ornate [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitre mitre]], to the impossibly awesome [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Tiara Papal Tiara]].
*** The Papal Tiara, in fact, has apparently been deemed ''too'' awesome for a mere human, even one chosen as God's Earthly representative. It's not been worn in the last 40 years.
** Most of the Catholic hierarchy in some form has a cool hat they wear, with the bishops, archbishops, and cardinals all having their own style of hat. This tropper knew a friend who had an appreciation for the Catholic Church only for their "hat system."
* [[HMTheQueen The Queen]]. Duh.
** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_State_Crown Imperial State Crown]] contains over 3,000 jewels, including a 317-carat diamond.
** And, of course, the Royal Guard. It does make up for the stoic faces!
*** [[YourMilageMayVary That one might be a matter of opinion...]]
* As Emperor Norton, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton First and Only Emperor of the United States of America]] would tell you, if you [[strike: can't afford]] choose not to wear a crown, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I.jpg a Pea-cock feather in a Nice Hat will do.]]
* [[http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=korean+traditional+hats Koreans]], coupled with Nice Hairdos for women.
* The Education Ranger at [[http://www.escot-devon.co.uk/escot_nature_days.html Escot Nature Park]] in Devon, England, has a very Nice Hat.
* [[http://www.spearhead-home.com/Graphics/MP_Bootsy_portrait.jpg Funk legend Bootsy Collins]]
* [[http://www.flying-jacket.com/product-details.aspx?id=13 The British RAF leather helmet from the Battle of Britain]]. With cool goggles.
** In fiction, worn by [[StarWars Anakin Skywalker]] and a member of [[MontyPythonsFlyingCircus the Spanish Inquisition]], namely Cardinal Biggles.
* And who can forget about HockeyNightInCanada commentator Don Cherry's infamous fashion statements, among them the several {{Nice Hat}}s like [[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0805/don.cherry.fashion.statements/content.11.html this stylish piece]]?
** Oddly enough, while the ''hat'' may be insane, that's the most subdued ''suit'' I've ever seen him in.
* John Lennon wears a Nice Hat (a cap, really) for much of ''AHardDaysNight.'' It's nice enough that some copies of his book ''In His Own Write'' have pictures of him in that hat.
* You should not ''ever'' mess with [[MagnificentBastard Napoleon]] when he's wearing with his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Napoleon4.jpg trusty bicorne.]] Of course, Horatio Nelson also wore the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HoratioNelson1.jpg bicorne of power.]]
* [[http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/11/12/mai-hat-is-sexy-no/ This frog.]]
* Date Masamune is not just known for his one day which require him an EyepatchOfPower. He's also known for his snazzy helmet with the crescent moon piece on the top of it. This helmet almost always appear alongside Masamune whenever he is featured in other medias.
* The various Chinese dynasties, being a multi-tiered bureaucracy from hell, featured funky-looking hats (and outfits) of all shapes and colors. Special mention goes to the ladies of the court, who would also wear fake hair shaped into a variety of mind-boggling shapes.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bismarck_pickelhaube.jpg Otto von Bismarck]] as mentioned in the MagnificentBastard section. Although the hat was not unique as such, it was a Prussian cuirassier officers' helmet.
* TerryPratchett is often pictured in the covers of his books wearing a rather nifty black hat. It is apparently a form of disguise as without it he is, in his own words, just any other bald man with a beard. Indeed [[LovableRogue Moist von Lipwig]] relies on a similar technique in his {{Discworld}} books.
* Dr. Gunther von Hagens is rarely seen without his black fedora, and has worn it while performing public dissections.
* In North America, the wearing of men's hats as not only fashion but standard business and formal attire, began to fade during the early 1960s. One of the hallmark moments often cited for this decline in the various hats' popularity is the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in January of 1961. Though Kennedy wore a full formal morning suit, including top hat, to his inauguration speech, he was most famously seen on television ''without'' a hat while delivering his speech. American men's fashion began to become more relaxed as the 1960s went on and the hat, be it fedora or trilby, boater or bowler, faded out of fashion to be replaced with naught but the baseball cap as informal attire. Though the actual impact of a new, young, and fashionable President addressing the public sans-hat (an inversion of TheRedStapler) has been debated, the popularity of the men's hat has not returned in North America or elsewhere in the Western world.
** The hats for women, most prevalently in [[DeepSouth the South]], could get pretty wild and wacky, particularly in late 19th and 20th centuries (this tradition is kept alive to this day by some, though, as noted below). In the early days of movie theaters, one common slide you’d see where today you’d see “don’t smoke, don’t talk, turn cell phones off, throw trash in the receptacles, fire exits are at the sides”, they’d have “Ladies, kindly remove your hats”, maybe even accompanied by a cartoon of some poor sod’s view being obstructed by, say, a [[ImpracticallyFancyOutfit two-foot-tall pineapple-wielding monster]]. (As an aside, another common slide in that era would also remind people “Don’t Spit on the Floor -- [[FlatWhat Remember the Johnstown Flood]].”).
* BananaRepublic "El Presidente" dictators tend to sport distinctive headgear, often (but not always) as part of a [[BlingOfWar garishly decorated military uniform]] when showing up for formal events.
* Tennis players are often fond of using Nice Baseball Caps when playing. The one who began the trend was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Courier Jim Courier]], with his Nice White Cap. Kind of a JustifiedTrope for the absolutely asinine heat in some courts, specially during the Australian Grand Slam (50°C?! HOLY SH*T!)
* The [[http://www.urlesque.com/2009/01/21/arethas-hat-is-blowing-up/ fierce]] hat Aretha Franklin wore to BarackObama's inauguration, with the ginormous jewel-encrusted bow, which unsurprisingly became a {{meme}}.
** It has become quite [[http://www.berkeleyhat.com/arfrhat.html popular]], The Milliner has made repicas which sell for $179.
** African American women are all expected to have a Nice Hat that they can wear to church (as women were supposed to have their heads covered; this was just taken to BeyondTheImpossible levels in Southern Baptist churches).
* The top hat Hugh Jackman wears in the 2009 Oscars "The Musical" musical number... or just about anything he wears, actually.
** Especially the one in ''VanHelsing''.
* Just try to imagine Abraham Lincoln without his hat. He's not Lincoln anymore, is he?
* The Orlando version of Disney MGM Studios has a massive version of the Sorcerer's Hat (from the {{Fantasia}} version of ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'') over a pair of Mickey Ears.
* The [[http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-trw-hats-pg,0,459688.photogallery Kentucky Derby]] and the [[http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-royal-ascot-hat-fashions-pictures,0,5405562.photogallery Royal Ascot]] horse races are ''goldmines'' of Nice Hats.
* Puritan men are commonly depicted with a NiceHat.
* Michael Jackson's white hat counts too.
* Cossack Hats. Need I say more?
* Zachary Quinto has a hat so well known to his fans that it has been dubbed the Fug Hat. It seems to have been replaced by a similar hat in blue, which is usually denoted as Fug Hat 2.0.
* [[http://www.bookofjoe.com/2009/06/dip-hat.html This hat.]]
** [[TheSimpsons Nacho, nacho maaan... I want to be, a nacho man...]]
*Voice Actor {{Scott McNeil}} is usually seen at conventions with a nice cowboy hat.
[[/folder]]

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