Wings that sprout out of a person's head where her hair would usually be. In some cases the person has normal hair that she can transform into wings, while in other cases she will have Hair Wings as a permanent anatomical feature. Often the wings look rather hair-like, especially the parts close to the scalp. Almost Always Female, because Long Hair Is Feminine.
Sometimes overlaps with both Power Gives You Wings and Power Makes Your Hair Grow.
Compare Ear Wings, Helicopter Hair, Mercury's Wings, Symbolic Wings, and Hat of Flight. Subtrope of Prehensile Hair.
Examples
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Anime & Manga
- Bem the bomb robot from the classic Astro Boy story Earth's Last Day is a reluctant humanoid control system for a planet destroying bomb resembling a boy with bird-like wings growing out from his hair. Oddly, the alien race who created him have bat wings on their heads.
- In Azumanga Daioh, Osaka fantasizes that Chiyo-chan can use her pigtails like this.
- Rosine from Berserk has luna-moth-esque Hair Wings, which look particularly hair-like in her more humanoid form.
- Devilman, Silene/Siren is one of the oldest characters to have this. Hers in particular are full feathered wings.
- Digimon Frontier gives us Zephyrmon, Zoe's beast spirit form, who looks like a tall beautiful harpy with head-wings that blend seamlessly with the rest of her hair.
- Engi Threepiece's from Dream Eater Merry are shaped like wings which she can glide with.
- The (non-flightless) bird Friends in Kemono Friends have these.
- Lucu Lucu features the demon Lucu Lucu who frequently flies via huge black wings made of her hair.
- Magi from Psychic Squad has Prehensile Hair which he can (also) shape into wings and use them for flying.
- In Shamanic Princess, Tiara's Super Mode gives her red Hair Wings.
- The eponymous protagonist of Yadamon, pictured above, is a Cute Witch who can transform her hair into butterfly wings.
Literature
- There's a Shel Silverstein poem about a boy with ridiculously long hair who was mercilessly teased about it until his weeping caused it to flap like wings, carrying him into the air.
Live-Action TV
- Mystery Science Theater 3000. When the SOL crew watch The Skydivers, they speculate that Beth's very rigidly-styled hair could double as a parachute.
Crow: I predict in the climactic scene she jumps without a chute and her hair opens up.
Video Games
- Arknights: One of the Liberi race's defining characteristics is feathers or wings growing out of their hair in addition to tailfeathers, though unlike most examples it is completely cosmetic.
- The Succubus boss character from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is an unusual case in that her wings do appear to sprout from her back like normal (well, as "normal" as a demon's wings can be), but artwork for her shows that some of her excess hair not tied up or flowing down seems to melt into her wings and form both the upper parts of the patagium (membranous underside) and the back of them.
- Guilty Gear XX: Millia Rage's hair takes the form of angel wings, during one of her EX drives, where she lifts vertically off the ground and dives at the opponent.
- Lionwhyte of Brütal Legend flaps his hair in order to fly.
- Lolo, a caddy in Pangya has hair that juts out of the side of her head that look like wings ... or maybe they're actual wings. Either way if the wind is blowing about 6m or higher she'll sometimes comment 'I'm glad I have wings'.
- Shin Megami Tensei series has Moh Shuvuu demon. Her hair starts normal, but merge into feathers near hairtips. Naturally, she uses them to hover all the time.
- Mega Man X: Command Mission: White Magician Girl Cinnamon has blonde hair in the shape of wings, to give her an angel theme. Sure, she can hover in some of her moves, although her hair probably has nothing to do with it.
- The Celestials in Ōkami have hair wings (or stiff, winglike hair) which enable them to fly. Waka the prophet has winglike extensions on his hat which have the same visual effect.
- This is often used for the explanation for why Knuckles the Echidna from Sonic the Hedgehog can glide on air currents. By assuming a skydiving stance, his dreadlock-like spines fan out like mini-wings, enabling flight for limited distances.
Webcomics
- In El Goonish Shive, the Mysterious Cloaked Figure (Noah) makes hair wings
(called by name in the commentary) that are actually hair.
- In Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures, 'cubi have miniature "headwings" (as well as a regular pair) in their default form. Dan discovered he was one by having them grow in. Instantaneously.
"Miss, you have a bat in your hair!"
- Though not technically wings, Ariel of Drowtales has learned how to use her inherent shapeshifting powers to do something similar with her hair, which she mostly uses to glide and slow her decent, as well as using her air sorcery to guide her direction and keep her aloft.
- The Queen and the Woodborn: The titular Woodborn, a goddess whose duty is to guard the boundary of the Shimmerwood — a mystical forest populated by creatures and supernatural beings from Serbian folklore — has a pair of avian wings that extend from her head and serve as indicators of her mood.
Western Animation
- The Ice King in Adventure Time uses his beard like a pair of small wings to fly. He of course loses this ability when he shaves it.
- In Wakfu Yugo has dragon wings made of wakfu hidden under his hat. It's apparently a racial trait.
Real Life
- Sifaka lemurs are a very, very downplayed example. When they leap, the hair on their arms flattens out and forms a small airfoil, essentially functioning as a parachute.
