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Expository Hairstyles
(aka: Expository Hairstyle)

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Expository Hairstyles
From Cinderella's Prim and Proper Bun, to Tarzan's Barbarian Long Hair, to Merida's Wild Hair and Jim's Sailor's Ponytail, Disney characters' locks hint at the many strands of their personalities.

Generally, the most important things an author wants to communicate to an audience are the things that are difficult to instantly demonstrate, such as a character's role in the story, personality, moral character, or whether the author wants the audience to sympathize with them.

Often as a visual shorthand, the writer uses the character's appearance to symbolize those characteristics. In animation, a common practice is to use Hair Colors, or the color and shape of the eyes. However, another technique that has several useful advantages is the style and length of a character's hair. For one thing, it's relatively easy to implement in Live-Action TV as well as animation. It's also convenient for characters who undergo lots of character development as you can give them an Expository Hairstyle Change or Important Haircut.

Note: while Hair Tropes are all tropes that have to do with hair, this is specifically a supertrope of cases where hairstyle is used to represent a character's personality, not simply to look interesting or help you tell the characters apart.

Compare Clothing Reflects Personality and Stock Costume Traits, where a character's costume indicates profession & status.


A Super-Trope to:

Female
  • Boyish Short Hair: Short, unkempt, or spiky hair, often used to indicate a Tomboy and an Action Girl.
  • Braids of Action: A single long braid or a pair of braids, used to indicate an Action Girl.
  • Childish Bangs: Straight bangs across the forehead with the rest of the hair left long, used to indicate physical or mental immaturity.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Hair tied into side tails that stick out the sides indicate youthfulness or immaturity.
  • Hairy Girl: A girl with more body hair than considered normal, indicating unattractiveness and/or unkemptness.
  • Hime Cut: Long straight hair with full bangs and shorter sidelocks, used to indicate an Ojou and a Yamato Nadeshiko.
  • Long Hair Is Feminine: Long hair used to establish the femininity of a female character.
  • Motherly Side Plait: A loose braid or ponytail resting on the shoulder to indicate motherhood with a sweet character.
  • Ojou Ringlets: Side curls on female characters often indicate royalty or being of (or formerly of) high status.
  • Power Hair: Short hair reaching the jawline, parted in front and coiffed expertly so it never crosses in front of the face, used to indicate an Iron Lady.
  • Prim and Proper Bun: Hair tied in a single bun at the back, indicating a neat, prim, proper, and organized woman of authority, who is typically conservative and tight-laced.
  • Regal Ringlets: Corkscrew curls as a sign of a character being upper class.
  • Tomboyish Ponytail: Wearing a ponytail not intended for elegance indicates a Tomboy or The Lad-ette.

Male

Unisex


Alternative Title(s): Expository Hairstyle

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