Discussion Main / BaldnessMeansSickness

For future reference such questions are asked here. But while we are here:

The tropes can overlap, but are not duplicates.

• Ominous Hair Loss is a Portent of Doom: hair loss means something bad. Not every example is sickness.
• Baldness Means Sickness is a Meaningfulappearance trope: a bald person is assumed to be sick. Not every example shows the "hair loss", nor are they necessarily ominous.

For example:

• Barbara starts to lose her hair because she's being possessed by a demon. The hairfall stops after it's exorcised from her. This is an example of Ominous Hair Loss, but not Baldness Means Sickness, as she is neither physically ill nor even fully bald.
• Barbara starts to lose her hair. This turns out to be a symptom of a disease. By the time she is on her deathbed (after the disease has fully progressed) she is totally bald. This is an example of both.
• Barbara is introduced totally bald and in a hospital gown. She is a terminal cancer patient. This is an example of Baldness Means Sickness, but not Ominous Hair Loss, as we never see the hair loss, nor is her baldness portrayed as ominous: just a visual signifier of her cancer.