Badass Long Robe

This cloak gives the wearer an instant +5 modifier for Intimidation.

Like the Badass Longcoat in modern settings, a character who wears a long robe in a fantasy setting will invariably be Badass. Like the Badass Cape, this can be used to dramatic effect by billowing in the wind, but it also has the advantage of being potentially All Encompassing to add an air of mystery. Plus, it looks good with a hood. Expect many monks to be this.

Dramatic Wind aside, in a Fight Scene, a battle can be made so much easier if your movements are being concealed (foot-work, on-coming punches, etc.). Also, there's a sadistic joy to be taken from unnerving an enemy who can't see the damage he does nor the point he's aiming at. Suffice it to say, a person in a robe is an enigma both in battle and outside of it.

As per Rule of Cool, this can be used to produce many impressive visual effects: anytime this character jumps (usually from a great height), they'll appear to have wings; when the character spins, they'll take on the look of a violently twisting spiral; when they dash or rush forward, they look like a human bullet.

If martial arts are involved, odds are good that the robe will have Dragons Up the Yin Yang.

Compare with Robe and Wizard Hat which is often more oriented to magic-users and Black Cloak which is generally worn by evil characters.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Naruto:
  • The Akatsuki of Naruto. And just to show how powerful the Badass Longrobe really is, Akatsuki members tend to die not long after ditching their robes. (Of course, most of their on-screen battles are against the main characters and hence fatal, so it's possible they often lose their robes whatever the outcome.)
  • ANBU Black Ops sometimes wear long hooded capes. There is also an armless cloak for ordinary shinobi, which has the advantage of concealing your hand-signs.
  • Naruto's full Rikudou/Kyuubi form has a cloak made of chakra which resembles that of the Sage of the Six Paths. It is so potently badass that Kakashi thinks he just saw his long-dead sensei, Minato.
• The many characters in Negima! Magister Negi Magi tend to fall between this and Robe and Wizard Hat - since the series' slight Genre Shift towards Wuxia and martial arts, most of the wizardly characters qualify for both. In particular, Albireo Imma Ku:nel Sanders during the Tournament Arc, the protagonist Negi and his father Nagi. Later, we meet the Final Boss whose outfit runs the gamut between this and Black Cloak. Interestingly, the Red Shirt wizards tend more towards All-Encompassing Mantle. In a non-wizard example, Tatsumiya donned one once as a part of her Cold Sniper persona.
• The Miroku brothers of Get Backers.
• Jujutsu Kaisen's Ryomen Sukuna wears a stark white kimino that has this appearance based on the one he wore in his original body whenever he appears within Yuji's Innate Domain. Word of God mentions that he altered the sleeves to be very loose fitting so they wouldn't obstruct his two extra arms.
• Subverted in Ranma ½. Mousse routinely wears long Chinese robes as his signature outfit, and his first appearance makes him out as strong and capable. Then something goofy happens (in the manga, the concrete roller he sliced in half falls on his head and knocks him out, in the anime, he starts wolfing down the bowl of ramen he just did an acrobatic routine with without spilling) and his Badass Cred is gone in an instant, firmly establishing him as something of the Butt-Monkey. Shinnosuke seems to be a badass martial artist in a janitor's uniform who is a master of fighting with a pushbroom... but he has such a horrible memory he just keeps making an idiot of himself by, say, stumbling headfirst into his own boobytraps.
• In Pokémon Adventures, Blue wears one while training Yellow.
• In One Piece, Zoro is now sporting one after the time skip. Somehow it does make him look even more badass.
  • The new Admiral Fujitora wears a purple sleeveless robe under his marine uniform.
• Deadman Wonderland has ultra Buddhist priest Genkaku whose robe has flame designs on it.
• In Bleach, the Quincies from the Vandenreich wear all a white long robe.
• The title character in The Legend of Mother Sarah, wears a long beige hooded cloak that she wears like a Muslim niqab.

Comic Books

• Prince Of Orphans of Marvel's Immortal Iron Fist. The second arc was about a tournament between the Seven Cities of Heaven and their Immortal Weapons. Since it happens only once every seventy-seven years, and the weapons themselves aren't immortal (just the title and post, it seems), certain things are expected. However, one of the combatants defies them: he was at the last tournament, and if anything he's even more dangerous, and the heavy favorite. He mostly keeps to himself and wears an all-concealing, plain, heavy brown robe. May actually be a minor subversion, as while he's certainly still wearing the robe when he fights, he turns into omnipresent green mist that seems to beat the shit out of his opponent from all sides.
• V for Vendetta: V, of course.

Films — Animation

• In Turning Red, Sun Yee wears one of these which fits her reputation as a badass in life.

Films — Live-Action

• The Jedi Knights of Star Wars, naturally. Maybe most obvious in The Phantom Menace, although Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Darth Maul all drop their long outer robes before the big fight.
  • The Emperor's personal guards look incredibly badass, even more so considering they go unused in the movies.
• The Matrix: Neo wears a cassock in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.
• Badass Longrobes make many, many appearances in Wuxia movies Like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero (2002).
• In Fight Club, Brad Pitt is commonly seen wearing a bathrobe and sunglasses and generally being a badass extremist leader figure.
• Ip Man, though he does take it off from time to time.
• Kung Fu Zohra: The eponymous character learns kung fu and sews herself a red Chinese style long robe (it can be seen on the poster) that she starts wearing the day she brings the divorce papers to her domestic abuser of a husband. She ends up kicking his ass in major fashion after a fight that follows his refusal to sign them.

Literature

• Doctor Impossible of Soon I Will Be Invincible.
• While the series tends towards Robe and Wizard Hat, Dumbledore of Harry Potter most definitely counts (impressive for a character who doesn't kill).
• Banshees in Discworld appear like this; they're actually folded wings. Also subverted when Mr. Horsefry wears a cloak while sneaking over to the Big Bad, it's noted by the Big Bad's servant how conspicuous it makes him look.
  • Lord Vetinari himself wears plain black robes and can convey more Badass-edness with a sharp glance than most characters could with adamantium claws and a pulse rifle.
  • Then there are the Wizards of Unseen University. Cross them, and the only chance you have is to sneak away while they argue over what the most appropriate thing to do to you is. If you're unlucky, the Librarian will decide to drop lightly on top of you and try to unscrew your head.
• Gandalf of The Lord of the Rings is one of the better-known examples.
• Night Watch (Series): Justified. Magical items must be recharged after each use, and the Inquisitors' robes prevent anyone from seeing just how heavily armed they are.
• The Warrior Monk brethren of Mount Angel in S. M. Stirling's Emberverse, especially Abbot-Bishop Dmwoski and Father Ignatius.
• The wizards of the White Council in The Dresden Files tend to dress in these in formal settings, from the Wardens to the Merlin. Harry's, however, is a ratty old bathrobe.
  • Also, the Black Council seems to like dark robes, leading Harry's immortal line, "Touché, O dark master of evil bathrobes".
• The Man in Black, Walter O'Dim in The Dark Tower series.
• Mistborn wear a cloak made of multilayered strips of fabric called a Mistcloak. It's partially camoflage, but mostly it exists to look stylish and inform everyone in sight that the wearer is not to be messed with.
• The Elfstones of Shannara: the Reaper is the most intimidating and strong demon serving the Dagda Mor. He normally appears as an over seven feet tall massive humanoid clad in a long black robe with a hood, unseen face and massive claws on his hands.
• An ornated robe is the clothing of choice of the taoist Immortals in Fengshen Yanyi: each of them is skilled in martial arts and magic, with some of them being able to freeze whole armies in ice, summon hellfire and making it look easy and cover a huge area in darkness and lightning at a moment's notice. Two of the characters, Guanchengzi and Chijingzi, wear the Purple-Ribboned Immortal Robe, which allows them to survive the magic of other immortals.

Live-Action TV

• Despite having a snappy Uniform and a Spandex suit, the Red Ranger in Power Rangers in Space still managed to sport a Badass Longrobe, making him one of the best dressed of any of the Power Rangers. He even managed to wear it in the anniversary special.
• Lucien LaCroix of Forever Knight, in flashback scenes, along with High Collar of Doom. And he's sometimes a Badass Longcoat in modern day. So is Nick Knight, for that matter, but Lucien is so much more badass.

Pro Wrestling

• In Progress Wrestling Pastor William Eaver wears priest robes during his entrance.
• This is also a trademark of WWE and former TNA star, the "Glorious" Bobby Roode.

Puppet Shows

• Cantus the Minstrel on Fraggle Rock wears a metallic, tie-dyed medieval robe, but the effect is more or less the same, as his badassery lies in his wisdom and quiet strength. He's also got the enigma thing down, many times over.

Tabletop Games

• The Dark Angels from Warhammer 40,000 wear Badass Longrobes over their Power Armour.
  • Also, common battlefield attire for Eldar Warlocks and Farseers.
• Exalted: Some Deathlords and their deathknights, for maximum creepiness. (Counts as "grave apparels" for the Abyssals, which helps them recover Essence in Creation.)

Theatre

• While Badass is probably not the right word for it, Prior Walter from Angels in America does don a long black robe after the visit from the Angel, revealing him as "the Prophet".
  Belize: "You look like Morticia Addams."
  Prior: "Like the wrath of God."
  Belize: "Yes."
  Prior: "That is the intended effect."

Video Games

• Lightning in the very beginning of Final Fantasy XIII sports a long robe, though this is technically subverted in that she is disguised as a victim of the Purge, and everyone around her who isn't a guard is also wearing one.
• Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad, Son of No-One of Assassin's Creed is one of the greatest examples of the bird-like visual motif that this trope invokes (which is why they call him "The Eagle"). Badass profession, badass clothing, badass guy, badass name. The trope fits like a hidden-blade gauntlet.
  • Same with Ezio Auditore Da Firenze, star of the second game.
    • Ezio swaps his father's robe out for a longer, heavier, more extravagant Master Assassin robe in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, only to replace that with a shorter, darker, more wolf-like robe in Assassin's Creed: Revelations.
• The members of Organization XIII, as well as Mickey Mouse, in Kingdom Hearts II were technically wearing robes, making them this rather than Badass Longcoats.
• The Shaper class in the Geneforge series wear long hooded robes that are open at the front. So do the serviles, but they aren't badass as often.
• In the first Knights of the Old Republic game, Jedi robes are only the rather forgettable sort of tunic-ish things, without the gigantic over-robes. In the second game, all Jedi robes come with over-robes.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic began with three trailers with seriously-animated combat, and all of them have all of the attributes of this trope.
• The Elder Scrolls:
  • Many of the more expensive robes in Morrowind are decidedly elaborate.
  • Members of the Dark Brotherhood in Oblivion are given a moderately badass set of armor. The high-ranking members get robes with extra bonuses to the badass enchantments.
  • Mannimarco, the "King of Worms" and master Lich/Necromancer, makes several appearances throughout the series and is always outfitted in a badass black robe. It is at its most badass in his appearance in The Elder Scrolls Online.
• Warhammer Online has the Warrior Priests and their Destruction equivalent, the Disciples of Khaine. Being that rare kind of healer that does its thing from melee, they certainly qualify for the badass denotation.
• An evil example include Dalles from the Ys Series.
• Etrian Odyssey: The Hexer class has all its members wear robes to signal their power and talent to inflict debuffs, body binding and status ailments to enemies and bosses.
• Devil Survivor has Naoya, whose attire wouldn't be very noteworthy if it weren't for the robe (or haori) that he wears. It even has a Matrix Raining Code.
• World of Warcraft: The Judgement Armor for Paladins. It's still considered one of the best-looking armors in the game, you can see a lot of it thanks to transmogrification and ease of getting it. Death Knights also start with one, and many plate armor wearers transmog their armor to a purple recolor of the Judgement set.
• Lucia in Lunar: Eternal Blue.
• Ghetsis from Pokémon.
  • Delphox accomplishes this with its long fur.
• Lezard Valeth from Valkyrie Profile. A bad, bad wizard.
• Shadow Era has two of its heroes, Nishaven (as seen on the homepage) and Eladwen Frostmire, sporting these.
• Death in Castlevania wears one of these. In Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, "Death's Robe" is even an equip-able item and one of the best armors in the game.
• The Matrix: Path of Neo when Neo switches from his Badass Longcoat to the cassock in the middle levels.

Visual Novels

• Yo-Jin-Bo has Ittosai, whose robe is fur-trimmed and only stays on one shoulder.
• Thanos in Fantasia - Requiem of the Abyss and a few concept art pieces of Fantasia - Momento of Grand Finale.

Webcomics

• The Order of the Stick's Vaarsuvius.
  • And Xykon.
  • And the IFCC.
• In Jack, the titular character is the Grim Reaper, so he has a robe that doubles as Combat Tentacles and, at one point, grows spikes.
• Beisaru of Juathuur.
• Iri of Wayfarers Moon also covers part of her face.
• In Homestuck, Karkat's ancestor the Signless wore a very ragged robe that fits this trope, slung over one shoulder to show off his Righteous Leggings.
• Jue Viole Grace in Tower of God wearing his Slayer robes.
• Anuchar, a mage military commander in Aecast.

Web Original

• The wise and Badass Shinto priest Kamimura from Broken Saints is hardly ever seen without his trademark purple robe.

Western Animation

• Zuko in parts of the third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Definitely added more fuel to the Zuko/Anakin comparisons.
  • The Grand Finale introduced three new Badass Longrobe outfits in the Order of the White Lotus uniforms, Ozai's flamethrower-casual robes (before he burns them off to fight Aang), and Aang's monkly robes (not that Aang's previous, lower-key short robe didn't get plenty of rippling in the breeze).
• Tenzin from The Legend of Korra has one, which his father Aang also wore in flashbacks.
• Clock Work in Danny Phantom counts.
• The Lich of Adventure Time has more of a terrifying longrobe, but he probably still counts.
• Queen Aleena from Sonic Underground wears several robes, including a red robe in the theme song and a blue robe in "Head Games".

Real Life

• A basic staple of Christian clergy, especially the Roman Catholic order, to the point that practically every Medieval example of Badass Preacher has them wearing it, and even non-clergy often have their own personal Badass Long Robe when traveling the world as a devout Christian.

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