History Main / BellyButtonless

* In ''Series/{{Sorry}}''s ItsAWonderfulPlot episode, Timothy loses his belly button because "he was never born".

* A rather bizarre and FridgeLogic-filled example: in ''{{Sorry}}'''s ItsAWonderfulPlot episode, Timothy loses his belly button because "he was never born".

It's a fact of life--no matter how placental a mammal is, clones don't have belly buttons. It's a common plot device used to distinguish those inferior, artificially created creatures from natural, unique human beings. Makes those knowledgeable of human physiology wonder just how these people developed, not having ever been attached to placentas before.

* In ''Literature/TheCityAndTheStars'' the people of Diaspar are created as adults and naturaly lack bellybuttons.

* On ''Series/MorkAndMindy'' after M&M got married and had sex for the first time, Mork proved he had laid an egg by showing his navel - since he's an Orkan he doesn't have one from the natural gestation process. [[RetCon Other than all the times he'd shown his belly before that episode and we'd seen it.]]

* The Omphalos (bellybutton) Theory was a 19th C. argument that fossils, tree rings etc., were created as is by God to give the world the appearance of age, even though it was a recent creation. The name derives from the theory that, though logically Adam and Eve shouldn't have navels, they would have been created with them, to make them identical to their descendants. [[/folder]]

* ''Anime/DragonHalf'' lampshades this when Lufa asks the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin half dragon]] Mink why she has a belly button if she hatched from an egg.

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* Claire Redfield in Resident Evil Code Veronica has an outfit that [[BareYourMidriff shows her midriff.]] but she doesn't have a visible belly button.

* There is an old joke:
-->'''Q:''' If you go to Heaven and look for Adam and Eve, how will you know which two people are them?\\
'''A:''' They're the only two without belly buttons.

* Due to ExecutiveMeddling, Jeannie on Series/IDreamOfJeannie was never allowed to show her belly button.
** It's entirely possible that [[FridgeLogic as a genie, she didn't have one.]]

* In the manga and second anime of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', Homunculi lack navels as they are {{Artificial Human}}s, which we see on [[BareYourMidriff Envy]] and [[WalkingShirtlessScene Sloth.]] In the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime]], however, this is averted as Envy and [[CanonForeigner Wrath]] do have navels because Homunculi in that universe [[spoiler:are [[WasOnceAMan human transmutations]] who CameBackWrong.]]

* Blake in Volumes 1-3 of ''WebAnimation/RWBY''. However, this was actually because of an error in the animation software, and from Volume 4 on she has a visible one, even in flashbacks to the V1-3 outfit.

-->'''Q:''' If you go to Heaven and look for Adam and Eve, how will you know which two people are them?
-->'''A:''' They're the only two without belly buttons.
* Czech Model Karolina Kurkova (somewhat) famously [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7738144.stm has no navel.]] She's never disclosed exactly why, but her lack of a natural belly-button has given rise to accusations of over-airbrushing when she appears in photo spreads. Ironically, this has caused some photo editors to [[WeWillNotUsePhotoshopInTheFuture Photoshop]] one onto her photos, in order to avoid accusations of over photo-editing!

[[JustifiedTrope Justified]] if the process for creating the beings ''somehow'' has nothing to do with fetal development, or if the species isn't even placental in the first place. It is common in magical constructs such as homunculi too, and of artificial beings in general.

-->Note: While animals born from eggs such as birds, reptiles and fish lack a true navel due to not having a mammalian umbilical cord, they do sometimes have small markings or scars from where they were attached to their egg yolks. This trait is especially visible in turtles.

-->Note: A lot of characters in cartoons and videogames have outfits that may show off their midriff, but they don't have a belly button.

* In ''Disney/MelodyTime'', Pecos Bill never had a belly button shown on his belly. Not even when he was shirtless when he was a baby and when he was a kid.

* Inverted in ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', where the mermaids ''do'' have navels... except, while they ''can'' be born the normal way (one minor character has a mother and a fade-to-black with the main character and her humanoid boyfriend brings to mind the MermaidProblem), most are born by taking a dead or otherwise departed mermaid's pearl to a magic shell to create a new mermaid, which would mean they shouldn't have any! Then again, that plot element was only introduced in the middle of retconning the pearls to be {{Soul Jar}}s instead of just {{Transformation Trinket}}s, so it probably wasn't all that thought through.

[[/folder]]

* The ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' episode "Size Matters" has a demonic construct who demonstrates to Paige that he's not like ordinary people by showing her that he lacks a belly button.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', the Gems, being living rocks whose bodies are projections, lack navels. This can be seen in a few episodes with Garnet (Beach Party and Garnet's Universe) or anytime Lapis Lazuli shows up. [[HalfHumanHybrid Steven]] has his [[HeartDrive gem]] ''in place'' of a navel. In a flashback, we see that one of the first things Amethyst did upon meeting Greg was pull up his shirt to look at his belly-button, suggesting some curiosity about the concept on their part. [[spoiler:When Steven's gem is temporarily removed, the part of his abdomen where it rested still has no belly button.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', the Gems, being living rocks whose bodies are projections, lack navels. This can be seen in a few episodes with Garnet (Beach Party and Garnet's Universe) or anytime Lapis Lazuli shows up. [[HalfHumanHybrid Steven]] has his [[HeartDrive gem]] ''in place'' of a navel. In a flashback, we see that one of the first things Amethyst did upon meeting Greg was pull up his shirt to look at his belly-button, suggesting some curiosity about the concept on their part.

* In ''MelodyTime'', Pecos Bill never had a belly button shown on his belly. Not even when he was shirtless when he was a baby and when he was a kid.

->'''[[GameShowHost Skipper]]:''' When did Barbie first get a belly button?\\
'''[[TheDitz Teresa]]:''' What's a belly button?

* In ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'', the BrattyHalfpint Sette doesn't have a navel. Combined with her tail, lack of nipples, [[OlderThanTheyLook slow aging]], and weird interactions with the [[BackgroundMagicField Khert]], her [[AmbiguouslyHuman status as human]] is questioned both by characters and the fandom.

* ComicBook/{{Superboy}} never cared for this until a crossover with ComicBook/{{Icon}}, when he saw Rocket's navel and noticed he didn't have one.

-->--''WebAnimation/BarbieLifeInTheDreamhouse'', "Let's Make a Doll"[[note]]By the way, Creator/{{Mattel}} didn't start making Franchise/{{Barbie}} dolls with belly buttons until 1999.[[/note]]

* After showing Mario wearing trunks in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', the short plumber is proven to have nipples, which he didn't have up until ''Odyssey'', however Mario still don't have belly button, even though princesses and monkeys in this series do.