Line #70 Main/PeltsOfTheBarbarian


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8	[[quoteright:329:[[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/astrid_pelts.png]]]]
9	[[caption-width-right:329:Astrid follows the dress code of the viking warriors.]]
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11	->''"Oh please god let this episode be about Reb killing people with a battle axe while riding on a motorcycle, dressed in furs and wearing a huge horned helmet!"''
12	-->-- ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'' reviewing the ''Series/MiamiVice'' episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4EdQLCQOh4 "Viking Bikers From Hell"]] (where Creator/RebBrown played the villain).
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14	Barbarians, particularly those from the GrimUpNorth, typically wear garments made of rough furs, leathers, hides, and simple cloth. Thus such clothing can indicate the wearers are part of a primitive, but ProudWarriorRace (even if not everyone in that race is particularly tough).
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16	What this means can vary. When such people are portrayed as savage and underdeveloped, such clothing stands in stark contrast to the "civilized" people, where even their peasants wear nicer materials.
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18	Other times these clothes are just treated as part of the barbarian charm. Who has time to make fancy clothes when they often have to fight packs of wolves, and/or frost giants? There's no point in making the [[RequisiteRoyalRegalia chief's robes]] out of velvet, [[SymbolMotifClothing embroidered symbols]], and ermine edging. Just cut bearskins into cloak shapes and toss them over their shoulders as a BadassCape.
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20	The exact clothing worn will vary. Often these people are fully dressed, but just as often they mainly wear {{loin cloth}}s and {{fur bikini}}s. They also tend to dress this way whether they are in their homeland or not (so this trope doesn't preclude ExposedToTheElements).
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22	Two common RealLife groups depicted this way in media are [[HornyVikings Vikings]] and Mongols, although that often falls into HollywoodCostuming. You can often tell {{fantasy counterpart culture}}s of them if the people dress this way.
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24	Can also overlap with NemeanSkinning.
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26	Compare PrettyInMink (fur symbolizing wealth, beauty, and luxury instead of rough living), AnIceSuit, BeardOfBarbarism (ways of styling a beard to show toughness) and HornsOfBarbarism.
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28	See also BarbarianHero (characters who tend to dress like this), FrazettaMan (primitive people who wear very little hide clothing), PostApunkalypticArmor (various materials crudely made into clothes), NubileSavage (playing this trope for fanservice), and TheStrongman (who might wear it in his act).
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30	Contrast StylishProtectionGear.
31
32	A SubTrope of StockCostumeTraits.
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34	----
35	!!Examples:
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37	[[foldercontrol]]
38
39	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
40	* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
41	** Nosferatu Zodd, the BloodKnight Apostle who has stalked the battlefield for over 300 years, wears animal pelts and leather about his loins to emphasize his beast-like and barbaric persona. It's seemingly more his style preference than any particular need to keep warm since he once fought in the snow barefoot and wearing nothing but a loincloth with no sign of frostbite. Indeed, the first time that Guts encountered him he was fighting [[FullFrontalAssault completely naked]]!
42	** Pelts and leather is the unofficial uniform of the Black Dog Knights, Midland's [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores penal army]] composed of the kingdom's worst convicted rapists and murderers led by Apostle and PsychoForHire Wyald. They grow their hair long and wild, wearing little besides their cuirasses and the furs around their loins and shoulders. Their leader Wyald, in particular, wears a great wolf pelt with the animal's face still on it over his head and shoulders, as well as black fur pelts lashed around his shins and forearms by leather thongs. The Black Dog Knights are considered to be more of a mob of barbarians than a proper army, as likely to RapePillageAndBurn the King's subjects as the enemy, for which they are posted on the country's frontiers where their presence won't disgrace the regular military.
43	* ''Manga/DrStone'': BigBad and EvilLuddite Tsukasa and his followers are regularly seen wearing these, and while not all -- or even most -- of them are portrayed as villainous, the ones that are very much act like they're straight out of a Main/BarbarianTribe (albeit one significantly more intelligent than most examples).
44	* In ''Anime/VoltesV'', [[TheEvilPrince Prince Heinel]], being [[BlueBlood a member of the Boazanian Royal Family]], dons a blue mink mantle adorned with light blue furs. He's also a WarriorPrince who graduated as the top cadet at the Boazanian Institute of Military Sciences and Warfare, and was the only one competent enough to lead [[AlienInvasion the Earthern Invasion]].
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Arts]]
48	* ''Art/OniEmbodiments'': The Onis don't seem to belong to a sophisticated civilization but rather be embodiments of a primitive, demonic race that still relies on wooden clubs for fighting and uses striped pelts to cover their loins.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Comic Books]]
52	* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'':
53	** The Normans and Goths wear furry clothing.
54	** In contrast, Roman standard-bearers are the civilized version, who wear more stylish lion skin capes.
55	** One goth in ''Recap/AsterixTheLegionary'' turns out to be wearing a freestanding fur cape as his only clothing.
56	* In ''Magazine/DragonMagazine'', a comic strip showed several knights in armor with one guy dressed in furs with a horned helmet who thought it was casual day.
57	* At his goofiest, Kraven the Hunter, perennial foe of ComicBook/SpiderMan, wears an entire lion's head as a vest, and zebra skin pants. More modern depictions downplay this, but still want to communicate his obsession with being the world's greatest hunter, resulting in this trope.
58	* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Giganta wears a dress made out of leopard skin and bracelets of bone and tooth.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
62	* In ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'', Broly wears a pelt around his waist. It's actually the ear of a creature he befriended on Planet Vampa. As it turns out, his father Paragus didn't like the idea of his son befriending the creature, seeing it as a hindrance to his training and shot the creature's ear off, driving it away. Broly wears it as a memento.
63	* ''Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon'':
64	** Many of the Vikings in this franchise cover themselves large pelts, from Stoic's huge fur cape to Gobber's fuzzy vest.
65	** In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'', the kids get CostumeEvolution, with ActionGirl Astrid's new outfit [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140116201123/howtotrainyourdragon/images/2/26/Astrid-httyd-2.jpg being like this]]. She gets a fur hood, boots, and even what's basically a short fur petticoat under her LadyLegionnaireWear.
66	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'', Boromir wears a thick pelt in addition to a [[HornyVikings horned helmet]], which seems to place him in the "barbarian Northerner" bracket. (In contrast, in [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings the book]], Boromir wore a [[PrettyInMink fur-lined coat]], and his homeland of Gondor is shown as highly civilized and most closely based on Greco-Roman culture.)
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68
69	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
70	* In ''Film/The13thWarrior'', the Vikings wear long furry capes as they travel to help King Hrothgar defend his lands.
71	* In ''Film/BlackPanther2018'' the Jabari tribe are even more isolationist than the rest of Wakanda, and live in the mountains, which are so high they are covered in snow. Hence the people there wear some animal pelts (but not too much, to keep their badass appearance).
72	* When we first see the villain in ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' he is wearing skulls and black animal hides. He was raised by the brutal Kurgan tribes from the steppes of Russia.
73	* In the film of ''Film/TheHobbit'', the Dwarfs have been essentially nomadic after Smaug drove them out. Some of them wear rough pelts on their travels, such as Thorin's cape. After they regain the kingdom under the mountain, they trade their clothes for fine robes.
74	* ''Film/TheLastLegion'': Goths are covered in furs head to toe (some even wear [[HornyVikings horned helmets]]), Romans only when they have to cross the snowed Alps (and even then, they wear only a fraction of the furs worn by the average Goth).
75	* ''Film/{{Conan the Barbarian\|1982}}'' obviously; the title character spends a lot of time wrapped in pelts and/or armor. The director of the [[Film/ConanTheDestroyer sequel]] wasn't happy about this and insisted on Arnie having more {{Walking Shirtless Scene}}s so the [[FanService audience could enjoy the sight]]. The group of heroes from the latter film still put on fur coats at one point, as the wizard Toth Amon lives in a castle in the middle of a mountain lake. Additionally, Malak wrapped his calves in fur.
76	* ''Film/RedSonja'': Sonja's red coat is circled with fur.
77	* ''Film/{{The Viking\|1928}}'' (1928): Many of the Vikings attacking Lord Alwin's castle wear primitive fur garments, and so do many of the Greenlanders forming Eric the Red's company. In contrast Leif, King Olaf and Olaf's guests do not wear furs, giving the impression that in the movie's world, wearing shaggy furs and pelts is reserved for pagans.
78	* ''Film/TheVikings'' (1958): ''Every'' Viking warrior has his calves wrapped in fur, the stump in place of the cut off hand of Eric (Creator/TonyCurtis) is wrapped in fur, and Einar (Creator/KirkDouglas) wears a long fur cape as he embarks on his longship for the FinalBattle.
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81	[[folder:Literature]]
82	* Although the eponymous legendary warrior of ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' is often depicted wearing just a loin cloth, he'll often wear rough pelts when the need to dress warmer comes. This applies to the books and adaptations.
83	* The standard outfit of the barbarian heroes of the Literature/{{Discworld}} comprises a leather loincloth, a few scraps of metal, and an optional fur or leather cloak. Spoofed with Nijel the Barbarian in ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'', who is learning barbarian heroing from a book, and wears his loincloth over the top of woolen longjohns.
84	* ''Literature/LoneWolf'': The Ice Barbarians of Kalte wear heavy fur clothes to protect themselves from the cold. Of course, the hero and his guides are similarly garbed when they venture in this arctic region.
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87	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
88	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': The Northerners (chiefly House Stark), the Night's Watch and the Wildlings in the GrimUpNorth have an excuse, given that it's cold and [[ArcWords winter is coming]]. Certainly everyone south of where they live regard them as barbarians (this includes the Northerners and the Night's Watch initially thinking this of the wildlings). In the commentary, Creator/LenaHeadey talked of how attractive the actors are with fur wrapped around them. Incidentally, the coats were stitched together from faux fur IKEA throwrugs (it was a cheap solution that also avoided using animal fur).
89	** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Lord Rickon Stark wears the traditional black fur coat of House Stark.
90	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': The two hunters seen wandering close to the Harfoots' land out of season, wear ragged clothes, black sheepskins wrapped in multiple pelts and headpieces made of leather.
91	* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'' (starting with the films) the Klingons are normally dressed in leathers and furs, as befitting their status as the archetypal ProudWarriorRace.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Magazine]]
95	* ''Magazine/SuperScienceFiction'': The April 1958 issue has a woman with a three-horned helmet, dressed in [[PeltsOfTheBarbarian tiger-like furs]]. She is pulling two men in spacesuits along with a rope.
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98	[[folder:Music]]
99	* ''Music/ClamaviDeProfundis'': When he was still a warlord, Oshrjad Bonebreaker wore a massive pelt as a cape.
100	* ''Music/{{Gloryhammer}}'': The BarbarianHero Hootsman is always described as "wearing armor made from wolf". [[spoiler:In "Ancient Fires of Cosmic Destiny" it has been upgraded to ''holy'' armor made from wolf, reflecting his [[DeityOfHumanOrigin ascension to divinity]].]]
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102
103	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
104	* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': The Clans with mammalian totems (Coyote, Fire Mandrill, Ghost Bear, Nova Cat, Sea Fox, Smoke Jaguar, and Wolf) likes to wear furs as their ceremonial garb for important functions, though they wear more practical outfits most of the time (especially in the sweltering cockpits of their battlemechs.
105	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' often includes this as armor options for characters, whether or not they chose the barbarian character class (which in this game is part vocation and part culture).
106	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': The Norscans (evil satanic Vikings) wear animal furs along with ornate armor (the proportions vary depending on how badass/rich they are).
107	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
108	** The [[Literature/SpaceWolf Space Wolves]] (heroic space Vikings) often wear wolf skins over their armor, usually one they've killed during their rites of passage. The Literature/WhiteScars (heroic space Mongols) do it to a lesser degree.
109	** The Snakebites (luddite SpaceOrcs) mostly wear the poorly-cured hides of large monsters, typically adorned with the fangs and claws of their former owners.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Video Games]]
113	* ''VideoGame/BloonsTowerDefense 6'' has a cave monkey in the map "Frozen Over", which is dressed in a generic spotted fur cloak similar to that worn by your stereotypical caveman.
114	* Simon Belmont, from ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' has been always wearing his anachronistic barbarian outfit, both in the original timeline and in the [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadowMirrorOFFate reboot]]. In the later at least it's roughly in the XI century, so it stands out less than the original timeline where he lived in the XVII century.
115	* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'': Ayla's people live in prehistoric times, so animal skins are their main source of clothing, but Ayla is a badass by herself, and wears a gray FurBikini, with a long tail attached.
116	* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' the kingdom of Forossa collapsed after a war, so the people turned into lawless raiders. The [[http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/bandit-set bandit armor set]] is from there, and it's made of metal, leathers, furs, and a pile of animal skulls on one shoulder. Even before that, Forossan warriors were known for their savagery on the battlefield. The actual Forossa Knight armor, while better put together, still has [[https://40.media.tumblr.com/e84d08972ebbdac3ec943fe164e8f499/tumblr_n6hxpzmLaI1skceqmo1_500.jpg furs over the shoulderplates]], giving it a distinctly wild feel. [[https://i.imgur.com/1LmlqhZ.jpg And then there's the armor worn by Vengarl of Forossa]], the guy even other Forossans considered to be a terrifying, bloodthirsty lunatic (although [[LosingYourHead part of him]] has since mellowed out).
117	* In ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' the Brigand leader Vvulf wears a full wolf skin coat with the wolf's head still on, with it resting on his shoulder and the high level regular brigands also wear wolf skin coats with the ones wielding daggers wearing them with metal masks and the brigand hunters wearing the wolf's head as a hood
118	* Some of the Snowmads in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' wear pelts. The most notable example is their leader, [[BigBad Lord Fredrik]], who wears a [[BadassCape fur cape]].
119	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
120	** Throughout the series, hide and fur are the most common materials for crafting low-end Light Armor. If the armor is given a racial origin, it is commonly [[HornyVikings Nordic]] or, in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', [[NobleSavage Ashlander]] in origin. (Though more civilized [[OurElvesAreDifferent Dunmer (Dark Elves)]] will use it as well.)
121	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', set in the homeland of the aforementioned [[HornyVikings Nords]], takes this aesthetic and runs with it. To note:
122	*** The default male [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] depicted on the cover wears heavy fur armor (and a [[HornyVikings horned helm]])--just to drive a point home that the eponymous setting is a GrimUpNorth. In game the Dragonborn can wear Fur Armor ripped from the cold corpses of bandits or Forsworn Armor from the group of the same name, the latter of which has a [[SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset lot of skulls (some of them human)]]. Since fur armor is just a bunch of animal pelts stitched together it is really only good in the early game before the Dragonborn can start forging/finding better armor. Forsworn armor is found later in the game and is outclassed by the armor you already should have, not like the forsworn need it as their magical resistance and high levels make them pretty durable, especially the [[EliteMook Briarhearts]].
123	*** The Stormcloak Officer armor, such as the one worn by Galmar Stone-Fist, has a bear pelt to act as a cape and hat.
124	*** Most of the clothing worn by [[OurGiantsAreBigger Giants]] is made up of pelts and fur, though few wear more than a simple loin cloth.
125	** Bosmer (Wood Elves) living in Valenwood are bound by the Green Pact, which says they can't harm any local plants. This combined with some other cultural quirks, such as ritual cannibalism and theft being somewhat acceptable, makes other races see them as wild and uncivilized. It also means their clothing and armor are primarily made of leather and [[SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset bone]].
126	* ''VideoGame/EvilIslands'': Everyone in Gipath (both allies and enemies) wear fur and leather clothes and armor, as opposed to the more civilized inhabitants of Ingos and Suslanger, who wear either more refined silk clothes or metal armor.
127	* ''VideoGame/FearAndHunger'': Befitting a BarbarianHero, Ragnvaldr starts off with fur armor made from leather and wolf pelts.
128	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' lets Link wear a Barbarian armor set with animal skins, a horned monster skull for a helmet, and a bare midriff. Each piece increases attack power.
129	* In ''VideoGame/TheLongDark'' you initially start out with a set of conventional clothing, but as you kill animals you can craft your own fur clothing, which includes deer skin pants and boots, wolf skin coat and bear skin bedroll. These are warmer but heavier than conventional clothing. There is even a Steam achievement called Wrapped in Furs for using all of them at once.
130	* ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' has Sagani, a boreal dwarf ranger from the [[NorthIsColdSouthIsHot icy, far southern]] island of Naasitaq, who comes to you dressed in midriff-baring furs and hides.
131	* Princess Anaele of Skalt in ''VisualNovel/SevenKingdomsThePrincessProblem'' comes from a Viking-inspired GrimUpNorth culture and dresses accordingly -- in light battle armor and a cloak with a massive fur collar -- despite being a representative of her country on a ''diplomatic'' summit. Her entourage follows suit, showing off their fur-trimmed clothes, -- and it is strongly implied that they do it on purpose, to annoy the rest of the delegates and to demonstrate that they prefer swords over words.
132	* One of the armors in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheWorld'' is the "Radiant Berserker", which has a white tiger skin as a ShowgirlSkirt.
133	* Beastmasters in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' wear animal skin loincloths and hoods... and that's it, really. Orc shamans wear wolf skins as well.
134	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': The Lich King, who sits on the Frozen Throne, wears furry boots and fur-trimmed gauntlets as part of his ScaryImpracticalArmor.
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:Webcomics]]
138	* Appears fairly often in ''WebComic/{{Oglaf}}'' (warning: this comic is generally NSFW), where many characters wear rough clothing and sleep in furs instead of sheets and blankets. [[https://www.oglaf.com/northerner/ Parodied here]] where a man wearing what appears to be a bearskin is actually under assault from a "flatbear," which another man drives off with a club.
139	* In ''WebComic/YokokasQuest'', Hurricane's fur cape.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Western Animation]]
143	* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': In "Dexter the Barbarian", Dexter, in his barbarian fantasy, fights with a pack of wolves and wears their fur. In reality, it turned out that he shaved his dog.
144	* In the ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' cartoon, Jim comes across the Sword of Righteousness, a TalkingWeapon which tries to encourage Jim to dress like a real hero, which includes Viking-style furry clothes as well as a [[BraidsOfBarbarism braided blonde wig]]. [[spoiler:Then it turns out the sword doesn't know what it's doing, and had never successfully helped a hero win a fight.]]
145	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'': Odin is one of the children of Oberon, but otherwise still like the Asgardian figure of legend. He wears a white bearskin cape, which turns out to help him transform into a polar bear when he needs to.
146	* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'': In "K.O., Rad, and Enid!", Enid's suggestion for a theme for the Bodega Heroes' costumes is fur-and-leather barbarian armor. Unfortunately, her barbarian costume proves to be very uncomfortable and itchy, and gives her a rash.
147	* ''WesternAnimation/ThundarrTheBarbarian'': Thundarr is a barbarian warrior in a post-apocalyptic world. He wears what is basically a brown fur vest and loincloth. Every other barbarian we see also has a fur costume of some sort.
148	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PeltsOfTheBarbarian