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"A big sword and a skimpy leather skirt? Must be adventurin' time!" - Kat, Sequential Art
Clothing for female characters will often be impractically sexy for its chosen application. Especially common in fantastic or exotic settings, where wardrobe rules are made up on the spot.
Spies will dress in sexy outfits, even when the mission explicitly calls for them to not be noticed. Female warriors will charge into battle wearing armor that doesn't protect the vital organs. Bridge officers on a military starship will be issued go-go boots with their uniforms.
In the same manner as the Breast Plate, Powered Armor suits used by women have sexual characteristics added to them. Sometimes, even the Humongous Mecha will have its own set of dome-like tin cans in the chestal region and feet shaped like high-heeled boots.
Common in any genre where men represent a major core of the audience. This can be self-fulfilling, because exploitative wardrobe choices can be a turn-off to potential female fans. Super Hero comic books are especially guilty in this regard.
As more criticism of this trope in comics has started to come up, male fans have been quick to point out that most of the male superheroes aren't exactly modestly clad, either. It's typical for them to go into battle wearing what amounts to a single coat of primary-colored paint over their ridiculously defined bodies. Superman and Spider-Man are often singled out as the ones who fight supervillains while wearing outfits so tight that in real life, you'd be able to tell what religion they were. The counterargument to this is that the male characters (and, by extension, their outfits) are still considered less sexualised than the female ones; most female fans would be very happy to see Wonder Woman, or many of the other heroines making this list, covered up as much as Superman or Spider-Man, It's far less common to see male superheroes wearing costumes that directly (and in many cases solely) emphasise their, shall we say, attributes. Outside of the superhero genre, however, this trope can be inverted, by inserting exceptionally flattering uniforms for police, firemen or gardeners into traditionally female-oriented fare, like soaps and prime-time dramas.
It's worth pointing out that this practice seems to be (slowly) on its way to becoming a Discredited Trope, especially among the sub-30 crowd who have grown up with comics. At this point there have been so many Stripperific heroines that they are perceived as the norm and are therefore dull and uninteresting. If anything, competent female characters who are well dressed and don't need to rely on sex appeal are themselves becoming more appealing and preferable, as they tend to be more interesting characters. The production can't simply hide behind sex appeal. The trope isn't completely discredited however, as plenty of productions across many mediums still abandon conservative clothing in order to appeal to the Lowest Common Denominator.
Sub-Tropes:
In Real Life, many teenage girls, when practicality isn't an issue, will pick a skimpier outfit over one more comfortable. This trope only applies to situations where a female character wears an especially revealing outfit where it would not be practical, such as in combat.
Sometimes, all that's left for the modest female adventurer is hope that she will be rewarded with clothes in a New Game Plus.
See also Theiss Titillation Theory, Most Common Superpower. When the character is forced to dress this way, it's Go Go Enslavement. Can lead to Exposed To The Elements on the part of the wearer, and Fetish Fuel on the part of the viewer.
Examples:
Anime
ComicBooks
- Let's face it; if we had to list all the female superheroes and villains to whom this trope applied, we'd be here for most of the year.
- An odd Lampshade Hanging occurs in the graphic novel Watchmen, in which a character uses it as a warped justification for Attempted Rape. It's also noticeable that the costume was only very Stripperiffic by 1940 standards, as it's basically a very short backless gown with stockings.
- The Invisible Woman of Fantastic Four fame is notable for being one of the relatively few comic book super-women who manages to avoid this trope, wearing for the most-part the same largely practical (if skintight nonetheless) blue jumpsuit also worn by the male members of the team; however, Tom Defalco's run on the strip was notable for reverting to trope and putting Sue in something like this.
- To be fair, Sue was -very- mentally ill at the time.
- Tarot's 'armour' in Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose is
pretty extremely stripperiffic (her usual outfit is made of floss and hope!), as are most of the clothes that the other (equally well-endowed — very well) women wear in that book. When they're actually wearing clothes, that is.
- Unlike most of the women in Y The Last Man, the supermodel Yorrick meets is wearing a halter top, not really practical for her new job: disposing of bodies left by the Gendercide. Much later, she wears the same thing while walking though a sewer.
- Inverted for the Sub-Mariner, a male superhero whose most common "uniform" consists of basically a speedo and wristbands.
- Empowered has no shame about this. It is not the titular D-List Superheroine's fault that she has to wear the costume voted the most "Skanktastic"/"Do-Me-Riffic" of all the Superhomies' in a (fictional) webpoll, but neither Sistah Spooky nor Ninjette have such an excuse.
- One of the few genuinely Stripperiffic male outfits in comics is the costume Cosmic Boy wore in the Legion Of Super Heroes back in the '70s. His costume was actually held on by his magnetic powers. There are reasons that period of the comic is referred to as the Naked Legion.
- Yet another rare male example is Frank Miller's 300. In the comic, the Spartan warriors are as often as not buck naked, except for helmet, greaves, shield, and long red cape. This does highlight, however, how Stripperiffic outfits are actually Older Than Dirt: Miller is imitating the "heroic nude" of classical Greek art, where warriors, heroes, and gods are commonly shown parading around (and even fighting) largely naked. The film version gives all of the Spartans little leather panties, which only amplifies the Stripperiffic and homoerotic nature of the costume.
- In actuality, the Spartans did wear armor and helmets, though their armor was shaped like a perfectly chiselled torso (with
Batnipples). But this, however, makes it even more Stripperiffic, as the Spartans would actually be wearing practical armor in battle and not the general three-fourths nakedness of the comic/movie or the full nudity of the statues.
- Channon Yarrow often wore very Stripperiffic outfits throughout the comic, both in casual and professional situation. Then again, she was introduced as a stripper.
- There is one example of a (parody) female superhero from Marvel's setup that doesn't go for the skimpy outfits while on the job, despite her day job being a supermodel: Ashley Crawford. Then again, as a hero she's Big Bertha. Seeing her in the skimpier X-Men uniform (see the final splash panel in the 'Misassembled' 4-parter) is likely not what the average comic fan is looking for. (Deadpool, on the other hand, probably has that image blown up on his wall.) Of the remaining girls on the team, Squirrel Girl has a more modest costume setup, while Tippy-Toe wears just a ribbon. And is a true squirrel, so it doesn't count.
- Power Girl's infamous "boob window" was actually deconstructed once; she wanted to put a symbol there, like Superman, but could never figure out what to add. This effectively turns fanservice into a heartwarming moment.
Film
- Alicia Silverstone as "Batgirl" in Batman and Robin. Uncle Alfred was a lecherous old man to have had a suit made for her that had her exact cup size built in. For shame, Uncle Alfred, for shame. The gratuitous ass shot didn't hurt, either.
- The male costumes in that film were no better, and for many viewers worse. George Clooney even got a lingering closeup of his zippered Bat-Ass during the suiting up sequence.
- The female ninjas in the movie Lady Ninja: Reflections in Darkness dress in highly abbreviated ninja outfits (when they're wearing anything at all).
- There do seem to be a few ... subtle differences in what's enhanced in Edna Mode's work on The Incredibles ...
LiveActionTV
- One Word: Peri.
- Three Words: Seven Of Nine.
- And Seven Lite, T'Pol, who wears tights even though all other Vulcan characters wear robes. Not to mention the blatant Fanservice "decontamiation" scenes with braless tank tops that show the Borg are not the only ones with implants.
- The women’s uniforms in Star Trek TOS were distinctly skimpy. This was lampshaded in TNG season 1, where both male and female extras were seen in miniskirt uniforms.
- The Grissom Verse has female characters investigating crime scenes in low-cut tops, high heels and tight trousers. All at the same time on some occasions. (And leather trenchcoats in midday Vegas heat, but that's another trope)
- Anise/Freya on Stargate: SG-1. Particularly egregious when you compare her outfit to the nondescript, functional clothes usually worn by male Tok'ra, and to those worn by female Tok'ra who aren't conventionally attractive.
- Averted with Buffy, who prefers to go into battle wearing long pants and a leather jacket.
- The one time she wore an inappropriate outfit into battle, it was an evening gown - and not even a strapless or backless one. To boot, just about everyone (even the villain) thought it was beautiful.
- Other Slayers (eg Kendra and Faith) wear more revealing outfits, but at least they're practical. And in Faith's case, the Stripperiffic factor is probably intentional.
Western Animation
- Ur-example: Stan Lee's Stripperella. What can be more Stripperiffic than an actual stripper who dresses like a stripper to fight crime?
- Inverted with Futurama's Zapp Brannigan. His shirt (what else can I call it?) just barely covers his genitals... from the front. If he bends over or climbs a ladder, you're out of luck.
- A pair of random pedestrians in the first episode, as Fry goes flying out of the transport tube and hits a building. The couple in question are both wearing what looks to be laminated plastic, fully clear except for the black stripes covering their inappropriate parts.
- Considering it was a kids' cartoon, the early '90s X Men series allowed some characters to get pretty darn Stripperiffic.
- It didn't help that the coloring of Jean Grey's outfit made it sometimes hard to know which part were skin and which part were from the outfit.
- X Men Evolution actually went further in spots, with the teenaged Rogue wearing what was largely a see-through top as casual wear.
- Over an opaque t-shirt, yes. Which is Truth In Television, this is a popular if not common fashion choice among teenage girls.
- Dr. Mrs. The Monarch's prototype outfit in The Venture Brothers.
- Who cares that they're robots a minimum of 10 feet tall? With Transformers like Elita One, Arcee and Blackarachnia, you can still see exactly where their clothes would be. Even though, being robots, they don't actually wear clothes. Hell, G1 Arcee has more armour on her shoulders than she has on her legs.
- This troper thought Austin looked pretty stripperiffic himself during "Garbage Trek" or "Legend of the Volcano Sisters".
Video Games
- This might be the main point of the Valis series. Yuko's armor has consistently been illogically skimpy, being pretty much a bikini and (if it counts as armor) a skirt. Cham/Char in the third game has slightly less impractical armor.
- Strangely, the third game's magic user (this troper forgot her name) is dressed in a full robe.
- Also strangely, in the fourth game, Lena starts off with more modest clothing, even if it's still impractical as battle armor. However, when she gets special armor that grants her temporary invincibility (until it takes enough damage), that special armor turns out to be as skimpy as (or possibly skimpier than) Yuko's.
- This troper, though disappointed, doesn't find it too surprising that the series was recently revived at a hentai series, given how sexualized it was to start.
- Jessica Cannon in SiN: Episodes wears an outfit with a bare midriff, and her pants appear designed specifically to draw the player's attention to her butt.
- Averted in Half-Life 2, where female characters (including Alyx Vance, most prominent woman of the series) are dressed in appropriate, non-revealing clothing. Likewise, the resistance's female members are dressed much like their male counterparts, and Judith Mossman is dressed in jeans and a turtleneck. Well, it is a pretty tight turtleneck...
- The demoness Shannon in God Hand wears a very tight and close-cut one-piece outfit. As if in acknowledgment of this trope, just before the first fight with her, she actually mounts a stripper's pole for a moment...
- Samus Aran from Metroid avoided this trope entirely, to the point where her being a female was the Tomato Surprise of the first game. However, pictures of her wearing more revealing clothes are sometimes unlockables.
- In Zero Mission, she also spends a section of the game with just the suit she apparently wears under the armor (also seen in Super Smash Bros Brawl). While not Stripperific, it is skin-tight.
- The Soul Series has Ivy and Taki; the latter in particular has a notorious red body stocking outfit, in which her breasts are several cup sizes larger than her other outfits, reaching Gag Boobs status. EGM summed it up: "Seriously, they're like balloon animals." Ivy, meanwhile, wears a dominatrix outfit. And wields a sword that can turn into a whip. If you think that's suggestive already, just look at her "throws."
- Even the loli and a holy fighter is not safe from this. Talim is mostly known for clothes that reveal her shoulders, midriffs (especially in Soul Calibur 2); in Soul Calibur 4, she gets see-through pants and a thong. And in Soul Calibur 4, Sophitia gets a SEE-THROUGH piece of clothes that lets you actually see her breasts (And no bra/breast plate at that!), and even the side parts are not covered.
- Combine these with SC4's system of armor removal mid-battle, and, well...
- Subverted by Nicole in Dead Or Alive 4, quite possibly the last place you would expect such a subversion to occur. As a female version of Master Chief in a game that otherwise uses this trope with pride, it is nearly impossible to tell her gender just from looking at her.
- In a funny twist, her gender is the Tomato Surprise at the end of the Haloid fan video. The person who's surprised by said Tomato? Samus Aran.
- Mai Shiranui of Fatal Fury and The King Of Fighters. Perhaps the quintessential example of the impractically dressed warrior. Her Garou counterpart B. Jenet wears a cocktail dress into battle and flirts with the guys quite a bit.
- Lampshaded in Fatal Fury 3: when Terry Bogard defeats her, he tells her, "First, don't call me goldilocks! And second, cover up that cleavage!"
- She's hardly the only example in the series. Angel from 2001 quite possibly tops her in this regard, and in Mai's victory quote against her Mai says something about her "trying too hard".
- Subverted by the Tarutaru race in Final Fantasy XI while followed by other races: While most races have differences in gear appearance based on gender, with Race Specific Equipment (RSE) and Harnesses tending to be more revealing for females than males (though Subligaria were equally revealing for both), Tarutaru models are unisex below the neck (possibly to save on storage space) and their versions of the most Stripperiffic outfits in the game are less revealing than even the male versions from other races, rarely exposing much of the chest or the shoulders, and almost always covering the neck with a high collar, as well as making the flesh-toned material covering the legs in most subligaria pale enough to contrast very obviously with the Tarutaru's actual skin color.
- In fact, the use of unisex bodies combined with the tendencies of most headgear to cover hair means that it becomes almost impossible to tell males and females apart when wearing a cap, hat, or helmet; only minor facial features like the shape of the hairline and angle of the eyebrows, combined with the limited number of available faces, makes this discernible.
- This may well owe something to the difficulty some people have distinguishing adult Tarutaru from children, given the race's diminutive proportions.
- Almost every Final Fantasy game (especially the recent ones) have examples. While male characters tend to be dressed in protective overalls, armor, etc., female characters dress in outfits such as tiny mini-skirts (Tifa, Ashe, etc.), skin tight outfits (Penelo, Garnet, etc.), or extremely revealing outfits (Lulu, Fran, etc.). Don't even get me started on Final Fantasy X-2.
- Penelo's original outfit is a yearned-for past paean to prudence and modesty, compared to her shiny new dress sphere - er, stripperiffic outfit, rather, in Revenant Wings, which includes side-laced pants showcasing an apparent lack of panties. Apologies; this troper keeps forgetting "dress sphere" and "stripperiffic" aren't officially synonyms. Yet.
- Actually, Final Fantasy is one of the classic examples of male Stripperific outfits. Go ahead, look at the cover of FFXII and tell me that Vaan is wearing protective armor.
- Possibly justified, at least at first because he comes from a desert country, but it doesn't explain why he keeps it on throughout the game. He should have died of hypothermia in the snowy mountain area.
- Speaking of stripperific outfits for males, Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII is covered from head to toe, except his coat is open, exposing his entire bare torso. You might as well have just drawn a bullseye over his chest. But it looked so good. (ducks and runs away really fast)
- Of course, given what we've seen in the Compilation, it's likely nothing short of an artillery shell was going to slow Sephiroth (or the other 1st Class SOLDIER's) down.
- Kuja's outfit is the epitome of stripperific male outfits in Final Fantasy. His bare midriff and bikini briefs rival any 3-D Final Fantasy girl in skimpiness.
- Final Fantasy has a long tradition of this. Just look at the outfit for Maria in Final Fantasy II - no, not the CGI cutscenes. The Amano artwork. That's supposed to be armor?! Older games usually only put the female villains in the stripper gear, though - the Cloud of Darkness and Barbariccia immediately come to mind.
- Stripped gear? Barbariccia and Cloud of Darkness are naked except for Godiva Hair/Godiva Tentacles.
- Square Enix gave Barbariccia a bikini in the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV, so she isn't completely naked in that version.
- In Final Fantasy X, practically everybody - even the NP Cs - wear abbreviated costumes. They do live in a tropical sort of world, though. Even in the snow areas, the (largely male) inhabitants don't wear much, but that's because they've got fur.
- What, all this talk of Final Fantasy and nobody's mentioned Shiva yet? Scantily clad in every single game she appears in.
- That's almost justified, as she's the esper/spirit/embodiment of ice and is supposed to show that she don't mind the cold.
- The armour you get in World Of Warcraft is often much more revealing on women than on men.
- Armor sets in Guild Wars also have the tendency to be slightly more revealing for women than men, but it's not glaring except for the Elementalists... the men wear full suits and long coats, while the women basically look like belly dancers. This may have been subverted with Paragons, who wear short skirts... men and women alike.
- Although it is actually possible to get male Paragon armour that doesn't show a bare midriff. Not so for the women.
- In War Craft 3, most of the Night Elf female units wear little more than bikinis and capes. The Blood Elf Sorceresses wear a low-cut outfit that reveals much of their considerable cleavage. The character Jaina Proudmoore wears just a sports bra, tight pants and hooded cape. Subverted with the Night Elf Wardens from WC 3's The Frozen Throne expansion, who wear concealing great cloaks and what visible areas are armoured properly. Played disturbingly straight with The Frozen Throne's Dark Ranger, an undead elf in a stripperific outfit.
- On the other hand, the orc units, all male, tend not to wear much: Thrall wears black plate, the witch doctor black robes, the shaman thick gray furs, the Farseer a hooded cloak, and the Tauren Chieftain a lot of bits. Every other orc, tauren, and troll unit is at the very least shirtless. Both male night elf heroes are shirtless, too.
- Finally, it must be admitted that as of Burning Crusade and especially as of Wrath of the Lich King, with its heavy emphasis on Nordic-style cold weather armor, Blizzard has gotten much better about this for the players (although a few chestpieces still show a little stomach if you're not wearing an undershirt). Some of the new designs for major lore characters are... questionable, however.
- Velvet from Odin Sphere. There's a bit of Lampshade Hanging in the Winterhorn Ridge stage when a shopkeeper NPC remarks "A half-naked maiden on this mountain? I hope I'm not hallucinating..."
- Fire Emblem plays this straight with every dancer except FE 7's Ninian. Some of the other female combat classes come close but tend to be justified (pegasus knights need light armor so as not to slow them down in flight, archers shouldn't be exposed to direct combat anyway, mages and healers aren't normally expected to fight).
- There are a few males that also wear stripperiffic outfits. In the tenth game Sothe wears the same outfit as in the ninth, but since he's gone from 15 to 18 the shirt no longer covers his midriff and in general is a tight fit.
- The Super Robot Wars introduced the stripperiffic outfit in form of the swimsuit-like DFC suit, worn by Aqua Centolm, heroine of Super Robot Wars MX. Not that she has the personality of a Ms Fanservice, so she's obviously embarrassed with it. Justified with the fact that that kind of outfit is required on piloting her mech. And even the male hero Hugo Medio wore a similar stuff.
- And ironically, in Aqua's cameo appearance in OG Gaiden, she said Lamia Loveless' outfit was of Stripperiffic quality... God knows how will she react when she learns that the DFC suit is way more Stripperiffic than that.
- This troper would agree with Aqua's assessment of Lamia's wardrobe, especially since hers is not required to operate her Humongous Mecha, and drew way more attention than necessary for her spy job in OG 2. To make it even worse, in the OVA, she gets Stripped Off For Real.
- Then this kicks off again in Super Robot Wars Z in form of the female rival Xine Espio... who seems to be taking some clothing tips from the DFC.
- Jill Valentine apparently spends the time between Resident Evil and Resident Evil 3 changing from a combat uniform to a miniskirt and tube top.
- Justified in the second movie by the fact that Raccoon City is undergoing an unseasonable heat wave at the time. There's no explanation as to why she chooses to beat the heat by dressing like white trash, but at least the movie made an effort, however small.
- Also partly justified because she has left the Police Department in the interim, so she can't wear the uniform anymore. (It doesn't stop Chris Redfield in Code Veronica, but quiet, I'm making a point here.)
- By the time Chris rocks the RPD uniform in Code Veronica, there isn't even a Racoon City anymore, much less a PD to punish him. It's probably just his lucky outfit.
- Linda Maltinie from the first Snowboard Kids game dresses in leopard-pattern skintight pants and a red bikini top. As the game title suggests, she is garbed as much on frigid mountain tops. She's ten.
- The Japan-only Playstation sequel Snowboard Kids Plus introduces a few more characters who fit this trope, including a male example in the flamboyant and muscular Ruby Green, who has a bonus outfit consisting of a green speedo and snow boots. Did I mention he's also ten? (This is actually lampshaded in his bio, which makes light of his annoyance at being mistaken for a chaperone whenever he's around the rest of the cast.)
- Oddly averted in Dungeon Siege 2 in which the armor is just stretched around the character model. For most of the class armors this was alright with the notable exception of the nature mages whose class armor was a midriff top with a miiniskirt. This was very funny if you were playing as a male half giant.
- Eileen's secret nurse outfit in Silent Hill 4: The Room.
- Another videogame example, and possibly a subversion/inversion of the "Humongous Mecha with dome-like tin cans in the chestal region" version of this trope mentioned above, Zone Of The Enders Orbital Frames almost always site their cockpits between the legs◊ of the mecha, in an often phallic-shaped module - even on the apparently 'female' frames. Interestingly however, this makes some sense, as it keeps the pilot slightly out of the way of most pummellings, frees up the head and upper body for necessary sensors ( the pilot's view is from the perspective of the head ) and other machinery , and makes it extremely easy to eject the entire cockpit section in an emergency.
- Almost all frames also have feet that come to nothing more than a point, and when they stand on solid ground, a high-heel like spike extends for balance.
- The Unreal series started fairly innocuously, with the females in workwear and armour similar to the males (at least of their faction). Unreal Championship 2 (ie: Selket) raised the bar, then the bar had a bottle rocket put under it by Unreal II: The Awakening. In that title, the player would face enemy mercenaries in massive powered armour, with the female mercs fully armoured on the limbs but wearing only a plexiglass screen and some circuitry from their thighs to the top of their head.
- Somewhat justified in the later Phantasy Star games ( Online and Universe ), as armour comes in the form of 'Frames' and 'Line Shields'. The first is mounted on the left wrist, and the second is laced throughout clothing as a set of energy pathways ( thus 'line' shield ), often doubling as a decoration. Both project a protective field around the wearer ( which can also be focussed into a small area as a shield for parrying purposes ), so basically as long as you have one you can wear whatever you like underneath. It's perhaps unsurprising people thus tend to wear even less than modern day, protected as they are by such lightweight and stylish energy shields.
- Parodied in Timesplitters: Future Perfect. The henchmen working for Khallos wear the same skintight uniforms as the Henchwomen and complain about it a lot.
- Lampshade Hanging in La Pucelle Tactics: The heroine and her friend both get into an argument over the immodesty of each other's uniforms... until they realize that their boss was the one who picked them out.
- Faux Action Girl Rachel in the X Box version of Ninja Gaiden wears an outfit most respectable strippers would probably consider tacky.
- Played straight and Inverted in Mortal Kombat, where quite a few of the male and female fighters wear skimpy outfits while beating the crap out of each other (seriously, the dress code for Edenian royalty must have been based on Slave Leia...). The only real exception to this is Ashrah, whose outfits are about the most modest and covering garments ever seen on an MK female.
- The character artwork featured on the front-page for Rappelz is so blatantly revealing and impractical that this troper wonders if it were deliberately mocking the trade.
- Not just the character art - the in-game outfits for females often look like little more than bathing suits and thigh-high stockings. It makes for an interesting contrast with the ten foot long double-handed ax or the taller-than-the-character glowy sword, as well as with the often-Humongous Mecha-inspired male armor. Female warriors tend to be more of the painted-on-spandex armor, which leaves little to the imagination, but still technically "protects", at least if you're being attacked by friendly kittens. A female mage or summoner, on the other hand, had better have a large supply of double-stick tape and a good way of keeping warm in the ice dungeon while wearing three inch-wide strips of fur and a pair of go-go boots.
- Anything Jeane wears will instantly qualify.
- Star Craft features relatively few female units. We only see the face of the Terrans' Dropship pilot. On the other hand, while the Brood War Medic and Valkyrie units aren't shown as being particularly Stripperific, they do have very flirty voice packs. And while the in-game model of Infested Kerrigan isn't particularly stripperiffic, her appearances in rendered cutscenes and other media most definitely are. Sarah Kerrigan on the other hand, wears standard Ghost armor and is annoyed over the players' constant clicking. (Repeated clicking on Medics produces flirts.)
- While she is a kickass character, this troper was disappointed ...once he stopped staring... by Queen Catherine Ironfist's (Heroes of Might & Magic III) leg-and-cleavage-baring plate and mail armor. Further, Mutare's sleeveless leather shirt and Adrienne's benippled tunic strained suspension of disbelief when male characters were in full armor or robes. (One exception was Gelu, whose leather shirt and pants were a little too slimming to be believable as armor.) Non-heroic units were not immune, either; medusas were sort-of attractive in a reptilian fashion and had very nice figures with zero clothes above the waist (and while they had no nipples, they still had breasts for some reason); the elf women who rode pegasi and silver pegasi wore leather bikinis and BreastPlates, respectively; nagas and naga queens wore leather bikini tops on their upper halves; and the genies called to mind a certain TV show.
- Kurenai from Red Ninja.
- About 70% of the cast of Disgaea. For both genders.
- The female heroines of the Atelier series tend to go all over the place with this. On the one hand, the heroine of the very first game, Marie, wears an outfit with a chest that would be questionable in California◊, never mind the supposedly faux-German setting her game takes place in (though some Real Life Renaissance outfits had similarly bared cleavage); several other characters in other games also have fairly revealing outfits. The majority of female leads in the games, however, tend to have pretty tasteful, modest, and arguably even conservative outfits. The best examples are Elie◊ and Viese◊ from Atelier Elie and Atelier Iris 2 respectively; they're dressed in such a way that aside from their hands, the lowest you can see exposed skin is the neckline.
- This seems to be the basis of the outfit of Shanoa, the heroine of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Which means, she'll be the first Stripperiffic good guy to ever embrace the canon story by IGA (at least after Sonia got thrown out of canon).
- The cheergirls in Osu Tatakae Ouendan is not so Stripperiffic in the first series, but in the second series, they get a costume that reveals their midriffs, shoulders and back. You should know what I mean by now.
- Capcon Vs. SNK is a huge offender here. Especially in the case of Mai Shiranui. I mean Holy Crap.
- The outfit◊ Rival Schools' Tiffany wears is explained as being her cheerleading outfit. This troper would love to know where were the cheerleaders that dressed like that when he went to high school.
- Some Tales Series ladies have this trope in mind:
- Ahem... Gloria. Did anyone else want to play that "I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today" song from Avenue Q over her introduction? That said, the love interest in the same game is pretty much completely covered up.
- All the female jobs in Ragnarok Online range from modest to blatantly stripperific. In most jobs, higher classes means less clothing. And the stripperific isn't only on official images; sometimes, you can see your cute sprite◊ gainaxing! Justified with the Dancer/Gypsy class, but the others...
- From the 'Humongous Mecha' section, we have one of Roll's Super Combos from the Marvel vs Capcom series. Normally a tiny maid robot who comes up to Ryu's waist and whose average moves do as much damage as Ryu's sneeze, and has as much sex appeal as Ryu too, Roll has one set that makes her grow to Humongous Mecha size, complete with ... yes, those domes on the chest. Then again, they're missiles, so does that count overall?
- Feena from Grandia is said to be one of the most skilled and intelligent adventurers in the world. Her outfit of choice? A bikini top (with inexplicable sleeves) and a very small miniskirt that by all rights shouldn't cover anything. And yet we still never get a panty shot. The physics of it all are mind-boggling.
- The upcoming game Bayonetta features a gun-toting witch wearing a skintight bodysuit... made of her hair. See it in all its glory rightchere.
Web Comics
- Pinky, the titular girl from the webcomic Pinky TA, wears nothing but a short tank top, a belt, and a black thong.
- Parodied in the webcomic Schlock Mercenary, where the field commander alters the order for the (female) owner's body armor from a modest design to a rather more buxom one; she responds by testing its strength-magnification features on his ribcage.
- Also satired in the adult webcomic Supermegatopia, in which a group of former superheroes and superheroines with names like 'Topless Lass', 'The Tease', and 'Long Tom' form the All-Stripper Squadron and use their powers in a more profitable manner than fighting crime.
- Lampshaded very nicely in this RPG World strip.
- Completely averted in Chasing the Sunset. All the female characters wear practical everyday clothing which generally bares just the arms and lower legs. Clothing for special events is slightly more revealing; clothing for combat is heavier.
- Freya in Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki wears clothing into combat that must be glued on.
- And of course, the title character wears clothes that look like they're painted on... because they're alive. Sort of.
- Parodied in the Sluggy Freelance story arc "Years of Yarncraft," where Zoe is upset that every single female character design in an MMORPG is petite, well-endowed, and wears a Stripperiffic outfit ... even the slime monsters.
- Dungeon Damage has Cat, a rich Spoiled Brat and part-time thrillseeking thief who dresses outrageously (by Medieval Venician standards) but finds that what looks good isn't very practical, as when she winds up on a mountaintop in a blizzard in a midriff-and-cleavage baring vest.
- The Inexplicable Adventures Of Bob has Princess Voluptua. 'Nuff said.
Other
- Sarah references this in the lonelygirl15 video "Am I A Criminal?": "If you're gonna B&E, you wanna bring the T&A!"
- The IMVU banners on this site advise people to make an avatar to "Define your look." Apparently, the only definition offered is "brothel inmate."
- The "Fly for Fun" game sidebar ads have artwork which occasionally make this troper kind of embarassed to be seen reading the site in public.
- Justified in WhiteWolf's Scarred Lands d20 System Tabletop RPG: using arcane magic releases heat within the spellcaster's body. Some cultures embrace the skimpy garb this situation tends to require.
- Female Twi'leks are almost all slender and attractive, and very fond of flaunting that fact as much as is
humanly inhumanly possible. Even Jedi, who typically wear quite covering clothes, aren't immune- Aayla Secura, they're wolf-whistling at you.
- Truth In Television: Ballroom dance. What you see on Dancing With The Stars or Strictly Come Dancing is a pretty good example, but you can find the backless dresses with plunging necklines at professional and even collegiate competitions. Males don't get away scot free either: the two acceptable shirts for Latin and Rhythm are either a tight black shirt or a ruffly white one that's open in front. The clothing for Standard and Smooth styles are much more conservative.
- Literature example: Domi in James Axler's Outlanders series. Her outfit is continually described as "A pair of red high heels, and nothing else." Brigid Baptiste's clothing on the covers falls under this, as well.
- To quote the 34th rule in The 100 Rules of Anime (not to be confused with the other Rule Thirty Four)known as "Law of Probable Attire- Clothing in anime follows certain predictable guidelines: Female characters wear as little clothing as possible, regardless of whether it is socially or meteorologically appropriate."
- This troper has noted that in general women (not all, but plenty, especially in their teens and twenties) will wear less than men in comparable social situations. When men wear tuxedos, women are in suits with skirts; women's T-shirts, jeans and shorts are tighter and shorter than men's; when men wear bathing suits (essentially shorts), women are in bikinis. You'll almost never see men in sleeveless tops, while it's de rigeur for women.
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