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Afros are funny.
A particularly large one, no matter how awesome, can be a liability. Especially in physical battle.
So why do countless badasses, many of whom know karate, have them? Because they're funny and awesome. A sub-trope of Funny Afro, an Afro Asskicker originated in America's Blaxploitation era and are usually black Americans and / or connected to the tropes Jive Turkey, Soul Brotha and Sassy Black Woman. One thing you don't want to do to an Afro Asskicker is mess with their hair. They can be rather sensitive about it and it will make them fight even harder. (A case of Truth in Television, mostly resulting from the fact that afros take a long time to style and must be attended to every day; messing with one undoes up to an hour's worth of work).
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- The title character of Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo.
- Afro of Afro Samurai
- Nabeshin (and later, Pedro and his son, Sandora) in Excel Saga.
- Cosmo Yuki from Space Runaway Ideon.
- Subverted in Dragon Ball: Anyone with an afro will be at least a overhyped fighter, if not a Fake Ultimate Hero (See: Pamphut, Chapa King and Mr. Satan). They're all Badass Normal though, just not in level of our Charles Atlas Superpower-sporting heroes.
- In One Piece, there's Brook, a skeleton. Even after his death his afro remained due to having "Deep roots". His hair is actually a plot point as, being an skeleton, he will be no longer recognisable to the whale he met 50 years ago except for his afro; due to him being an skeleton, it won't grow back if damaged. He does anything he can to protect his afro.
- Then in the Davy Back Fight, when Luffy had a boxing match, it was decided he should wear an Afro wig, since that would make him stronger. It was Played for Laughs at first, but it ultimately worked.
- There's former Fleet Admiral Sengoku, though you rarely see it as he wears a hat. He leads the Authority Equals Asskicking Marines and later shows that he ate a Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to turn into a giant golden Buddha-like moving statue, afro and all.
- Mugen from Samurai Champloo.
- Spike from Cowboy Bebop and his green, fluffy (and fitting?) Jewfro.
- Shino and his father Shibi from Naruto both have afros, but it would not quite be accurate to call either of them a Soul Brotha.
- A slightly straighter example would be Darui, who's actually black, but he's too laid-back and apologetic to be considered a Soul Brotha either.
- Garterbelt, from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. Sometimes.
- Special mention must go to Chiba of BECK, whose 'fro and musical style were directly influenced from Zac De La Rocha. Doesn't hurt that he knows martial arts.
- Subverted with Aizawa from Death Note, who has Character Development and takes some levels in badass... when he cuts his afro short.
- Bleach: Love Aikawa ( an ex high-ranked Shinigami in the side of good) and Privaron Espada Gantebaine Mosqueda (for the Arrancar)
Comic Books
Film
- Williams in Enter The Dragon (played by Jim Kelly) is probably the Ur Example of this trope.
- Undercover Brother, of as told by the page quote
- ''Savage''
- The title character of Black Dynamite, a spoof on Blaxploitation movies.
- Foxy Brown (the character of the film, not the rapper)
- Foxxy Cleopatra (a parody of Cleopatra Jones and Foxy Brown) in Austin Powers In Goldmember
- Speaking of such, Cleopatra Jones herself was also this, but not in the sequel Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold.
- Samuel L. Jackson's character in Pulp Fiction, though technically his hairstyle is a Jheri curl.
- It was an afro in the script. Apparently they tried dozens of afro wigs and couldn't find anything they liked. They tried the Jheri curl last, almost as a joke, and decided it was perfect. Which makes this, when you think about it, a subversion.
- Jackie Brown is another Tarantino subversion, given that the movie is Tarantino's blaxploitation homage.
- Coffy, the precursor to Foxy Brown.
- Dolemite, for laughs yes but an ass kicker none the less.
Live-Action
Music
Professional Wrestling
- André the Giant, Carlito Colon, Darren Young, The Human Tornado, Orlando Jordan, D-Ray 3000, Ernie Ladd, Big Bad Mama, The Junkyard Dog, Mountain Fiji, Consequences Creed, Kyoko Kimura, HUSTLE Kamen Green, Marti Belle and The Wild Samoans were known for having these while they wrestled. Alicia Fox occasionally wrestled with an afro as well.
Video Games
- Afro Thunder in Midway's Ready 2 Rumble Boxing and Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2
- Big Wallop in Atari's Ready 2 Rumble Revolution.
- Mr. Jones of Power Instinct Matrimelee and Rage Of The Dragons.
- Tiger Jackson from Tekken
- Shinobu Jacobs from No More Heroes
- John Torque, Houston and the Flying All-Star Trio in Vigilante 8
- Team Fortress 2: The Demoman can have an afro as his hair.
- Sazh from Final Fantasy XIII. His afro is so awesome there's a baby chocobo living in it.
- Pokemon Black And White has Bouffalant, a buffalo Pokémon with Afro hair. It has Head Charge, an Afro-based Signature Move which is very strong and accurate but does recoil damage to it.
- Pokemon Diamond And Pearl has Flint of the Elite Four, who has a very cool looking red afro.
- Miror B. from Pokemon Colosseum has a gigantic afro modeled after a Pokéball. He's also a Cipher Admin in the first game while he's a wandering thief in the sequel who captures the Pokémon you fail to snag.
- Koss in Guild Wars
- The Tunnel Man in Spelunky.
- Andrei Ulmeyda, killer7's Badass Normal, wears an afro. Later becomes his weak point after turning into a Heaven Smile and killing all members of the military in the area with his acidic blood. And he has the chance to One-Hit Kill you.
- Saturno, one of the more balanced competitors from Capoeira Fighter.
Web Original
- Subverted by Afro Ninja, a popular viral video where the man attempts to show his asskicking skills and fails miserably.
- Double subverted when you figure out this guy is a total badass, missed the stunt only because of jet lag, and after resting up, got the job.
- And in the movie based on the viral video, he certainly does kick some ass.
Western Animation
Real Life
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