History Main / EarthyBarefootCharacter

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_briarrose.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Apparently, animals tend to gravitate more toward people who don't wear shoes.]]

* Franchise/{{Batman}} villainess Poison Ivy is sometimes a barefooter, DependingOnTheArtist and the adaptation.

* In the animated music video ''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.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': Multiple:
** Rapunzel. Makes sense considering her down-to-earth attitude, her way with animals, and her healing powers.
*** ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'' explores it 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 done full royal attire, or if it's winter, but is so used to going without shoes 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". 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.
*** Also from ''Tangled: The Series'', in "[[Recap/TangledTheSeriesS1E15TheWayOfTheWillow The Way of the Willow]]" (Season 1, Episode 15), Rapunzel's titular aunt is introduced. Willow turns out to ''also'' have a no-shoe stigma and is very much a barefoot bohemian like her younger niece. Not only does this elevate the instance of the trope to SharedFamilyQuirks, but it also happens to be the very first thing Rapunzel and Willow ever talk about and bond over, with the scene also showing that the two girls are barefoot so often [[HandyFeet they practically adapted to communicating through their feet and toes]], [[CharacterTics and can even hold a conversation by gesturing with them]], and are better off without shoes to hold them back. This moment is blatant enough that it has earned its right to be the page quote.

* Izzy Bee in the Netflix docuseries ''Izzy's Koala World.'' Izzy helps her family run a koala hospital on Australia's Magnetic Island and is constantly roaming around the island picking fresh eucalyptus leaves for the koalas or looking for good places to release them. She clearly likes the outdoors, and Magnetic Island has a warm climate, so she's barefoot in nearly all of her scenes.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* 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 confiding, after being [[DoesNotLikeShoes barefoot all his life]].

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Marya was living a solitary life in the wilderness when she first encountered Diana, and even during her stint as a student at Holliday College refuses to wear shoes. This rather limits what jobs she can take to support herself living in a city so she ends up being a lifeguard.

** Toph goes barefoot all the time, even destroying the soles of shoes so she can still feel the earth easily. The reason she isn't wearing shoes isn't some symbolic connection between her and the earth, it's the literal connection between her feet and the ground. Toph is blind, and can "see" by sensing the vibrations in earth, so she needs to be barefoot for this to work. It still works to some extent if she's wearing shoes, but this amounts to a fuzzy connection. There are a couple of episodes where the soles of her feet are shown as realistically grubby. In a case where she needed to wear a pair to disguise her nature as an earthbender, Toph improvised a set of bare-bottomed shoes. Other earthbenders who can see don't need to take their shoes off. Of course, that doesn't stop most of them from going barefoot anyway. Earthbending might be possible in shoes, but is most likely much easier barefoot.

** Justified with Aiwei. He 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.

* ''Webcomic/{{Blindsprings}}'': Tamaura lives in a fairy forest, wears flowers in her hair and is always barefoot ... at least at the beginning. When she is made to migrate to an urban setting, this is no longer safe, so she must don footwear, and it reflects how her innocence goes away.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]] has some shades of this, being a rather energetic character who loves adventure, spends most of her time out in the wild, goes barefoot whenever the scenario allows, and is loved by (almost) all animals. Special mention goes to the scene in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea'' where a more proper, strict Ariel takes off her shoes so she can soak her bare feet in some ocean water as a way to reconnect with nature.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* 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.
* Hippies, naturally.
** And the Barefooter movement, following on from them.
* The Earthing movement is based on this trope. Harder to connect with the earth if you are wearing shoes. Minimal and toe shoes, as well as socks, toe socks or not, are not as inhibiting in this respect.
* Socrates was known for going barefoot - even in winter.
* Johnny Appleseed was a real guy began to go barefoot on his travels and ended up being a perfect example of this trope. Unfortunately, re-enactors tend to portray him in shoes.
[[/folder]]

* WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}, in the episodes, "RainyDays", and "TheLegendofBigKid", it would seem that the kids can be like this. TJ in particular, as he is the one whose idea it is to play in the rain in his bare feet and without a coat in the former episode (though all except Spinelli, who keeps her stockings on), and he is also the older kid who is kidnapped by the kindergarteners, and starts behaving like them in the latter episode. The kindergarteners seem to be normally barefoot anyway.

[[quoteright:350:[[Disney/SleepingBeauty https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_briarrose.png]]]]

->'''Rapunzel:''' ''You'' never wear shoes either?!
->'''Willow:''' I've always said, "How can you know where you stand in the world if you can't feel the ground beneath your feet?"

* ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'':

*** ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'' explores it 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 done full royal attire, or if it's winter, but is so used to going without shoes 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". She didn't even wear them to her wedding in ''Disney/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.

* [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]] has some shades of this, being a rather energetic character who loves adventure, spends most of her time out in the wild, goes barefoot whenever the scenario allows, and is loved by (almost) all animals. Special mention goes to the scene in ''Disney/TheLittleMermaidII'' where a more proper, strict Ariel takes off her shoes so she can soak her bare feet in some ocean water as a way to reconnect with nature.
* Disney's ''Disney/MelodyTime'', "The Legend of UsefulNotes/JohnnyAppleseed" segment. When we first see Johnny he's dressed in normal clothes, including shoes. After starting on his mission to plant apple trees throughout the U.S. his shoes wear out and he's barefoot from then on. This is TruthInTelevision as the real Johnny began to go barefoot on his travels and ended up being a perfect example of this trope.
* ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'': Briar Rose, who is barefoot and a FriendToAllLivingThings.
* Disney/{{Pocahontas}} is yet another Creator/{{Disney}} example of a barefoot character who is connected with the earth, contrasted with John Smith who wears shoes.

* ''Disney/RalphBreaksTheInternet'': The Disney Princesses who go barefoot, Moana, Pocahontas, Ariel, and the DoesNotLikeShoes Rapunzel are portrayed as earthy.

* In Zilpha Keatley Snyder's ''Literature/TheChangeling'', Ivy Carson is definitely this.
* ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' by Tamora Pierce has Rosethorn and Briar, who like to feel the earth. They even have their first bonding moment about this. In fact, a witty joke is later made that if arrogance were shoes, Briar would never be barefoot.
* Ellen in ''Literature/NewsFromNowhere''.
* Outdoorsy adventurer girl and daydreamer Frieda B Herself. of the titular ''Frieda B'' series, is introduced as an one of these, under the rhyme that she's "a girl with wiry, fiery hair, and she rarely wears shoes because she likes her feet bare."

* Rois Melior, the heroine of ''Winter Rose'' by Creator/PatriciaAMcKillip.

* While in the first ''{{Film/Maleficent}}'' film Aurora isn't one of these, by [[Film/MaleficentMistressOfEvil the sequel]] she's living entirely in the woods and totally barefoot while there, just like her animated counterpart. The villainous Queen Ingrith even mocks her for it. Additionally, the Dark Fae in their HiddenElfVillage are all barefooters as well.

* While in the first ''{{Film/Maleficent}}'' film Aurora isn't one of these, by the sequel she's living entirely in the woods and totally barefoot while there, just like her animated counterpart. The villainous Queen Ingrith even mocks her for it. Additionally, the Dark Fae in their HiddenElfVillage are all barefooters as well.

* While in the first ''{{Film/Maleficent}}'' film Aurora isn't one of these, by the sequel she's living entirely in the woods and totally barefoot while there. The villainous Queen Ingrith even mocks her for it. Additionally, the Dark Fae in their HiddenElfVillage are all barefooters as well.

* n ''Film/ShandraTheJungleGirl'', the title character is a JunglePrincess who spends the entire movie barefoot. At multiple points, other characters discuss how much more primal and closer to nature she is than normal people.

[[folder:Advertising]]
* A barefoot runner in a Mercedes-Benz commercial monologues about being "addicted to the road", apparently maintaining a strong connection with the ground through both running and driving his Mercedes.
* A businessman in a BMW commercial decides to walk around barefoot, and visit lush areas of the city where he works, finding serenity as he feels new tactile sensations in the more natural environment.
* A Lipton commercial proclaiming that "natural feels nicer" has the iced tea's natural recipe inspire its drinkers to discard their shoes, then visit the grassy park in their bare feet.
[[/folder]]

* A Lipton commercial proclaiming that "natural feels nicer" has the iced tea's natural recipe inspire its drinkers to discard their shoes, then visit the park in their bare feet.

* WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}, in the episodes, "RainyDays", and "TheLegendofBigKid", it would seem that the kids can be like this. TJ in particular, as he is the one whose idea it is to play in the rain in his bare feet and without a coat in the former episode (though all except Spinelli, who keeps her socks on), and he is also the older kid who is kidnapped by the kindergarteners, and starts behaving like them in the latter episode. The kindergarteners seem to be normally barefoot anyway.

* [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]] has some shades of this, being a rather energetic character who loves adventure, spends most of her time out in the wild, goes barefoot whenever the scenario allows, and is loved by (almost) all animals. Special mention goes to the scene in [[Disney/TheLittleMermaidII]] where a more proper, strict Ariel takes off her shoes so she can soak her bare feet in some ocean water as a way to reconnect with nature.

Related to FertileFeet. Subtrope of DoesNotLikeShoes. Compare and contrast with BarefootPoverty, BarefootSage, BarefootLoon, MagicalBarefooter, and UndeadBarefooter. The HotGypsyWoman, JunglePrincess and NobleSavage are frequent examples of this trope.

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. At the very least, they are the NatureLover.

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

* Disney/{{Pocahontas}} is yet another Creator/{{Disney}} example.