Troperville
Editing Help
Tools
Toys
|
Reporter: Surely they would have cured baldness by the 24th century.
Gene Roddenberry: In the 24th century, they wouldn't care.
— At the opening of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Male pattern baldness is usually implemented by television and film writers as a sign of premature aging, poor morality or just general weakness. But occasionally, this baldness reverts upon itself and instead indicates just how awesome a character is. Subtropes include Bald Black Leader Guy. Contrast with Bald Of Evil. In the spirit of not spinning off into ridiculous over-troping, this includes men (heck, women!) who voluntarily shave their heads.
Patrick Stewart may be the king of this trope, as he has portrayed (for a time, contemporaneously) both Professor X and Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
- Ikkaku Madarame, despite that even if it's called awesome, it still drives him batshit when mentioned.
- Head Soul Society captain Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai is over two thousand years old, but is essentially the strongest captain out of everyone.
- Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop.
- Dutch, the Bald Black Leader Guy of the Black Lagoon.
- Jackal Kuwahara and both of the Ishida brothers (but especially Gin) in The Prince Of Tennis.
- Bart of Vandread as an Important Haircut.
- Nizer, one of the Chronos Numbers assassins in Black Cat, is bald. He once defeated a monster that could heal and regenerate even its own head and heart almost instantaneously by reducing the thing to a pile of dust too quickly for it to regenerate itself. With an oversized pair of bladed tonfa.
- Tien, Roshi, Krillin from Dragon Ball
- This list doesn't include Nappa, Chao-tzu, or Mr. Satan (in his later years) for obvious reasons.
- Because Chaozu has one hair?
- Lordgenome's lack of hair in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann gave him enough power to pummel Lagann into the ground - unarmed and outside of his mech.
Comic Books
- Lex Luthor from Superman is most often made bald. Some stories link his hatred of Superman to him losing his hair, but mostly it just makes him that much more awesome when he goes into a Slouch Of Villainy.
- Professor Xavier from The X-Men. The animated shows and Live Action movies also give him such a deep, penetrating voice that this wheel-chair bound man commands the respect of everyone. For major bonus, he's played by Patrick Stewart himself in the movies.
- Crispus Allen from Batman is one of the best cops of the Major Crimes Unit of the GCPD - he's insightful, level-headed, a good father, and just Too Cool To Live. He's so Bad Ass that he becomes The Spectre after his death.
- Luke Cage and Ultimate Nick Fury definitely qualify. Recently, the Marvel universe has started to really like this trope. Heck, I'm pretty sure the Young Avengers picked their leader based on it. (Not that Patriot's not a good leader, it's just there was no evidence for it before he was chosen, other than his baldness.)
- Spider Jerusalem from Transmetropolitan.
- Tank Girl's Haircuts tend to change often but one of her most common was a mostly shaven head with a few random coloured locks.
Film
- Often, Samuel L Jackson. Notably, as Mace Windu in Star Wars — although the awesomeness of this is debateable, as many regard the prequel trilogy as less than awesome.
- Bruce Willis in, you know, whatever.
- Mostly agreed, except that only occasionally is Bruce Willis bald in anything.
- Yul Brynner, also in, you know, whatever.
- Vin Diesel seems to be a reverse Samson - he loses most of his badass factor when he doesn't have a shaven head.
- Jason Statham. Sometimes he has a bit of hair, but it's always very short.
- Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in Alien 3.
- G.I. Jane.
- Pete Postlethwaite's T-Rex hunting character in Jurassic Park 2.
- Morpheus from The Matrix.
- Lee Van Cleef
- Inverted in Every Which Way You Can where the Black Widow motorcycle gang appear totally ridiculous after losing their hair in an asphalt spray. But that might have something to do with the fact that they're wearing silly wigs to compensate — two highway patrolmen break down laughing rather than arrest them, much to their leader's fury.
Literature
- Syrio Forel of A Song Of Ice And Fire. Tywin Lannister's baldness of awesome was actually an indicative character trait. When his hair started thinning, he commanded his barber to completely shave his scalp, as he would not brook half measures.
Live Action TV
- Colin Mochrie of Whose Line Is It Anyway fame. Despite being mocked endlessly, he still brought the show some of its greatest moments. "Captain Hair", anyone?
- Keith Mars from Veronica Mars.
- Kojak, from the eponymous show.
- Walter Skinner from The X Files.
- The Haitian from Heroes
- Patrick Stewart, as stated above. During Star Trek The Next Generation he had a certain sex symbol status almost because of it. He actually lost hair by the time he was 21, so most people haven't even seen him with a full head of hair. He actually used it to his advantage by audition twice, once while wearing a wig and impressing people with his versatility.
- Ben Sisko, of course. And he grew a beard into the bargain.
- Both of which can be taken as a nod to Avery Brooks's earlier role as Hawk in the Spenser For Hire TV series and its short-lived spinoff, A Man Called Hawk.
- Which caused problems in the beginning, as the producers required Avery Brooks to have some hair for the first season, until the character was established. They specifically did this so he wouldn't look like his earlier character.
- And The Doctor from Star Trek Voyager, Robert Picardo. Even he noticed the coincidence between Stewarts character and his last name, but hey "if Picard can baldly go where no one has gone before, so can a Picardo."
- Walter White from new cable show Breaking Bad, a chemistry teacher who turns to cooking meth when he's diagnosed with cancer. When the chemotherapy starts making his hair fall out, he shaves it off. Never did I think that the dad from Malcolm in the Middle could look hardcore, but damn - the first words his son says in the face of the new look are "Badass, Dad."
- John Locke from Lost.
- Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica (RDM) is an on-again, off-again example. While he regularly visits all segments of the personality spectrum save outright, unmitigated evil, when he does get into bad-assery mode, he does it spectacularly.
- SRU officers Ed Lane and Gregory Parker from the Canadian crime drama Flashpoint.
- Teal'c. Although he grew short-cropped hair in later seasons.
- Let us not forget General Hammond who was still awesome.
- And also Bra'tac. Who wore a steel skull cap.
- Even Apophis pulled this one off.
- Zotoh Zhaan from Farscape
- Nearly every man in Prison Break qualifies for this trope, or comes very, very close
- Brad Bellick can slide across the full spectrum of bald tropes almost instantly, effortlessly moving from this to looking like a weak buffoon, to full-on Bald of Evil
- Mahone is awesome, though he only counts as Balding Of Awesome.
- Captain Cragen from Law And Order SVU.
- Michael Alfredo Garibaldi, gruff security chief of Babylon 5. Started out as an on/off alcoholic with half a head full of hair, then in later seasons shaved it and became bald and Bad Ass. But still a latent alcoholic. - Probably named by the writers for Giuseppe Garibaldi, the famous 19th century Italian guerilla fighter, and not as a pun on "bald".
- G'Kar counts, too. Despite the fact that all of his race, the Narn, being evolved from reptiles, have no body hair whatsoever. G'Kar is just awesome all by himself.
- Lennier doesn't count, because Minbari do not have hair on their heads (although the men may grow beards).
Professional Wrestling
Theater
- Blue Man Group, to signify both innocence and coolness; the creators cited the comic book character the Silver Surfer as an inspiration here.
Video Games
- Kratos from God Of War. Also the other kind.
- Wallace from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword.
- Agent 47 from the Hitman series. Another example of the other kind.
- Jolee Bindo. So very much.
- Many FPS heroes has this type of hairdo, may have a minor stubble of hair in some cases.
- Pick a Space Marine. Any Space Marine.
- Neinhalt Sieger from Samurai Shodown. Despite only appearing in the second game, he's a natural baldie and awesome, enough that he becomes one of The Chosen Ones in the plot. There's also Bare Fisted Monk Kafuin Gaira, who got his hair shaven by the time of the sixth game, but considering all of it was like one huge Big Lipped Alligator Moment...
- The Heavy from Team Fortress 2 apparently shaves his head.
- But you can tell from the stubble that he does have Male Pattern Baldness.
- Though Dr. Eggman's baldness also qualifies as Bald Of Evil, he has proven himself heroic and awesome at times. In the Archie comic based on the games, he even expresses his fondness for and personal choice in the look by proclaiming that "bald is beautiful!"
- Zenoa, scathing Trickster Mentor from Suikoden Tierkreis, is a rare female example. It's implied she knows just about everything about everything, but won't talk much about it.
- Kane of Command And Conquer. Like Kratos, his bald is also evil.
- Father Grigori from Half Life 2.
- Louis from Left 4 Dead.
- Mighty Kongman/Bruiser Khang in Tales Of Destiny, especially in the remake. ORE-SAMA WA CHAMPION DA!!!
- The Spirit Engine 1 and 2 both have some examples.
- Vulcan Raven, a BFG-wielding giant Inuit shaman, in Metal Gear Solid.
- Ricky Johnson of Backyard Sports.
Web Animation
Web Comics
- The bald men from Order Of The Stick, Redcloak, Roy, Durkon, and O-Chul, among others, seem to be the most kick-ass characters in the comic.
- Heck, even Xykon does his ass-kicking with no hair! (Or scalp...)
- Wheels of Magical Misfits.
- Need a guy with a shaven head to blow up a starship with an epaulet? Call Kevyn Andreyasn from Schlock Mercenary.
Western Animation
- Numbuh One of Codename Kids Next Door. Unusual in that he's a child.
- Likewise for Aang of Avatar The Last Airbender.
- His head is actually shaved. Possibly a hairdo.
- Captain Black from Jackie Chan Adventures.
- Cyborg. He lost and had half of his scalp replaced with metal plating in a tragic back story that was never told, and likely shaves the remains because half a head of hair would look rather silly.
Real Life
- Raoul Wallenberg
- Michael Jordan
- Stirling Moss
- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama.
- Arguably, Rene Levesque from Quebec politics.
- Basically every Russian leader ever.
- Well, except for Stalin. But he had a Porn Stache instead.
- Special mention goes to Mikhail Gorvachev, whe even gets to show off the birth mark on his bald head.
- Russian leaders alternate between bald and haired, and this pattern even trancends regimes and dynasties, as it could be traced uninterrupted to at least Alexander II.
- Quite a few Special Forces men prefer to shave their heads bald due to convenience, making this Truth In Television.
- Comedian Renee Hicks, for most of The Nineties
- Alex Roy. Aka 'Mr Team Polizei'◊
- Rob Halford of Judas Priest.
- Phil Anselmo, former Pantera's singer.
- Anselmo can be counted as another exception then, since before the release of Reinventing the Steel or The Great Southern Trendkill he was bald.
- Actually, Paul Di'Anno, former Iron Maiden's singer, qualifies as well.
- Former Accept singer, Udo Dirkschneider.
- Somewhat inverted, however, in that all of the above except Halford and Dirkschneider were first awesome, later bald, but not both at the same time.
- And actually too... Michael Kiske... do I need to mention the band where he sung?
- Piet Sielck of Iron Savior.
- David Draiman of Disturbed.
- Kerry King.
- Anthrax rhythm guitarist Scott Ian.
- Jeff Gorndt from We Game.com. His awesomeness is debatable, though. His baldness, however, is not.
- John A. MacDonald, first Prime Minister of Canada.
- Steve Karl-Heinz Bender from the Hungarian-German group Dschinghis Khan. Lots of comments in the Youtube clips featuring the band are about how awesome "the bald guy" is. RIP, Herr Bauer (he died in 2006)
- Julius Caesar was bald by his thirties, yet was one of the most successful generals, writers, and politicians of Ancient Rome.
- However, instead of embracing his baldness he was very ashamed about it and tried to cover it as much as possible, being the vain man he was. Hence the laurel wreath he was always wearing.
- Older Than Feudalism example: Aristophanes wrote lots of satirical comedies that were Da Bomb in Ancient Greece, and in The Knights he hung a lampshade on his own lack of hair by having the chorus chant at some point: "and the poet may withdraw proud of his success, with head erect and his forehead beaming with delight."
- Michael Chiklis, compare him in The Commish and then The Shield. He apparently Took A Level In Badass just by shaving his head.
- Older Than Feudalism example, and perhaps the Trope Starter: Elisha. A few days after he witnessed Elijah, his predecessor, go to Heaven in a literal chariot of fire, a bunch of young punks all were telling him "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned to look at them, called down a curse on them, and next thing they knew a couple of bears mauled 42 of them. This was his first week of many years of awesome.
- French social historian and philosopher Michel Foucault. When Foucault took on Noam Chomsky in a televised debate in 1971, the dome alone made it instantly clear Chomsky never stood a chance.
- Kyle Hebert, the voice actor behind Sosuke Aizen, Gohan, Kamina, Kiba Inuzuka, Ryu and others. He even has a podcast called "Big Bald Broadcast".
- Rob Rainford from Licence To Grill. He is ONE LEAN MEAN GRILLING MACHINE!
- Tupac Shakur.
- Samuel L Jackson gets mentioned twice. He's equally bald (and awesome) in real life and movies.
- Konrad freaking◊ Adenauer.
- George Carlin, as he got older.
- David Cross
- This straight, female troper who normally has a thing for lots of thick shiny hair nevertheless thinks Natalie Portman was the most beautiful she has ever been when she shaved her head to play Evey Hammond in V For Vendetta.
- Peter Bergman, from the Firesign Theatre.
- Patrick Stewart as himself.
- Humberto "Chupete" Suazo, Chilean soccer player and top scorer in the South American classifying stages for the 2010 World Cup.
- Harry Hill
- Hunter S Thompson
- What, no mention of Jamie Hyneman?
- Xanatos Gambits + Bald Of Awesome + Badass Moustache: Otto Von Bismarck◊
- Bob Mould, former Husker Du guitarist and Daily Show theme song writer
- Dwight Eisenhower
- Per Albin Hansson Swedish prime minister 1933-46; in reality far more badass than his Wikipedia article would suggest. A ladies' man, too.
Tabletop Games
- The Munchkin Player's Guide gives you a +1 bonus to strength if you're bald, since your body isn't wasting energy on hair. To be fair, it gives bonuses on every other hair choice as well, with about the same level of justification. (Long hair gives a bonus to strength too, since "it worked for Samson."
- Many Space Marines in Warhammer 40000, though some prefer scalp locks, especially the Mongol-themed White Scars.
|
|
