History Main / TheCoatsAreOff

* ''Fanfic/TheEndOfTheWorld'': During the 3rd Quarter Quell, when the peacekeepers arrive to arrest the Rebels in the viewing center, most of the victors present (whether innocent or guilty) scramble to grab anything that could be used as a weapon. District 4 mentor Harris Greaves simply takes off his jacket and flexes his muscles before charging into the fray.

* In ''[[Film/TheTransporter2 Transporter 2]]'', Frank carefully takes off his jacket, folds it and puts it on the hood of his car (declaring that he'd just had it dry-cleaned), before proceeding to wipe the floor with the teenagers that [[MuggingTheMonster tried to steal his car]].

* ''Film/{{Blade}}'' does this right before going sword-to-sword with Drake in the third film.

* In ''Film/{{Titanic|1997}}'', Rose takes off her pink coat before going to a flooded deck to rescue Jack.

* In ''Film/Transporter2'', Frank carefully takes off his jacket, folds it and puts it on the hood of his car (declaring that he'd just had it dry-cleaned), before proceeding to wipe the floor with the teenagers that [[MuggingTheMonster tried to steal his car]].
* In ''Jackie Chan's Film/WhoAmI1998'' the final fight features Chan in a tag-team battle with two skilled martial artists. When Chan uses the first one's jacket and tie against him, the second one sensibly removes his before he jumps into the fight.
* ''Film/WonderWoman2017'': Within the movie, the first time the Wonder Woman costume is seen in full is when Diana sheds the cloak she had been wearing for most of the film in order to leave the trenches and storm across No Mans Land [[OneWomanArmy by herself]].

** In contrast to the movies where he always kept his cape on during lightsaber duels, Count Dooku does it a lot too in the series.

** In contrast to the movies, Count Dooku does it a lot too in the series.

* In contrast to the movie (see film section for more details), ''VideoGame/StarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeOfTheSith'', Mace Windu does discard his Jedi robe during his mission to capture Chancellor Palpatine. Reason for this change is unknown, possibly only due to RuleOfCool.

* In contrast to the movie (see film section for more details), ''VideoGame/StarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeOfTheSith'', Mace Windu does discard his Jedi robe during his mission to capture the Chancellor. Reason for this change is unknown, possibly only due to RuleOfCool.

* In contrast to the movie (see film section for more details), ''VideoGame/StarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeOfTheSith'', Mace Windu does discard his Jedi robe during his mission to capture chancellor. Reason for this change is unknown, possibly only due to RuleOfCool.

* In contrast to the movie (see film section for more details), in ''VideoGame/StarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeOfTheSith'', Mace Windu does discard his jedi robe before going on a mission to capture the chancellor. Reason for this change is unknown, possibly only due to RuleOfCool.

* ''VideoGame/ShockTroopers'' has the main villain, only known as "Leader", discard his cape right before the FinalBoss battle with him. Right after discarding his cape, he proceeds to star at the screen and do an EvilLaugh. Afterwards, final boss battle begins!

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', Jiminy takes off his coat when he tries to pick a fight with Lampwick.

* ''VideoGame/ShockTroopers'' has the main villain, only known as "Leader" discard his cape right before the FinalBoss battle with him. Right after discarding his cape, he proceeds to star at the screen and do an EvilLaugh. Afterwards, final boss battle begins!

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'': After finding out how to beat Telence T. D'Arby at his own game, Jotaro casually removes his hat and place it aside, and soon Telence is unable to guess Jotaro's next move.

* Justified a couple of times on ''Series/{{CSINY}}'':
** Lab coats are normally worn while processing evidence and/or doing reconstructions, but in 'Corporate Warriors,' Mac is seen brandishing bladed weapons, including a katana, without one because it would impede his range of motion. (His black t-shirt and track pants aren't hurting anyone's eyes, either.)
** Also downplayed in 'Snow Day.' After the BigBad shoots the sprinklers so they kick on, Mac removes his jacket, quietly balls it up and sets it aside while discussing tactics with Sheldon & Stella. Ostensibly, it would be uncomfortable if soaked, but he'll need that range of motion again before the showdown's over.

** In the movie tie-in Chapter 0, [[OldSoldier Garp]] and [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Sengoku]] use the [[BadassInANiceSuit nice suit variant]], flinging off their coats before fighting [[PowerFloats Shiki]]. Garp also has the habit of flinging away his coat ''and'' his suit jacket whenever he prepares to toss ''one thousand cannonballs'' in a row barehanded, complete with [[LetsGetDangerous cracking his knuckles]].

* Similar to ([[OlderThanTheyThink and perhaps the inspiration for]]) the ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' example below is one from ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam''. [[spoiler: After Domon tells her that he loves her, Rain breaks free from the Devil Gundam. As she's naked, Domon swiftly covers her with his cloak. They then destroy the Devil Gundam once and for all.]]

* There's a running joke among the ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' fandom that any Akatsuki member who takes off or loses their cloak in a fight will be dead by the end of that battle.[[note]]So far, this has been the case every single time.[[/note]] However, that also means that whoever they're fighting is tough enough for them to play for keeps.
** It should be noted that only three of them ([[spoiler:Sasori, Kisame, and Kakuzu]][[note]]Four if you count Asura Pain.[[/note]]) took off their cloaks intentionally. The rest lost theirs as a result of ClothingDamage, except for [[spoiler:Hidan and Deva Pain]] who just had theirs ripped open. However, when Konan fights [[spoiler:Tobi]], [[spoiler:Konan dies with her cloak still on (although it opens a little after she dies)]], while [[spoiler:Tobi survives despite losing his cloak]].

* In ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', Yukimura dons a cloak bearing the Takeda emblem for most of the second season. However, faced with a humongous mechanical fortress, he throws it away to reveal the emblem of the Sanada on his back, signifying how he has finally become his own man. He then proceeds to stop the fortress' advance single-handed, with a pair of spears.
** Similarly, in the movie he rips off his BadassLongcoat [[spoiler:that represents his status as the commander of the Takeda army]] before he and Masamune go at each other, signaling that his desire to fight Masamune is personal and unrelated to the Takeda and the Date being enemies.
* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Simon takes off his coat to cover the naked Nia, freed from the Anti-Spiral. Keep in mind here that [[{{Fanservice}} without his coat, Simon is shirtless save for a man-corset.]]
** ''[[TheMovie Lagann-hen]]'' has Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann take off his [[RuleOfCool cape made out of red Spiral flames]] to unleash its [[FinishingMove Giga Drill Break]].
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' ''Re'', Arima throws off his iconic coat [[spoiler:before engaging in his final battle with Kaneki.]]

* Yami Yugi of ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' fame throws off or switches his jacket to "cape-style" when he's ready to get serious in a duel.
** In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', Alexander tosses off his longcoat just before the final battle.
* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' Hiei dramatically takes of his BadassLongCoat before every single fight. Most of the time he's shirtless under there, other times he's wearing a black or light blue shirt. Sometimes other characters do too, like Yusuke, Kuwabara, Raiko (in the movie), and Younger Toguro.

* Throughout the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' series, Meta Knight removes his cape before dueling Kirby. In ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'', the Beast Pack bosses [[SexyCatPerson Clawroline]] and [[KingOfBeasts Leongar]] also throw off their capes before they attack.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'' and its remake ''VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX'' [[BigBad Sigma]] tosses away his coat and spiked shoulder pads holding it before fighting X. Then he pulls out a GODDAMN LIGHTSABER. He does it again in ''VideoGame/MegaManX5''.
* Zero briefly wears a BadassCape at the beginning of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 2'', and pulls it off, ready to kick ass when the Neo Arcadian military spot him.

** [[spoiler: Saya]]'s final part of her support attack has her tossing her coat revealing quite [[{{Fanservice}} the eye-candy]] before catching her two swords in the air and slashing them to her enemy.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In the Heaven's Feel Route of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', [[spoiler: Dark Sakura ''seems'' to kill Kotomine, leaving only his priest's robes behind. But in the true ending, when Shirou goes to destroy Avenger, he finds Kotomine barring his path. This is the only scene in the entire game where Kotomine ''isn't'' wearing his coat, and it's also his most badass. He manages to give a really long speech ''and'' nearly beat Shirou to death, despite the fact that his heart completely ceased to function -- a condition he survived for ''two days''.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/YoJinBo'', Bo sheds his cape (and allows it to be shredded) to gain the upper hand when facing off against Kasumimaru.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

** When [[OldSoldier Captain-Commander Yamamoto]] fights he loses his haori to reveal his incredibly muscled chest and arms.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Kokushibo already seemed to be too much trouble with his clothes fully on, Kokushibo was making Muichiro, Himejima and Sanemi, three Hashira, break a sweat against him, then Himejima and Sanemi manage to rip Kokushibo's haori (coat) off and that's where Kokushibo stops playing around, Himejima and Sanemi went from trying to go on the offensive to then struggling not to die against Kokushibo's devastating long range attacks.

** Rugal Bernstein in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters94'' first fights in a full tux and without using any of his special moves, but ditches the jacket and shirt for round 2 when he [[DifficultySpike gets serious on your ass]] and shows you why he is the ''definitive'' SNKBoss. In his subsequent appearances, he has kept the green t-shirt he wore underneath.
** The ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters99'' has this. [[SNKBoss Krizalid]] first appears with a coat in which the players could [[AnticlimaxBoss beat him with relative ease]]. After winning the round, he then [[IncendiaryExponent burns his]] [[PowerLimiter coat]] [[RuleOfCool off]] and starts [[DifficultySpike showing off]] [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard his true power]]. He also does this in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2002: Unlimited Match'' as a special intro to certain characters on the Playstation 2. On all other versions, this becomes his regular intro, while standing without his coat becomes his special intro.

* In ''Machinima/VideoGameChampionshipWrestling'', [[VideoGame/Persona4 Kanji Tatsumi]] wears his school uniform jacket for his entrance but removes it for his matches. This is probably to avoid drawing attention to the game's character creator making it impossible to replicate Kanji's famous CoatCape.

[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fma_coat.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[CurbStompBattle Asses are about to be kicked.]]\\

* Fujiko's introduction in ''Anime/LupinIIIDeadOrAlive'' comes from a mix of tropes. She enters a gladiatorial area in a cloak covering her entire body, hiding her face as well. [[KnifeNut General Headhunter]] removes it for her by throwing boomerang-knives that circle her and [[ClothingDamage destroy her cloak]], which is taken as a signal to begin combat.

* Whenever a character in Manga/{{Saint Seiya}} removes their {{Badass Cape}} it is a sign that the conversation is over and the real action is about to begin.

* Necromancers in ComicBook/DeathVigil have this habit of taking their tops off when it's time to get serious, as the Sigils they use to summon {{Eldritch Abomination}}s are tattooed on them, and are only useable when they are visible.

* A variation in ''Film/{{Deadpool 2016}}'': Negasonic Teenage Warhead wears a BadassLongcoat and a turtleneck over her X-Men uniform on the way to the final battle. However both are incinerated the instant she ignites her powers to fight Angel Dust.

* In the ''Film/MortalKombat'' [[TheMovie movie]], [[BigBad Shang Tsung]] takes off his big longcoat just before facing off with Liu Kang.

* In ''Film/{{Transporter 2}}'', Frank carefully takes off his jacket, folds it and puts it on the hood of his car (declaring that he'd just had it dry-cleaned), before proceeding to wipe the floor with the teenagers that [[MuggingTheMonster tried to steal his car]].
* In ''Jackie Chan's Film/WhoAmI1998?'' the final fight features Chan in a tag-team battle with two skilled martial artists. When Chan uses the first one's jacket and tie against him, the second one sensibly removes his before he jumps into the fight.

* The moment you enter combat time in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'', the Deathclaw NPC Goris drops his monk-like robe to rip the enemy a new one, then puts it back on to hide his features from friendly commoners.

* A time-honored tradition in the ''Videogame/{{Yakuza}}'' series. Most of the major boss fights are precluded by the characters throwing off their shirt in a single swoop so that they can show off their [[TattooedCrook Irezumi]] and if they look unassuming at first, show off that they're also pretty damn buff underneath. Amusingly enough, this action also takes off any undershirt or garments they have worn under their coats. The only time a justified version of this was done in ''Videogame/Yakuza0'', wherein before the first fight with Kuze. He had his coat on his shoulders so he could pull this off much more easily.

* In the Heaven's Feel Route of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', [[spoiler: Dark Sakura ''seems'' to kill Kotomine, leaving only his priest’s robes behind. But in the true ending, when Shirou goes to destroy Avenger, he finds Kotomine barring his path. This is the only scene in the entire game where Kotomine ''isn't'' wearing his coat, and it's also his most badass. He manages to give a really long speech ''and'' nearly beat Shirou to death, despite the fact that his heart completely ceased to function -- a condition he survived for ''two days''.]]