Line #16 Main/SupernaturalFloatingHair


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9	[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/ApricotCookies https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/luminaryoflighthair.png]]]]
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11	->''And all should cry, Beware! Beware!\
12	His flashing eyes, his floating hair!''
13	-->-- '''Creator/SamuelTaylorColeridge''', Literature/KublaKhan
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15	You have a supernatural character. Maybe you're going for maximum scares and have made their body or face grotesque and frightening, but don't know what else to do with them. Or maybe you want them to look fairly normal or beautiful and want one strange element or effect. An easy route to go in either case is to remove Earthly gravity from their hair.
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17	Although hair blowing in the breeze or flowing in water is often used as an image of beauty, particularly in advertising, the effect of someone's hair billowing and floating around them ''without'' any air or water currents to move it is strange and often frightening. The only explanation could be some otherworldly force or power, and it's usually not a good thing. Ghosts, witches, and other supernatural entities may have constantly-floating hair or just run an occasional supernatural breeze through it for a moment of drama, and this imagery is often used for fear, though it can be featured in lighter contexts for general magic.
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19	Given that longer hair is more dramatic when floating like this and the connotations of long hair to feminine beauty, this trope is usually a feature of supernatural women. For this trope to apply, the hair does not need to be in constant motion, but the hair must be in sustained fluid motion at some point, and not through natural forces. If the entire being is floaty, the hair must stand out within that. Not to be confused with PrehensileHair, where the hair moves on the bearer's direction and serves as a tool, or DramaticWind, where the visual may be invoked but with natural causes. If it's being used to [[PowerMakeover demonstrate possession of incredible power]], then it overlaps with PowerFloats. Compare to AntiGravityClothing, where, for some reason, a piece of somebody's outfit refuses to obey gravity.
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21	----
22	!!Examples:
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24	[[foldercontrol]]
25
26	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
27	* Devilish child Chizumi in ''Manga/DissolvingClassroom'' has a short bob hairstyle, but it still floats around her without explanation when she approaches Keiko in the first chapter.
28	* Akiko from ''Metsuko ni Yoroshiku'' and ''Manga/ICantUnderstandWhatMyHusbandIsSaying'' has a lock of hair that doesn't so much float as it does hang straight upwards in blatant disregard of gravity (as well as constantly wriggle as if it were a snake). The exact reason behind it is never specified, though it is almost certainly supernatural in nature given her superhuman strength.
29	* In ''Literature/SoImASpiderSoWhat'' "D" is a goddess of death who prefers to assume the form of a young teenage girl. If she stops actively suppressing her true nature, her hair can start floating around her.
30	* In ''Manga/{{Uzumaki}}'', one form of the spiral curse plaguing the town of Kurozu-cho is living hair which stands upward in mesmerizing spiral disks which consume the enemy of the person attached.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Books]]
34	* ''ComicBook/KaijuDayz'': Big Mama is mostly reptilian in appearance, save for her massive mane of hair that drifts about as though underwater.
35	* A signifier of [[ComicBook/LegionMarvelComics Legion's]] mutant powers is how all of the straight hairs on his head point straight up and resists restyling. Some covers of his solo comics parody it by depicting him as a paintbrush or a stick of dynamite.
36	* ''ComicBook/SilverSurferBlack'': The primordial dark god Knull's hair floats like he's underwater, emphasizing his otherworldly nature and overwhelming power.
37	* ''ComicBook/DcVsVampires'': After being [[spoiler: turned into a vampire, Wonder Woman's hair seems to be constantly floating, emphasizing her otherworldly, now undead nature.]]
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
41	* The three Ghost Children in ''{{WesternAnimation/Coraline}}'' have floating hair, but it's most visible on the long-haired Tall Ghost Girl.
42	* Hera's hair in ''{{WesternAnimation/Hercules}}'' stands out among the Olympian gods' for its floating.
43	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' villain Te Ka invokes this with her design, as she billows volcanic smoke from her head, which resembles streaming hair.
44	* The First Ancestor in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' is a spirit who has both floating hair and beard.
45	* The witch in ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'' manifests (in contrast to the town's Halloween WickedWitch perception of her) as an electrical ghost, with hair that floats upwards and turns into lightning.
46	* In ''WesternAnimation/SinbadLegendOfTheSevenSeas'', the Goddess of Discord, Eris, has hair that moves as if she is underwater.
47	* Yubaba in ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' wears her hair in a bun for most of the film, but when her hair is let down and she panics about losing her son Boh, her hair streams around her in the air.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
51	* The eponymous Lavagirl in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfSharkboyAndLavagirl'' has a constant breeze running through her hair, perhaps to imitate a lava flow or otherwise signify her power.
52	* The ghost of Enola in ''Film/CrimsonPeak'' has very long hair that floats behind her.
53	* The ghost of Josette in ''Film/DarkShadows'' has floating hair, perhaps in connection to her death in the water.
54	* In ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'', the ghostly librarian's startling transformation includes loose floating hair, and the ghostly woman in Stantz's dream also features this.
55	* The ghostly titular entity of ''Film/{{Mama}}'' has constantly floating hair.
56	* Capitán Salazar in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMenTellNoTales'', likewise due to his death underwater.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59
60	[[folder:Literature]]
61	* Rene Arroy from the ''Literature/ArciaChronicles'' is a pirate captain who goes down with his ship at the end of book two, but is brought back along with his ship by a divine intervention, becoming the world's FlyingDutchman. Afterwards, he appears as pretty much any living human, except for his hair, which looks like it's being constantly ruffled by a strong breeze, even when he is indoors.
62	* ''The Haunted Hotel'', from the children's book series ''Literature/AToZMysteries'', features an alleged haunting from a ghost whose appearance features a halo of floating hair.
63	* Chris Riddell's turn illustrating ''{{Literature/Coraline}}'' gives the Other Mother floating hair which increases in fluidity as she deteriorates throughout the book.
64	* Victor Rivas' new illustrations for children's scary-story collection ''In a Dark, Dark Room'' features a flowing-haired ghost on the cover, a creepy girl with floating hair on the page opposite the table of contents, and the ghost in the titular story also has billowing locks.
65	* Creator/NKJemisin's ''Literature/InheritanceTrilogy'': Nahadoth, the GodOfChaos and [[GodOfDarkness Darkness]], commonly manifests as an inhumanly beautiful man or woman with [[RavenHairIvorySkin pale skin and floating black hair]] that merges with the shadows around him/her.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
69	* The Ancient Greek mythological monster {{Medusa}} may be the UrExample of this trope. While her hair was snakes, the image of writhing independent hair is perhaps most recognizable in depictions of the famous Gorgon.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
73	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Some water Genasi -- humanoids with [[UnevenHybrid a bit]] of water {{elemental\|Embodiment}} ancestry -- have hair that billows around them as though underwater.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
77	* While not actually animated, Madame Leota in ''Ride/TheHauntedMansion'' has loose wavy hair that resembles mystical smoke like that inside a magical crystal ball. Of course, [[OracularHead she is inside a magical crystal ball]], so this trope is implied, blurring the two images.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Toys]]
81	* All of the possessed humans in {{Franchise/LEGO}}'s WesternAnimation/HiddenSide theme gain floaty, wild hair and/or beards from the ghosts taking over them.
82	* ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' character Spectra Vondergeist, the first ghost character, is depicted with dramatic floating hair in everything but her physical dolls and the 3D-animated specials, where her hair is bone-straight and not the least bit floaty.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Video Games]]
86	* Badeline from ''VideoGame/{{Celeste}}'' normally has the same hair as Madeline--that is, normal hair--but in chapter 6, after Madeline [[spoiler:tries to leave her behind]], she ''completely'' loses her cool and her hair goes crazy. It stays up like that for the boss fight as well.
87	* In ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'', the Spirit and, to a lesser extent, Oni killers both do this.
88	* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact:'' The intro of the game has the protagonists, Aether and Lumine, encountering the "unknown god" who refers to herself as "Sustainer of Heavenly Principles". As part of her divine power, the ends of her hair floats up to different directions.
89	* The Banshee ghosts in the video game for ''The Haunted Mansion'' have floating hair as they attack with a ghostly wail.
90	* ''VideoGame/HauntTheHouse'' is a Flash game where you are a ghost possessing objects in your house to scare away living guests of an unwanted party, and you unlock more powerful scares for each item with the more people you frighten. The most powerful "Spook" option unlocked for the rag doll in the bedroom makes it scream and raise its arms while its hair streams outward.
91	* The Shadow Queen, the demonic sorceress BigBad locked away for most of ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', has long tendrils of levitating hair that float behind her.
92	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
93	** Ghost-type Pokémon Misdreavus resembles a floating head with streaming hair.
94	** Darkrai, a Dark-type legendary, has what looks like a single streak of floating grey hair on its head.
95	** Dark/Psychic Pokémon Malamar is a vaguely humanoid upside-down squid, and its waving tentacles invoke undulating hair because of its unusual body plan.
96	** Fighting/Ghost Pokémon Annihilape has fur that seems to flow upwards, along with a few wisps of fur that outright floats above its head unattached from its body, sustained by its sheer rage.
97	* In ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'', Banshees (ghosts of massacred elven women raised and given voices by the Lich King) have hair that floats out in every direction, as do their clothes. Ghosts and Wraiths (who use a differently-colored model but can't speak) do the same.
98	* ''VideoGame/YoKaiWatch'': Yo-Kai Foiletta has some tendrils of floating hair.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
102	* The hair of the BigBad Reinhard from ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'' practically never lies flat and is almost always shown floating around in some manner. Fitting for someone who is said to have been born in the wrong world with just how powerful he is.
103	* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' has a brief example as [[spoiler:Dahlia's ghost briefly appears]].
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Webcomics]]
107	* The Luminary of Light in ''Webcomic/ApricotCookies'' has hair that floats, but only in the alternate plane where she grants magical girls their powers.
108	* In ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'', the most recognizable sign that Mob is either close to or in the middle of one of his [[SuperMode emotional explosions]] is that his hair goes from a plain bowl cut to [[ShounenHair a wild mess of undulating spikes]]. It's also prone to fluttering when he uses his psychic power in a controlled but showy fashion.
109	* In ''Webcomic/UndeadFriend'', since she's a ghost and defies gravity, Mahalah's hair can be seen flowing in very interesting ways.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Western Animation]]
113	* Spirits in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' such as Yue and the Painted Lady (the real one, not the disguise used by Katara) often have their hair floating.
114	%%* The Ghost of Northwest Manor in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' invokes this via his beard of blue fire.
115	* ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'': When Charlie transforms into a more demonic form, her hair tends to start blowing around as if in a wind.
116	* Princesses Celestia and Luna in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' have ethereal undulating manes which signify their magical nature. Indeed, when lacking their magic, their manes don't so much as flutter. Nightmare Moon utilizes the flowing mane imagery for horror.
117	* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'': Fourth Season villain [[LightIsNotGood Daemon]] is a Supervirus, appearing as a MysticalWaif styled on [[JeanneDArchetype Jeanne D'Arc]]. Unlike her [[BoyishShortHair inspiration]], however, Daemon has long tendrils (possibly [[LovecraftianSuperpower tentacles]]) that each move independently of the wind (or even ''each other''), almost like the arms of a sea anemone. Given her [[DissonantSerenity detached]] and [[FantasticallyIndifferent indifferent]] [[AffablyEvil sweetness]], [[AGodAmI holy connotations]] and status as HiveQueen, it gives her [[HumanoidAbomination otherwise sprite-like appearance]] a ''deeply'' unsettling feel.
118	* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'':
119	** When Shadow Weaver is juiced up on magic, her hair floats and writhes around her head like black flames. When she runs out of power, however, it stops floating and dangles lankly around her.
120	** Arguably [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by [[spoiler: [[GreaterScopeVillain Horde Prime]]]] with his [[PrehensileHair prehensile]] cranial cables, further highlighting his [[LightIsNotGood holy]] and [[AGodAmI otherworldly]] aesthetic.
121	* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'', when April's psychic powers reach its peak her hair blows about from the power.
122	* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Raven's hair sometimes floats when she uses her psychokinetic powers in the rare instances she doesn't [[InTheHood have her hood up]].

Context Main / SupernaturalFloatingHair