Martial artists, melee fighters, and fighting game characters are often depicted as being habitually barefoot or averse to wearing shoes even outside of combat situations. Most Asian martial arts are practised barefoot, whether in training or competition, and as a result, martial artist characters are often flanderized into being barefoot at all times. They are also commonly shown always in a martial arts uniform or gi.
There are several reasons why martial artists prefer to go barefoot in fiction. One reason is that being barefoot gives them a direct connection to the ground and, by extension, nature and spirituality. Another is that always being barefoot gives them a sense of independence and freedom from social norms. Lastly, a martial artist might prefer to be barefoot most of the time because it's simply more comfortable for them than wearing shoes.
Martial artists that prefer to go bare are also often Hot-Blooded since being perma-barefoot is often a sign that this character is overzealous in their dedication to the martial art. Could also be a downplayed example of Exposed to the Elements, to show how tough they are/the mastery of their body they developed via martial arts.
This trope might overlap with Barefoot Sage and Magical Barefooter if the character is immersed into the spiritual side of martial arts.
Subtrope of Meaningful Appearance. See also Earthy Barefoot Character for barefoot characters that have a strong connection to the earth and nature.
Examples
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Advertising
- Segata Sanshiro is always barefoot, in keeping with his appearance of a martial arts master who'll kick your ass if you don't play Sega Saturn. This is deconstructed in his advertisement for Winter Heat, wherein he races across an ice rink against an ice skater, but is later found desperately warming his feet up.
Anime & Manga
- In Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry, though Swan wears armor over her shins, she goes barefoot and fights with a kick and stomp focused style, saying shoes would slow her down. Intrigued, Erza removes her own shoes while fighting her to make it an even match.
- In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki has eight of the kunoichi wear stirrups that expose their toes and heels, one with just footwraps, and three completely going barefoot.
- Koihime†Musou: Chouhi (Rinrin) wears only ankle wraps exposing her heels and toes.
- Ranma ½:
- Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome are constantly shoeless, which is fitting enough considering they are martial arts masters who are almost always dressed in gi. Of the two, only Soun wears geta when going out to the street. Early manga and anime at least showed Genma (in panda form) wiping his feet with a washcloth before coming into the house again.
- Tatewaki Kuno is shoeless whenever wearing his traditional kendo uniform — that is, most of the time.
- Momoko from Sumomomo Momomo stays perpetually barefoot throughout most of the series, even during school and public outings, emphasizing her life-long martial artist training. She's later gifted a pair of oversized shoes in recognition of the fact her bare feet are conspicuous, but they get thrown out after she wears them out, which makes Momoko furious.
Comic Books
- Mantis from The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy is almost always barefoot. This has to do with her upbringing at the Vietnamese Temple of the Priests of Pama where she became an adept of Oriental mystic practices and a master of martial arts (Asian martial arts are frequently associated with barefooting), as well as her connection to nature.
- Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung Fu from Marvel Comics, is one of the more skilled martial masters from the Marvel Universe. His original depiction in his own 1970s title had him barefoot. This might had been a confusion between the Japanese Karate and Chinese martial arts in general, since few of the martial artist from the latter practice the art barefoot. Nowadays he is seen wearing shoes.
- W.I.T.C.H.: Proud Warrior Race Girl Orube from the warrior world of Basiliade, whose appearance is purposely reminiscent of Asian martial artists, goes barefoot whenever she can.
Live-Action TV
- Iron Fist (2017): Danny seems to have no problem walking barefoot on the New York sidewalk and both he and Colleen are frequently barefoot in the dojo, which is also Colleen's home and where it is traditional to be without shoes.
- Kung Fu (1972): The protagonist is a Shaolin monk and martial arts expert who goes barefoot while Walking the Earth. One of the only times Caine wears footwear is to attend a wedding.
- Lizzie McGuire: Kung-Fu star David Carradine again appears barefoot during his entire guest appearance in "Between a Bra and a Hard Place", as Matt's kung-fu mentor.
Video Games
- Art of Fighting: Ryo Sakazaki is a Kyokugen karate practitioner who is almost always depicted as being barefoot in his karate gi. In the original game Ryo wore geta that he'd kick off before fighting. In the OVA adaptation, he declares, "Not wearing shoes is part of our training!" but given the other Kyokugen fighters (Robert and Yuri) have no trouble with footwear, it's just him.
- Fatal Fury: Joe Higashi and Hwa Jai who practice MuayThai, Richard Meyer and Bob Wilson who practice Capoeira, and ninjutsu user Mai Shiranui in some installments all go either completely barefoot, or with toeless footwraps.
- God of War (PS4): In contrast to most of the Norse Gods that Kratos fights in his new duology, The Stranger/Baldur doesn't carry a distinctive weapon. Instead, he fights like a Bare-Fisted Monk, using athletic jumps, kicks and punches like a mixed martial artist. In addition to that, he doesn't wear anything to cover his feet when he's walking around through snowy Midgard. In Baldur's case, him being barefoot is justified by the fact that he's unable to feel pain or any physical sensations, so he naturally wouldn't feel any discomfort in his feet, whatever terrain he was walking on.
- In Hachoo!, the unnamed martial artist protagonist spends the entire game barefoot, even in outdoor environments, for reasons not explained in-game.
- Barefoot fighters are rare in the Mortal Kombat franchise, not counting inhuman characters like Sheeva and Goro for whom it's more of a racial preference rather than how they were trained. Kobra from Mortal Kombat: Deception is the only human kombatant who primarily fights in a gi with bare feet, though Johnny Cage and Liu Kang have had barefoot outfits on occasion as well.
- Pit-Fighter: Kickboxing champion Ty goes through the entire game sans shoes.
- Pokémon: Trainers that specialize in Fighting-type Pokémon often go barefoot, including the common Black Belts, Bruno, Chuck, Maylene, Marshal, and Bea. In Pokémon Platinum, Maylene even walks through the snow to Snowpoint City barefoot for her training.
- Several characters in the Street Fighter franchise are martial artists who are often barefoot:
- Ryu didn't wear shoes from II to V. While he can certainly afford them, he goes barefoot for comfort.
- As a sumo wrestler, E. Honda never wears shoes while fighting.
- Dee Jay typically goes barefoot, though Street Fighter 6 has him wearing beach sandals.
- Street Fighter III has three female fighters who fight barefoot: Elena, Ibuki and Makoto. The last, despite being known to stay in her gi (complete with no shoes) even during the cutscenes, was later confirmed to wear shoes outside the fights after all, thanks to the Street Fighter IV alternate costumes. Outside the female cast, it's limited to Sean, Urien and Gill, and, like Ken, they wear shoes outside of battle, only depicted barefoot when fighting.
- Juri Han does not wear shoes. She is usually either barefoot or wearing taekwondo ankle wraps. Even when she wears a bodysuit in in V, her bare toes are still exposed.
- SegaNinja: The titular Princess Kurumi goes barefoot once she reveal herself as a ninja in the opening scene, then continues on for the rest of the game fighting her way back to the castle. It's not that obvious in the game itself, but it's more evident in the cover art and official posters. Interestingly, she might be the only character barefoot while other enemy ninjas wear sandals with full body ninja suits.
- Tekken: In this fighting game series, some characters are depicted either barefoot or with some foot guard, depending on the martial art they practice. For instance:
- Eddy Gordo, introduced in Tekken 3, is a Brazilian fighter adept of Capoeira. In his debut game, his character model is barefoot.
- Ganryu, a Japanese sumo wrestler, debuted in the first Tekken, and is shown to have bandages around his ankles. An alternate outfit has him in a white yukata, but still barefoot.
- Typhoon Gal: Yuki, protagonist of the 1985 judo game Typhoon Gal, wears a school outfit complete with shoes in the intro, but changes into her gi and spends the rest of the game wandering the countryside barefoot.
Web Animation
- Dan The Man: The titular character is a protagonist of the beat 'em up platformer who often uses kicks during his fights and always goes barefoot.
- DEATH BATTLE!: As Ryu himself has noted previously, he can certainly afford shoes, but he prefers to go barefoot for both comfort and self-discipline as a martial artist. This is mocked in his analysis — which says that he probably has a foot fungus from walking barefoot all the time.
Webcomics
- Eureka Seven: Paradox Makers: Robin is trained in martial arts and kendo, and grew used to remaining in bare feet, so he pops his shoes off when he wants to unwind or instinctively joins Claire if she's taken hers off, too, following her lead and making her feel sympathized with.
