[[DieHard http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DieHard.jpg]]
[[caption-width:195:John [=McClane=] of ''Live Free or Die Hard''. [[BaldOfAwesome Shiny head]], stubbly jaw!]]
->''"I’m trying to think of the last action movie I saw with realistic facial hair. I sometimes wonder how these guys go through days of unremitting action while still finding time off to use an electric shaver on the stubble setting"''
-->-- '''RogerEbert'''

So you’re an AntiHero, or maybe TheDrifter or an equally gritty protagonist MadeOfIron. Now, how to get street cred as a BadAss Mofo? [[StuffBlowingUp Cause big explosions?]] Shoot with GunsAkimbo? Nah, just stop shaving!

In the wonderful land of Hollywood, the law of GoodHairEvilHair is so ingrained it makes the Indian Caste System seem like a liberal paradise. To wit, the only people who don’t shave are {{Action Hero}}es; everyone else has good hygiene. Even {{Mooks}} are better groomed, or are ugly and easily distinguished from our hero.

Especially fun when the hero has a perfectly shaved head and a five o’clock shadow. Even when starting a film with a perfectly smooth jaw, all it takes for the hero to grow their five-o'clock shadow is the sound of gunfire; y'see BigDamnHeroes don’t sweat when anxious, they grow facial hair.

May grow out into a BadassBeard if given enough time. Contrast BeardOfSorrow, which is usually temporary.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime ]]

*Yuuichirou from SailorMoon is apparently the only male in Japan who can grow a beard and he has permastubble in every appearance.
* Kaji in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. His stubble is even lampshaded a few times - Misato thinks it makes him look lazy, slobbish and complains about how rough it feels, but Hikari thinks it makes him look cool.
* It's pretty subtle (as in, you might not notice it unless you pay close attention), but Mugen has some very slight stubble and the faint beginnings of a mustache throughout ''SamuraiChamploo''. Makes sense, as he's suppose to be 19.
* The {{MIB}} from ''SerialExperimentsLain''; their perma-stubble makes it very clear they're dangerous and that something very wrong is going on.
* Father Alexander Anderson from ''{{Hellsing}}'', ChurchMilitant [[TheJuggernaut Juggernaut]].
* Nicholas Wolfwood from the ''{{Trigun}}'' anime.
* Sanji from ''{{One Piece}}'', as well as a number of less frequently seen characters, among them Shanks, Buggy and Smoker.
* Any and all [[CoolOldGuy cool older mentor figures]] from anything written by KenAkamatsu. Including, but not limited to, Takamichi from ''MahouSenseiNegima'' and Seta of ''LoveHina.''
* Francis/France, Sadiq/Turkey and Ancient Italy aka the Old Roman Empire from ''AxisPowersHetalia''.
* Kobayashi, the SinkOrSwimMentor from ''TheLawOfUeki''. It seems more to show laziness than [[BadAss badassitude]], though he does have his BadAss moments.
* Sven from ''BlackCat'', but only the manga. In the anime, he shaves the stubble 'stache.
* Kisuke Urahara from ''{{Bleach}}''. It's part of what makes up his 'humble, perverted shopkeeper' persona.
* Konata's dad Soujirou from ''LuckyStar''.
* Dr. Tenma from {{Monster}} grows one as a part of his ExpositoryHairstyleChange.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Also, Gambit, from ''{{X-Men}}''. Until vey recently, I think.
** Wolverine as well, though the movies have him pretty well cleaned up at times.
* DependingOnTheArtist, clean shaven Bruce Wayne sometimes grows an instant rugged stubble the moment he puts on the {{Batman}} mask.
** [[MemeticMutation He's the goddamn Batman!]] He can grow goddamn stubble if he goddamn wants.
* Lampshaded in the case of Desperate Dan of the British ''{{Dandy}}'' comic: his stubble, like everything else about him, is super-tough, so removing it is very, very hard. It also grows back super-fast.
* In {{Fables}} Bigby Wolf has to constantly shave because of his ancestry. This becomes a minor plot point in one issue [[spoiler: because members of the SS were expected to be clean shaven and Bigby need to impersonate one]].
* Gen, [[UsagiYojimbo Miyamoto Usagi]]'s bounty hunter friend. Also Sanshobo.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Seemingly every movie Chris Pine is in. He may be a BadAss but that doesn't mean he doesn't keep his personal appearance.
**Really? This trooper has seen (or seen clips of) eight movies with Chris Pine in it, and he only had stubble in two of them. The rest he was clean shaven for. Might the trooper above be confused because Chris Pine usually has the stubble in real life?
* John [=McClane=] of ''DieHard'' has the shaved head variety in the latest.
* Van Zan in ''Reign Of Fire'' also sports a cue ball head and grizzly jaw.
* ''IndianaJones'' has this in all four films. He might START clean shaven, but as soon as he puts on the Hat, he has at least 3 days growth.
** {{Lampshaded}} in ''Temple of Doom'': "Shorty, where's my razor?"
* [[TheAragorn Aragorn]] of ''{{The Lord of the Rings}}'' has about two weeks of stubble for three films, until he becomes king and instantly grows a regal beard.
**That's funny, I'd figure he'd have a full-on beard in the wilderness with no razor, and be clean-shaven in the city.
* ToshiroMifune plays a gruff and disheveled samurai in various films who usually goes unshaven. Mifune often sticks his arm up through his collar to absently rub his stubbly chin, which has become an iconic image for the actor and the character.
* Nearly every ''{{Terminator}}'' has an example. Kyle Reese in T1, John Connor in T3 and Salvation, not to mention most of the resistance in Salvation including Marcus Wright which makes this a rare form of cyborg perma stubble!

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In many variants of OurVampiresAreDifferent (Such as Ann Rice's), vampires can't change the length of their hair, because their regeneration simply causes it to grow back to the original length in minutes. Hence, they're basically stuck with whatever hair-length they had when they were 'turned'. Thus, for a vampire, having permastubble could actually be justified.
* This troper admits to wondering how Miles Vorkosigan was able to grow a beard during {{Lois McMaster Bujold}}'s ''Brothers in Arms'', when all of his hair follicles had been "permanently stunned" immediately previously (''The Borders of Infinity'') leaving him "permanently clean-shaved and crew-cut". [[MST3KMantra Presumably]] permanent stunning is reversible.
* Samuel Vimes from ''{{Discworld}}'' . Even though he shaves regularly, he always is drawn with a stubble.
** Ditto Nobby Nobbs, who was described in one book as "clean-shaven, at least he was clean-shaven the last time he shaved."
* Bendel, from ''Pettersson & Bendel''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''{{House}}''. When does he shave? Before he goes to bed?
** Lampshaded in one episode. Dr Wilson tells him, "I lied. I've been lying to you in increasing amounts ever since I told you you looked good unshaved a year ago."
** Now Chase has stubble too, causing many fangirls to go "squee...."
* Dr. Mc Dreamy on ''GreysAnatomy''
* Several guys on on ''MenInTrees.''
* ''{{Lost}}'' has an interesting case of this. Despite having very limited access to a razor, none of the males have grown beards. Maybe slowing down the growth of facial hair is yet another special quality of the island. The rest is covered under ImprobableHairstyle.
**Though Locke is shown shaving his head in the hatch.
**Jacks PermaStubble is actually parodied in a sketch on MadTV. Apparently the only razor Jack has access to is a sharpened seashell which apparently only keeps his beard at 5'oclock shadow.
**Ironically, it's future-Jack that can't seem to get a shave. Go figure.
* Shawn from ''{{Psych}}'', who has actually woken up with less stubble than when he went to bed.
* Dr. Cox on ''{{Scrubs}}'', for the most part.
* The title character on ''{{Dexter}}''. Especially egregious, since he is shown shaving in the title sequence of ''every single episode'', and retaining his stubble for the rest of that very title sequence.
** This troper is pretty sure that Dexter only shaves his neck, leaving his face-stubble intact.
* One of the signs that Wesley on {{Angel}} TookALevelInBadass is when he got the Perma Stubble.
* Sonny Crockett on ''MiamiVice''.
* Sylar, the brain-stealing supervillain from ''Series/{{Heroes}}.'' In his meek [[ClarkKenting Clark Kent-ish]] persona, Gabriel Gray, he is clean-shaven and wears glasses. As soon as he manifested his powers and learned that EvilFeelsGood, he grew a PermaStubble. (Well, alright, not immediately. But the only time we see him shaving off the stubble is when he visits his mother, who didn't know what her son had been up to.)
* Dean Winchester from ''{{Supernatural}}.'' This was also done to make his actor, {{Jensen Ackles}}, look older than {{Jared Padalecki}}, the actor playing Dean's younger brother, Sam.
** To an extent, it's pretty necessary as well. Take a look at him in 4x17 where he's quite clean shaven - and looks about five years younger than he does in the rest of the episodes. There were some other factors at play there, of course, but still.
* Michael Westen of ''BurnNotice'' grows a five-o'clock shadow in the second season mid-finale. This episode he portrays a hard-drinking bodyguard to catch the attention of a would-be kidnapper. It fits the character personality, but also makes him that much more BadAss when he "gets religion" and fights back.
* [[TheSarahConnorChronicles Derek Reese]] has what is dubbed as a "permanent three day growth."
** Kyle has some as well, [[spoiler:even as a hallucinated ghost!]]
* Cyrus Lupo from LawAndOrder, particularly since Ed Green left and he's now the senior partner.
* Subverted in {{NCIS}} by CIA Agent Trent Kort, who has a shaved head and three days of stubble but tends to kill inconvenient people.
* Charlie on {{Numb3rs}} has varying amounts of stubble throughout the show.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* As of ''DevilMayCry'' 4, Dante has one. Oddly, it's a different color from the rest of his hair.
* The characters in ''StreetFighter 2'' were given a minor makeover in the Champion Edition, and one of those was giving a shadow to Ryu.
* If you look hard enough at the large posters, you can see that ''AssassinsCreed'' protagonist Altair has stubble.
* With the exception of the [[BrattyHalfPint Scout]] and the Medic, all of the ''TeamFortress 2'' classes that don't have [[TheFaceless face-covering masks]] sport some amount of facial hair.
* When Solid Snake's being an [[{{Wangst}} angsty]] self-proclaimed bastard in the first ''MetalGearSolid'', he's clean-shaven. In ''MetalGearSolid 2'', when he's being far more personable and open, cue a shadow - apparently to invoke a [[WalkingTheEarth vagrant living on a miserable budget]], according to the character designer. Interestingly enough, an EasterEgg on the harder difficulty modes allows Raiden to give Snake a shaver as a present right at the start of the game, which causes him to be clean-shaven towards the end. (His [[HoYay friend]] Otacon also has perma-stubble, but that's more about being an unkempt {{Otaku}} than a {{badass}}.)
** In the ''MetalGearSolid'' graphic novel, the artist draws Snake [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/226153_full.jpg smooth-faced]] at the start of the story, [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/metal-gear-solid-digital-comic-working-title-20060125115007814_640w.jpg gritty]] towards the middle, and with a [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9818_hs.jpg young beard]] towards the end (and on the cover of the PSP version), suggesting he just grows facial hair very quickly.
* In the fourth ''AceAttorney'' game, [[spoiler: Phoenix Wright]] sports one, signifying his significant change in life and personality.
* As a [[AffectionateParody gentle send-up]] of the Action Movie Hero type, Double H from ''BeyondGoodAndEvil'' sports perma-stubble.
* Volke, an assassin in the FireEmblem series, has permanent stubble in ''Path of Radiance''. He also happens to be one of the most badass and wittiest characters in the game. In the sequel, ''Radiant Dawn'', he's wearing a scarf that covers his chin, but he exchanges the stubble for even more badass lines.
* Henry and Walter of SilentHill4 are in dire need of a razor.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* Dimo the Jaegermonster from ''GirlGenius'' is a Badass, and he has the stubble to match.
* Displayed by semi-fallen angel Rumisiel in ''{{Misfile}},'' in stark contrast to his clean shaven overgrown boy scout of a brother. You can guess which of the two characters is more likely to be badass at any given moment.
** The answer is [[spoiler:both..]].
* ''[[http://www.stubblecomics.com/ Stubble Comics.]]''
* Clark from [[http://www.shapequest.net Shape Quest]] has a trademark stubble.
* Subverted in ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob.'' When Rocko spends a few days in the wilderness without a razor, his permastubble turns into an actual beard.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Let's not forget Homer Simpson of ''TheSimpsons,'' though in his case it's more to accentuate his low-brow-ness. If he shaves, [[LampshadeHanging it still grows back in a matter of seconds.]]
** In one episode he's shaving but leaves his usual because Marge likes a bit of stubble, it has at times become worse when he can't take care of it.
*** In fact, he shaves off his muzzle by accident at one point and uses a spray-on can of stubble to replace it.
* Same goes for Homer's sprirtual ancestor [[TheFlintstones Fred Flintstone]].
* ''TheRoadToElDorado'': Spanish con men Tulio and Miguel spend days wandering through the Amazon, with no visible access to ''soap'', let alone shaving supplies. Tulio's PermaStubble stays immaculate through the entire film.
* Chris on ''TotalDramaIsland''.
* Hoss Delgado from ''TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy''.
* If we wanna argue robotic facial hair, one could say that ''TransformersAnimated'' Ratchet has what at least ''looks'' like Perma Stubble. Even without the three little dents that are consistently drawn on his face, the area around his mouth is colored purplish-blue, like five o' clock shadow.
* In one episode of ''DextersLab'', Dexter's Mom comments to his Dad, that he looks especially rugged today. Dad replies its because he hasn't shaved for a couple days.
* Colonel Hunter Gathers from TheVentureBrothers maintains his perma-stubble ''even after getting a sex change operation''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* There are personal anecdotes in Troper Tales: TroperTales/PermaStubble.
----
<<|AlwaysMale|>>
<<|HairTropes|>>