"...The only 'strong' in many 'strong female comic book characters' are the oblique muscles required to point their ass and boobs in the same direction."
When a character or model poses with their back to the audience, but twisted round to look at the viewers so that their torso is almost pointing backwards. If the fanservice is more blatant, they'll probably be sticking their butt out and curving their spine vertically rather than merely twisting sideways. Probably used for a few reasons:
- Lets you see the character's face. Having them look at the audience is more engaging.
- Can be used to give a coy impression ("Oh, what are you doing back there?") or to make the character look mysterious.
- Tends to enforce a sidelong glance from the character, intending to invoke a submissive or vulnerable image.
- Shows the character is supple and limber.
- As the alternative name suggests, lets you see the character's butt and chest at the same time, so both Ass and Tit fans get what they want. If it's trying to be anatomically realistic, the "tit" part will usually be restricted to Sideboob.
Popular with glamor models and anime characters. Naturally characters not portrayed by real life actors can pull this off more effectively, since they can twist in ways that would
snap a real person's spine or at least be darn uncomfortable.
At least one glamor model has blamed their back problems on having to repeatedly pose in this way. Not that glamor models don't have
other causes of back pain.
Compare
Coy Girlish Flirt Pose. Not to be confused with
Over-the-Shoulder Carry.
Examples:
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Anime And Manga
Art
- Judith by Jan Sanders van Hemessen, circa 1540CE, may be Ur Example. A nude in the "spine twisting exercise" pose and holding a sword overhead, all right
. That being Renaissance, however, she doesn't look gutted and with broken spine. In fact, she got enough of muscles that Willing Suspension of Disbelief is not needed to see she can lift that sword in one hand without falling over and even decapitate something significantly bigger and tougher than a chicken.
Comic Books
- Rob Liefeld is an artist well known for drawing busty women posing in such a way that you can see their ass and breasts at the same time. As they use to say on the late lamented ScansDaily, "anatomy doesn't work that way".
- As shown above, Psylocke does this in almost every panel she appears in. Seriously, look her up in Google Images and you'll find several shots in this position. The page picture in particular shows off the impossible extremes of this trope. What freaky Body Horror is going on with her spine?
- Ms. Marvel on occasion.
Film
Live Action TV
Tabletop Games
- The picture for the Dragonmarked Heir prestige class in the Eberron book shows a half-elven woman in a backless dress posing like this.
Video Games
Web Original
Web Comics
Western Animation
Real Life