History Main / EarthyBarefootCharacter

* ''VideoGame/DemonFront'' have one of it's playable characters being Maya, an alien native from an entirely jungle planet, who's the only character who forgoes shoes.
* ''VideoGame/DemonSkin'' have you playing as a BarbarianHero. Being born in the wilderness, you spend the whole game kicking ass sans shoes, even - ''especially'' - the first stage which is a snow-covered wasteland.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In Creator/ZilphaKeatleySnyder's ''Literature/TheChangeling'', Ivy Carson is definitely this.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': Rapunzel never wears shoes. Makes sense considering her down-to-earth attitude, her way with animals, and her healing powers.

** Aiwei can detect when people lie by feeling their heartbeats stutter through seismic sense, so he sports no shoes. And he does so much to the advantage of travelling around Zaofu and tacitly gaining intel about people, much to their unsuspecting eyes.

* Akari Mizunashi of ''Anime/{{ARIA}}'' is a milder example. She normally wears shoes, but in a situation where having them off is preferable, like wading, she finds it very pleasant to go barefoot. It's explained quite well [[https://amp.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/72vaor/rewatch_aria_the_animation_episode_2_discussion/ here.]] If Akari put her boots back on after they got waterlogged, it would be pretty unremarkable. However, her personality is optimistic: she sees it as an opportunity to have fun in an adorable and fun way. During Aqua Alta, her boots seep with water, so naturally, Akari spends the whole day in bare feet, and the second time around, she gets Akatsuki to join in on the fun. Need proof that a barefoot Akari is a happy Akari? Look no further. [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snapzproxscreensnapz008.jpg The cobblestone delights her.]] Does it bother her to forego shoes if she has to? [[ThePollyanna No.]] ''[[http://jonvilma.com/images/aria-the-animation-14.jpg She loves it.]]''

* In the animated music video for Gotye's song ''Bronte'', the Girl used to be one of these, wild and untamed and running around barefoot, playing with bison in the forest. However, as she gets older, she becomes gentrified. One day, when she has matured into a young college age woman, she spies her beloved forest again, instinctively abandons her shoes and trades them for bare feet. The scenes focus on her shod feet, sneakers left behind in the grass, and her bare feet crossing over a low-lying tree branch. It suggests she has freed herself from society to run wild again.

* [[SpeaksFluentAnimal N Harmonia]] from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' used to be this when he was a child, as shown through concept art and a flashback. He wears shoes as an adult, though he's still earthy as ever.

Bare feet are often used for earthy or rural characters as you can feel the ground beneath you (therefore you'll be "connected" to the earth) and you wouldn't really get that feeling from shoes or socks, so generally, a character exhibiting this trope PrefersGoingBarefoot. One of these Characters, who also happen to be a MagicalBarefooter. sometimes requires this connection to the earth for him powers to work, making bare feet a necessity for him.

As for personality, they are usually carefree, down to earth, stubborn or energetic. Normally these characters are normal people rather than a MagicalBarefooter, but when these tropes to overlap, they'll usually get DishingOutDirt or GreenThumb. They may also posses some mystical abilities like controlling animals, changing the weather and such.

* This was once the norm for every culture, with people avoiding wearing anything on their feet long after the advent of shoes. However, as fashion changed over time more people began to emulate the rich. Later on shoes basically became mandatory in the Roman Empire and barefootedness began to be seen as a "barbarian" practice suitable only for slaves. Long story short -- once the British Empire started up, it was considered a gentlemanly practice to snub barefooted peoples and treat them as primitive. One of the last major refusers of shoes was the first world-class Indian Football team -- who refused to play in the world cup for a couple of years because Fifa wouldn't allow a barefoot team. Unfortunately, instead of starting their own international league, the Indians caved in and wore shoes to the tournament (where they did quite poorly). Some teams of kids still play barefoot, and the unfortunate "tradition" of making them wear shoes when they go international persists.

* Socrates was known for going barefoot -- even in winter.

Characters who walk barefoot are often shown to be close to nature, animals and their surroundings. These characters generally live in tribal, rural or even coastal environments, who going barefoot is culturally acceptable and most everyone simply PrefersGoingBarefoot out of preference. They are sometimes depicted as a WildChild or even a NatureHero, and they tend to live away from civilization or in small communities like villages or beach towns. They tend to be deeply connected to animals (and may even have the ability to talk to them) and plants in general. They tend to be more respectful of the land and the earth. At the very least, they are the NatureLover.

Bare feet are probably used for this as you can feel the ground beneath you (therefore you'll be "connected" to the earth) and you wouldn't really get that feeling from shoes or socks, so generally, a character exhibiting this trope PrefersGoingBarefoot. One of these Characters, who also happen to be a MagicalBarefooter. sometimes requires this connection to the earth for him powers to work, making bare feet a necessity for him.

Characters who walk barefoot are often shown to be close to nature, animals and their surroundings. These characters are sometimes depicted as a WildChild or NatureHero living in jungles, forests or in the wild. They tend to be deeply connected to animals (and may even have the ability to talk to them) and plants in general. They tend to be more respectful of the land and the earth. At the very least, they are the NatureLover.

As for personality, they are usually carefree, down to earth, stubborn or energetic. If they have powers, they'll usually get DishingOutDirt or GreenThumb. They may also posses some mystical abilities like controlling animals, changing the weather and such.

Bare feet are probably used for this as you can feel the ground beneath you (therefore you'll be "connected" to the earth) and you wouldn't really get that feeling from shoes or socks, so generally, a character exhibiting this trope PrefersGoingBarefoot. Characters with powers sometimes require this connection to the earth for their powers to work, making bare feet a necessity for them.

[[DeconstructedTrope If played realistically]], such a character, particularly a human character, might have particularly calloused and dirty feet, especially if done on concrete and other hard surfaces, but BeautyIsNeverTarnished often rules this out, especially when it's used for the sake of AuthorAppeal.

Related to FertileFeet. Commonly, but not always, a Subtrope of PrefersGoingBarefoot. Compare and contrast with BarefootPoverty, BarefootSage, BarefootLoon, MagicalBarefooter, and UndeadBarefooter. The HotGypsyWoman, NatureHero, JunglePrincess and NobleSavage are frequent examples of this trope.

Bare feet are probably used for this as you can feel the ground beneath you (therefore you'll be "connected" to the earth) and you wouldn't really get that feeling from shoes or socks, so generally, a character exhibiting this trope DoesNotLikeShoes. Characters with powers sometimes require this connection to the earth for their powers to work, making bare feet a necessity for them.

Related to FertileFeet. Commonly, but not always, a Subtrope of DoesNotLikeShoes. Compare and contrast with BarefootPoverty, BarefootSage, BarefootLoon, MagicalBarefooter, and UndeadBarefooter. The HotGypsyWoman, NatureHero, JunglePrincess and NobleSavage are frequent examples of this trope.

* Likewise, Aurora's male counterpart Rory as peasant Bryan in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10595112/1/The-Prince-and-the-Spindle The Prince and the Spindle]]''. When he's forced to wear his princely attire, he describes the boots as being confining, after being [[DoesNotLikeShoes barefoot all his life]].

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'': Merrill and Fenris, the elf party members. Merrill is from one of the ForestRanger-style Dalish clans, while Fenris presumably just DoesNotLikeShoes. As most of the game is spent in a grimy city, they'll occasionally complain about stepping in something unpleasant.

* Milla Basset from ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' is the the only character to be a BarefootCartoonAnimal; her description in [[http://spacemanstrife.deviantart.com/art/Milla-the-Hound-Child-Sketch-by-R-No71-311455282 this art of her]] notes "she has a strong connection to the earth" alongside [[DoesNotLikeShoes her distaste for shoes]], implying this trope is why. Considering this is from a cast full of {{Fully Dressed Cartoon Animal}}s, this would also make her an {{inver|tedTrope}}sion of TheOneWhoWearsShoes.

** The series explores Rapunzel's habitual shoelessness further and gives it a little LampshadeHanging. She DoesNotLikeShoes. EVER. Rapunzel is always barefoot because she likes to feel the earth and wiggle her toes without restraint, even if people make fun of her for it (a living embodiment of the BeYourself [[AnAesop Aesop]]) and will only wear shoes if she must use a disguise, has to don full royal attire, or if it's winter. Mother Gothel called the habit "underdressed" and tried to guilt her into feeling ashamed of it, but Rapunzel persisted in it. If she actually puts shoes on, Rapunzel is so unused to them it changes her center of balance, she wonders "How can people walk around in these?", and they go off at the first opportunity. In "Rapunzel's Enemy", she got chastised for being "a royal in bare feet". When she got brainwashed into acting more civilized, she put on shoes voluntarily, which Flynn took as a huge warning flag that something was really wrong with her, and when Rapunzel snapped out of it while trying to save Flynn from a lethal fall over a cliff, she discarded her shoes so she could dig her feet into the terrain and wouldn't plummet off as she pulled him up with her hair. She didn't even wear them to her wedding in ''WesternAnimation/TangledEverAfter'', electing to get married barefoot (as the concept art reveals). The trait is partially inspired by her voice actor, Music/MandyMoore, who has a preference in real life of being barefoot when she performs onstage.