Surefooted Barefooter

"Rose, without shoes I'm quicker, faster and stealthier. You give me bare feet in the tall grass on a moonless night, and I'm hunting like a leopard."

— Wallace, Wallace the Brave

Sometimes the primary reason a character goes barefoot is for easier agility. Going barefoot means unhindered mobility and strengthening muscles and senses, which allows for easier navigation and adaptation to difficult terrain. Thus, the Surefooted Barefooter Prefers Going Barefoot to more easily move through their environment more quietly and nimbly, and they are usually more efficient at evading hazards, climbing, Le Parkour, and sitting in crouched poses than The One Who Wears Shoes, even if the latter is more trained.

The Surefooted Barefooter has roots in agile sports traditionally performed barefoot like martial arts or gymnastics and is sometimes used to invoke motifs of primates and cats naturally climbing and balancing exceptionally well. Thus, this trope is most commonly associated with graceful, stealthy, resilient, and instinctive characters, like the Jungle Princess, the Tarzan Boy, the Badass Native, the Phantom Thief, and by no means least, the Martial Artists.

Sub-Trope of Prefers Going Barefoot. Compare Earthy Barefoot Character, The Lightfooted, Sneakers of Sneaking, Handy Feet.

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Examples

Anime & Manga

• Castle in the Sky: Towards the end of the film, Pazu encounters a passage underneath the castle that proves too slippery to traverse while pursuing Sheeta after she is kidnapped by Muska. By taking his shoes off, he's able to overcome the passage's tricky surfacing.
• Cowboy Bebop: Ed goes everywhere barefoot, and because of her traction, grip, and balance, she is extremely acrobatic in everything from mundane tasks to Combat Parkour. She uses her feet for everyday things like typing, and she even appears to be more comfortable sitting in more crouched positions. Also, when she actually does wear socks in one episode, she almost immediately loses her balance (due to them not providing much traction on the smooth metal deck of the Bebop) and pulls them off.
• Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry: Swan is an antagonist who uses her bare feet to grip and jump around her terrain far more quickly and agilely than Erza Scarlet, who wears boots. Since she is more agile than Erza Scarlet, she is able to hold her own against the master duelist without weapons. Meanwhile, Erza, who is actually wielding swords, cannot keep up with her since she cannot grip the terrain as well.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run: The Native American Sandman is able to keep up and participate in the Steel Ball Run race whilst running barefoot, even if he's competing against a field of mostly horse-riding competitors. This allows him to take shortcuts through obstacles that horses can't cross.
• Pokémon: The Power of Us: Risa goes barefoot fashion an Invoked Trope in some scenes because it allows her to run faster.
• Princess Mononoke: The main character Ashitaka goes barefoot at the beginning of the movie to quickly climb up and down the towers of his village easier as one of its archers and lookouts.

Comic Books

• In The Authority, Jack Hawksmoor has ridge-like projections in the soles of his feet that allow him to run up the sides of any structure as long as he remains barefoot.
• Marvel Comics: Like most jungle heroes, Ka-Zar and Shanna both go barefoot to help them navigate the jungle canopy better.
• Beast of the X-Men went barefoot in his field uniform (until he got fuzzy and started going barefoot all the time, at which point he had went from simply being surefooted to having Handy Feet).
• Les Passagers Du Vent: Hoel points out to Isa (who's in disguise as a sailor) that her getup wouldn't last for a minute for the simple reason that she's wearing wooden clogs, which would slip in the rigging.

Comic Strips

• Wallace the Brave: Discussed in this comic:
  Rose: You're throwing your shoes in the bay?
  Wallace: Rose, without shoes I'm quicker, faster and stealthier. You give me bare feet in the tall grass on a moonless night, and I'm hunting like a leopard.
  Rose: And what might you be hunting?
  Wallace: A fun time.

Films — Animation

• Rise of the Guardians: Jack Frost Prefers Going Barefoot and is much more agile than the rest of the guardians (except for the Barefoot Cartoon Animal Easter Bunny), constantly climbing and balancing on things like rooftops and powerlines effortlessly because of his unhindered grip and mobility.
• Tarzan: Tarzan is usually an iconic barefooter, who uses his unhindered grip and senses for agility to navigate the trees, but this is demonstrated in the Disney version more than other depictions due to the medium of animation, especially deep canvas technology. The titular Ape Man is frequently depicted as moving extremely quietly and gripping just about every surface he navigates, from gripping the vines he swings on, balancing and surfing on mossy branches, or even gripping a blackboard with his large flexible feet. He loses a good amount of his grip when he wears shoes, which leads to his capture, so his shoes are also the first things to go later.

Films — Live-Action

• Jungle Cruise: This is an Invoked Trope when Frank Wolff goes barefoot for a better grip when he’s working and climbing on the sides of his boat the La Quilla.
• Done out of necessity by Hanzo in Predators: Most of the characters that are parachuted onto the Predator planet are wearing combat boots or utilitarian shoes suitable for a jungle environment, but Hanzo (a Yakuza member) arrives wearing a 3-piece suit with fancy dress shoes. When he sees that they're unsuited for the jungle environment they'll be in, he takes them of and goes barefoot for the rest of the film.
• X-Men Film Series: Mystique is a shapeshifter who is always nude, but she is also always barefoot to grip her environment and victims better in combat.

Live-Action TV

• Squid Game: In episode 1.07, the contestants must cross a precarious bridge of glass panes by jumping from panel to panel. This is an Invoked Trope when they take off their shoes to increase their traction.

Literature

• The Chronicles of Narnia: In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the magician Coriakin is noted to always go around barefoot, using his unhindered mobility and awareness of the ground to make "no more noise than a cat". As a result, the Dufflepuds (a race of dwarf-like creatures that he rules and looks after) constantly fear that he may be watching them, especially after he becomes invisible.
• Journey to the River Sea: This trope gets some lampshading as the Xanti people — a tribe of indigenous people in the Amazon and Earthy Barefoot Characters — are explicitly stated to be able to use their senses of touch and unhindered mobility to navigate their terrain better than shod characters.
  Maia could never get over how quiet the Xanti were, how careful of the land. They treated every clump of trees or trickle of water as though they were old friends. They could walk barefoot over thorns and through swamps and piles of leaves which might easily have concealed a snake, but somehow they knew that it didn't. "They have wise feet," the professor said.
• Star Wars Legends: Most Not Quite Human Tagruta from the planet Shili are usually barefoot as part of their culture, partially because it allows them to grip the terrain better and be quieter while hunting.
• Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart: This is an Invoked Trope when Lancelot must cross a river by way of a bridge that's literally a giant sword. He Invokes this when he traverses the bridge on all fours with his hands and feet bare for better grip and dexterity, even though it means getting cut.
  He is going to support himself with his bare hands and feet upon the sword, which was sharper than a scythe, for he had not kept on his feet either sole or upper or hose. But he felt no fear of wounds upon his hands or feet; he preferred to maim himself rather than to fall from the bridge and be plunged in the water from which he could never escape.
• The Lord of the Rings: This quality is assigned to Hobbits, who habitually go barefoot and are good at stealthy movement and concealment. This is such a marked quality that Gandalf stakes everything on using Hobbits as his agents. It's the stated reason why, in The Hobbit, he talks the Dwarves into taking the hobbit Bilbo Baggins along as the resident Thief in their party. The four Hobbits who are central characters in LotR also have ample chances to prove their agility and stealth along the way, like Pippin's theft of the Palantir from out of the arms of Gandalf himself..

Religion

• The Bible: When David is prepping for the fight with Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, he is given a tunic, armor, and helmet. He tries them on, then gives them back because he's not used to them. Fanart often extends this idea and depicts David going barefoot as well.

Video Games

• Lone Survivor: The unnamed protagonist prefers to sneak around the surreal, zombielike Thinmen and other horrors of the post-apocalypse rather than fighting them, and opts to do so barefoot for the entire game. The player can find shoes in a couple places, but the protagonist will refuse to wear them, expressly stating that wearing shoes will only let the monsters hear him.

Web Animation

• Brewstew: In "Trampoline", before a game of Dropkick, Michael is barefoot to be more agile.

Western Animation

• Aladdin: The Series: Aladdin had already honed in on his natural agility and grip from Barefoot Poverty to frequently climb across the cityscape of Agrabah to help him escape the boot-wearing palace guards on a daily basis, saying, "They're quick, but I'm much faster," in the song "One Jump Ahead". He is even more of a Surefooted Barefooter in the series however, since despite dating a wealthy princess and being fully capable of obtaining shoes, he still goes barefoot for walking quietly and climbing acrobatically around his terrain when he steals from other thieves to give to the poor.

Real Life

• Truth in Television: If someone really Prefers Going Barefoot enough, then eventually this trope will apply to them. Although many assume that the sense of touch is hindered as the skin thickens from carotene to protect from rough terrain, the sense of touch will actually become more acute as it is used more, along with strengthening the muscles in their feet more, which both allow for greater balance. They become accustomed to navigating the hazardous terrain around them and avoiding dangers, but their acute sense of touch and grip also allow them to be much more agile in climbing or traversing extreme terrain. You can even find most barefooters in more agile positions in median situations.
  • This is why indigenous people from tropical rainforests are often barefooters, despite thorny or poisonous plants, sharp rocks and roots, and dangerous tropical insects. Having never worn shoes, their feet are strong, sensitive, and flexible, aiding them in climbing trees and navigating extremely uneven terrain.
  • This is also why the prevailing school of thought of the last 10-15 years is that young children should not wear shoes while learning to walk, as wearing shoes inhibits natural foot movement—something vital in learning proper balance and proprioception. Walking barefoot also helps children develop strength in the muscles of their feet.
• Many sports are practiced barefoot.
  • This is why people think that Martial Artists Are Always Barefoot.
  • Many dances are performed barefoot, as it is seen as graceful and gives the dancers more traction and mobility.
  • Trapeze artists often perform barefoot since any loss of agility can be dangerous.
  • The barefoot running community is a cohort of runners who prefer to run barefoot.
  • While European fencing and HEMA are traditionally practiced in light footwear, many practitioners opt to go barefoot for better grip and mobility.
  • Some rock climbers prefer to climb barefoot. Gyms often discourage it due to concerns about spreading foot fungus.
• Some individual athletes are known for this:
  • Charles Albert is a rock climber and barefooter, who uses his feet to help him grip extremely rocky terrain.
  • Leo Urban and Audrey Nerat practice parkour in nature and are often referred to as real-life equivalents of Tarzan for their skill. Much like the fictional character, they deliberately go barefoot to grip branches better as well as for general flexibility and balance.
• Ancient Greek Olympic games were performed completely nude for mobility, and this included going barefoot. Even today, games that require very high mobility like artistic gymnastics are still performed barefoot. Some athletes also chose to compete in the 100m dash barefoot.
• Many ancient soldiers went into battle barefoot, since being barefoot gave better traction than smooth-soled shoes or sandals. Greek heroes and Hebrew war heroes are often depicted barefoot for this reason.
• Sometimes burglars will go barefoot in Real Life to navigate the locations they are stealing from more stealthily. This is why police have had to trace toe prints.
• A variation of this is the reason for Japanese footwear like Zori. Although the grip is still hindered by the inflexible sole, the design of the sandal allows for basic mobility, while forcing the wearer to use their senses to focus on the ground beneath them for balance. It's why the Samurai wore them into battle.

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