History Main / DangerouslyShortSkirt

* ShesGotLegs: In-universe focus on a character's legs for fanservice.

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* MeaningfulAppearance: A character's short skirt tells you something about their personality or background

Short skirts on their own aren't tropes. Here's a list of tropes that "DangerouslyShortSkirt" may refer to:

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1647292734089897500 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

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[[quoteright:280:[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ffx_2_artwork_rikku.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:280:Dressed for kicking ass, while showing hers off.]]

->'''Wrestling/JerryLawler''': Whoever she is, I like what she's not wearing!
->'''Coach''': ...the crowd seems delighted.
->'''Wrestling/JimRoss''': That woman can fight!
-->-- Wrestling/MickieJames debuts, ''Monday Night Raw''

A {{Fanservice}} trope, where {{Action Girl}}s wear short, above-the-knees skirts.

This is a great way to [[ShesGotLegs show off her long legs]], but the [[TheissTitillationTheory anticipation of getting an eyeful underneath]] is also welcomed, despite the bruises that might come from trying to sneak a peek. Sometimes, it doesn't have to be a skirt - it could be a minidress, a miniskirt, or a [[ClothingDamage torn-apart garment]] that conveniently serves as a skirt. In addition, getting a PantyShot isn't always guaranteed, but it can compensate by including ZettaiRyouiki, StockingFiller or thigh high boots, to further emphasize the legs.

A skirt qualifies as dangerously short if it's high above the knees, prone to swirling aside (despite [[MagicSkirt physics saying otherwise]]) and appears tight enough to ride up for a PantyShot. Being an ActionGirl is an added bonus, and a common subversion is to have her as a FauxActionGirl or a NeutralFemale.

This trope does make a ''tiny'' bit of sense: if you're wearing a tight skirt into combat, you'd want it to be pretty short. The longer it is, the more it'll restrict your leg movements. However, wearing a looser, longer skirt would work just as well. Or wearing, ya know, ''pants''. [[WhoWearsShortShorts Or shorts]].

SubTrope of ShesGotLegs, StockingFiller and ZettaiRyouiki.

[[noreallife]]

!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
%% * Yuri Nakamura, Kanade Tachibana, Shiina and Yui from ''Anime/AngelBeats''
%% * ''Manga/BeetTheVandelBuster'' has Milfa wears micro-miniskirts, Poala as well.
* This regularly shows up in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Tier Harribel, after she goes OneWingedAngel, dons a more stripperific outfit which leads to this.
%% ** Loly Aivirrne qualifies by wearing a schoolgirl-themed skirt despite being an Arrancar.
%% ** Rangiku Matsumoto enjoys wearing one when she's in the human world.
** Lisa Yadomaru wore both a ruffled miniskirt as a lieutenant, and a schoolgirl skirt as a Visored. She's fought in both outfits.
** Riruka Dokugamine sports a minidress, but surprised fans (who thought of her as a FauxActionGirl) by being a gun-toting CombatPragmatist.
** Ying and Yang, the BodyguardBabes of Kusaka in the second movie, wear and fight in schoolgirl-type skirts.
** Rukia Kuchiki one kicked Shrieker in the jaw while wearing a school uniform. The skirts' length is even lampshaded by Kon when he looks up at her after she kicks him to the ground.
** Orihime Inoue wears one in the tenth opening theme song, called Shojo S. She also wears a schoolgirl uniform, complete with ZettaiRyouiki following the TimeSkip, but when she tried to fight, she was taken by surprise and ultimately lost.
%% ** Cirucci Sanderwicci wears a gothic lolita-style dress. Pesche Guatiche even tried to take a peek since her skirt was so high up.
** Even Senna isn't exempt from such a fashion choice, but she's never fought while in it.
** Homura from the third movie has her Shihakusho modified in such a way that the lower half is turned into a miniskirt. Like Senna, Homura herself never fights in it.
%% ** When Nelliel turns back into her adult form, her clothes don't change with her leaving a cropped top and a miniskirt.
%% ** Nemu Kurotsuchi wears a miniskirt so far above her knees that it's a wonder why she hasn't received a PantyShot yet, especially since it fully shows off her legs.
%% ** Nozomi Kujo from the Invading Army filler arc.
%% * Agnese Sanctis from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', which is strange considering that she's a nun and she gets really offended if someone looks up her skirt.
%% * Similarly, the female Ashford Academy uniforms in ''Anime/CodeGeass''.
%% * In ''Manga/DanceInTheVampireBund'', Mina wears one.
%% * Lenalee of ''Manga/DGrayMan'' wears one with ModestyShorts underneath.
%% * ''Manga/DreamEaterMerry''
%% ** The eponymous Merry Nightmare wears such a skirt.
%% ** Isana is another one, but she's ''far'' from an ActionGirl.
%% * Anri's skirt in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' is ridiculously short.
%% * ''Anime/{{FLCL}}''. Mamimi Samejima wears one of these, but she's ''not'' an ActionGirl.
%% * ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure'' has Cure Peach and Cure Berry.
%% * ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' has Louise Halevy, in the second season. She almost qualified as a DarkActionGirl, though, what with her (admittedly justified) level-upping in jerkassity.
%% * In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', Seras Victoria has a short miniskirt, but only one PantyShot.
%% * ''Manga/HighSchoolOfTheDead'' is a famous example, where ''every'' ActionGirl has a skirt.
%% * ''Any'' of the girls in ''Manga/IkkiTousen''.
%% * Kagome Higurashi from ''Manga/InuYasha''. That's supposed to be her [[CatholicSchoolGirlsRule school uniform]].
%% * Togame in ''LightNovel/{{Katanagatari}}'' has a very short ripped-up skirt.
* In the anime version of ''Manga/LoveHina'', ''[[LadyofWar Motoko]]'' wore a school uniform with GirlishPigtails, slight ZettaiRyouiki and a Dangerously Short Skirt while holding a book. However, she doesn't get to fight in it, and it's used ''against'' her by the resident ClingyJealousGirl, who seduced her while disguised as Naru as part of a BatmanGambit.
* Ino Yamanaka on ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has a short skirt, and while she's proved herself to be an Actiongirl, she wears bandages under it. Temari (who's more like a LadyOfWar) could qualify as this as well, with all but one of the outfits she's worn that's incorporated a short skirt.
%% * Running absolutely rampant in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', where about 98% of the female characters wear them.
%% * ''Manga/OnePiece'' has this as one of Nami's outfits. The next one is even more questionable.
%% ** Robin also qualifies, particularly when she wore thigh high boots and a NiceHat.
%% * ''Anime/QueensBlade'' has Captain Liliana.
%%* In ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', the sailor scout superhero uniforms are a combination of tiny skirts with leotards underneath.
%% * ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'' has the eponymous Shana.
%% * In ''Manga/SoulEater'', Maka's skirt doesn't leave much to the imagination.
%% * Zakuro, from ''Manga/TokyoMewMew''.
%% * Dark Magician Girl from ''Franchise/YuGiOh''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
%% * ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}''.
%% * ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': Mary Marvel
* Rachel Summers from the ''ComicBook/XMen'', after she took up her mother's mantle as Marvel Girl. She wore a version of her mother's green miniskirt costume (slightly modified to fit current fashions, since the dress didn't age well from the 60's).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Despite being shown to children in TheFifties, ''Space Patrol'' had [[LoveInterest Carol Carlisle]] and [[DarkActionGirl Tonga]] defy the StayInTheKitchen role by engaging fully in Commander Buzz Corry and SpaceCadet Happy's adventures, while [[ParentService wearing miniskirts]] a decade before they became fashionable.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* "El Nuevo Exotico" Maximo competes in a piece of fabric that could charitably be called a skirt. It mainly serves to draw attention to his crotch.
* The "skirts" Wrestling/DaizeeHaze wrestles in tend to be shorter than her ModestyShorts. This is also true of her protege Wrestling/VedaScott.
* Wrestling/BlackRose wrestles in "skirts" that cover more above her waist than beneath it. This is also true of her protege Red Velvett.
* DASH Chisako wrestles wearing tassels around her hips to form a makeshift "skirt" that could be called "dangerously short LadyLegionnaireWear".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum''. Harley Quinn definitely has the short skirt down, but she's an AnticlimaxBoss.
* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'':
%% ** Noel Vermillion, who's often said to be GoingCommando.
** Trinity wore two, one with pantyhose as a member of the Six Heroes, and another as Platinum.
** [[CuteMonsterGirl Makoto Nanaya]]'s costumes only had straps keeping her skirt held in place.
%% * ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' has Etna.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Terra of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is one of a long line of Dangerously Short Skirt wearers in the ''Final Fantasy'' series; particularly noticeable in ''VideoGame/{{Dissidia|FinalFantasy}}''. In her original game, it looks more like she's wearing a LeotardOfPower, but it's close enough to her official art that it may be the case that it's ''just that short''.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'''s Tifa Lockhart wears a leather mini as animating a skirt that covered her legs was too technically complicated.
%% ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' gives us Selphie, who does get the occasional PantyShot when the camera zooms in.
%% ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'''s Rikku provides the page image.
%% ** Ashe of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' rivals Rikku for skirt shortness.
%% ** And in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', Vanille's fur skirt-thing is like this in the front, but it's longer in the back.
* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' has Valentine, but she leaves the fighting to her [[BuffySpeak gigantic skull-head thing]].
* ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'' has [[NaughtyNun Prier]] wearing a dress so short, it's actually the apron in front that prevents her from flashing everyone. She's also a KickChick.
* Juliet Starling, zombie hunting cheerleader heroine of ''VideoGame/LollipopChainsaw''.
%% * ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'':
%% ** Sophitia Alexandra, an Athenean maiden who habitually wears short skirts.
%% ** Cassandra Alexandra, Sophita's sister, also qualifies, as of ''Soul Calibur 2''.
%% * ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' utilizes this for comedic value with Cheria. Hubert, being extremely stuffy, lampshades how distracting the length of her skirt is during some skits.
%% -->'''Hubert''': "It is an affront to basic public decency!"
* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' has Jeanette Voerman, but she never fights on-screen.
%% * The Succubus boss in ''VideoGame/{{Vindictus}}''.
%% * Shiki from ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''.
[[/folder]]

%% [[folder:Web Original]]
%% * Male version with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''. When he walks up a hill, that thing is nearly at his hip. The {{fanservice}} and the pain he was in from the cold has been lampshaded by nearly all the cast commentaries.
%% [[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The third season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has the famous BeachEpisode with Ty Lee and Azula. While both are {{Action Girl}}s, the only fighting they've done in those skirts, is by playing volleyball. [[SeriousBusiness Rather intense volleyball]], but still.
* Most of the female characters of the DCAU are {{Action Girl}}s. But one that stands out the most is [[BodyguardBabes Mercy]] [[BattleButler Graves]]. Her dress is insanely short, and only kept down by virtue of being a MagicSkirt.
* Gender-flipped variant: Him of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' had this, combined with ZettaiRyouiki, thigh high boots and abundant FanDisservice. The whole design of the guy ([[AmbiguousGender ?]]) puts [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow Doctor Frank-n-Furter]] to shame.
%% * Starfire in the animated ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' show.
[[/folder]]

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This is a great way to [[ShesGotLegs show off her long legs]], but the [[TheissTitillationTheory anticipation of getting an eyeful underneath]] is also welcomed, despite the bruises that might come from trying to sneak a peek. Sometimes, it doesn't have to be a skirt - it could be a minidress, a miniskirt, or a torn-apart garment that conveniently serves as a skirt. In addition, getting a PantyShot isn't always guaranteed, but it can compensate by including ZettaiRyouiki, StockingFiller or thigh high boots, to further emphasize the legs.

%% * Running absolutely rampant in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', where about 98% of the female characters wear them.

%% * ''Manga/YumekuiMerry''
%% ** The eponymous Merry Nightmare wears such a skirt.
%% ** Isana is another one, but she's ''far'' from an ActionGirl.