Basic Trope: A character with magical powers who Prefers Going Barefoot for some reason related to their magic.
- Straight: Cute Witch Ichigo goes barefoot in her regular witch’s attire.
- Exaggerated: Shoes are not the only article of clothing Ichigo foregoes…
- Every mage and sorcerer in this universe go barefoot.
- Downplayed: Ichigo has to go barefoot for a magic related ceremony, where it’s part of the required attire.
- Justified: Ichigo’s powers are related to the earth (and possibly earth-based) and need direct contact to function, which she can have constantly by going barefoot.
- Ichigo can cast spells with her hands and her feet, which makes shoes impractical and subjected to irreparable damage.
- Ichigo moves around by floating, making shoes unnecessary.
- Ichigo’s powers include Healing Factor, which can heal or negate injuries she would sustain by not wearing shoes, and thus she judges them unnecessary.
- It’s just her personal preference.
- Bare feet are a distinctive characteristic of magic users in this setting.
- Inverted: Ichigo wears a big pair of boots in her witch’s attire, whereas her Muggle Best Friend Alice is constantly barefoot.
- Subverted: In her introductory scene, Ichigo is about to leave her house, and she is noticeably barefoot, but she quickly goes back when she realizes she forgot her shoes.
- Double Subverted: It turns out to be her magic wand she forgot. She picks it up and proceeds to go back to business, still barefoot.
- Parodied: Ichigo has so little control of her powers that she leaves blast marks in the shape of footprints wherever she walks. The “Summon Rake” spell also tends to get on her nerves.
- Zig-Zagged: Ichigo has a very varied wardrobe, with some attires including shoes, some not.
- Ichigo only goes barefoot in her witch’s attire, and wears shoes when she passes off as a regular Muggle.
- Averted: There is no magic in this setting.
- Magicians are present, but wear shoes.
- Enforced: “I think having your witch character go barefoot would make her more distinct; give off a more mystical vibe, you get me?”
- Lampshaded: “Just so I know, is it for magical reasons that you never seem to wear shoes?”
- Invoked: Ichigo begins life as a normal girl with no magic powers, but obtains them at the beginning of the story. Now feeling justified to indulge in her secret penchant, she uses the idea of magical people going barefoot to let go of shoes altogether once she has acquired her powers, and specifically begins with a spell to protect her feet for that reason.
- Ichigo’s Magical Girl outfit does include Combat Stilettos, but she always kicks them off at the beginning of battle because she finds them impractical.
- Exploited: Ichigo’s feet are constantly exposed to ground based traps or Tickle Torture, the latter of which can be even more dangerous than the former when she has to focus on a powerful spell.
- Defied: Despite it being customary of witches and wizards, Ichigo refuses to go barefoot, even if it means bottling up her powers, and imitates her Muggle friends’ fashion style.
- Discussed: “If I were a magician, I might be the type to not wear shoes.”
- Conversed: “You think there is a reason why the magic users don’t wear shoes?” “I always figured they got their powers from the earth or something, but maybe it’s just preference for some.”
- Implied: Ichigo wears long robes that hide her feet, and the only part of them we see are her exposed toes, which could mean she’s either barefoot or in open-toed sandals.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl Ichigo likes to go barefoot, and many unexplained events imply that she is, in fact, a real pixie.
- Deconstructed: Even with magic by her side, Ichigo is still subjected to different forms of Agony of the Feet.
- See Parodied, but the lack of control is a lot more severe, and Ichigo unwittingly becomes a Person of Mass Destruction.
- Reconstructed: Being constantly barefoot helps her sustain her injuries a lot more than the average human. And the worst are nothing her Healing Factor can’t handle.
- This only motivates Ichigo to perfect herself, and by the end she can keep her habit and walk around without putting people in danger.
- Played for Laughs: Like Expressive Hair, Ichigo’s magic causes all sorts of harmless effects of different colors to spark from her feet depending on her mood.
- Ichigo is a prankster, and using her feet for magic lets her discreetly put her ideas into action the moment she comes up with them.
- Played for Drama: The series is set in The Unmasqued World, where humans have taken control of everything and non-human citizens are second class. Magic users are not only refrained from using their powers, they are legally obliged to go barefoot to make them recognizable in a crowd.
- Played for Horror: Ichigo is a Dark Magical Girl and a Walking Wasteland, and everything she steps on with her bare feet rots away and dies.
Back to Magical Barefooter.
