Street Fighters don't NEED pants to win!
"Another day, another outfit from Miguel O'Hara's wardrobe gets 'donated' to some lucky downtowner. At the rate I'm going, I'll be naked by the end of next week."
The non-magical equivalent of a Transformation Sequence, similar to Dress Hits Floor except in the opposite direction relative to gravity. When a character — usually a girl — for some reason changes her clothes suddenly (often in public!), instead of seeing the actual change the viewer is shown the old items of clothing flying through the air, followed by a hard cut to the girl in her new outfit. The implication is that the old clothing is stripped off with such force that it is thrown wildly overhead.
Men have been known to throw their clothing, but this is usually to indicate that what they were wearing before was a disguise (with their real clothes underneath) and/or that they're getting rid of unnecessary clothing and are ready to give a butt-kicking. Somewhat similar to the classic version of Superman and whatever he did with his Clark Kent clothes. We usually just saw him pull his shirt apart to reveal the Big Red S, but not what happened after that. (In case anyone's wondering, there's a pouch on the inside of his cape. He keeps his civvy clothes in there. Of course, that just raises the question of where he keeps his ''cape'' when he's in plainclothes...)
Compare Changing Clothes Is a Free Action. The Coats Are Off and Battle Strip are often sub-tropes of this.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- In two different episodes of Azumanga Daioh, Tomo does it to change into her swimsuit. On at least one occasion, Yomi comments to Tomo that she's not in grade school and shouldn't wear her swimsuit under her clothes. Curiously, Yomi herself does this in the opening sequence. It's a reference to a scene in both the manga and anime where Yomi, dissatisfied with her scale results, stripped naked... then took off her glasses to see if that would change anything.
- Each episode throughout the Shuringe arc of Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden had Ms Purple (Shuringe's alias to pretend to be a good Bomber) flinging her little green dress to reveal clothes related to any skill she was claiming to have.
- The trope becomes a plot point in an episode of Case Closed. The victim of the week was a singer who liked to melodramatically take off his jacket and toss it into the air before performing, and the killer placed some bits of poison on a fixed spot of the jacket he was wearing. That way he would take off the jacket, get his hands smeared with lethal toxins without knowing it, 'transfer' the venom to his favorite snack (rice balls), and die of it.
- In Corsair, Aura does this when the others come to rescue her, throwing her cumbersome dress off so she can move around more comfortably.
- Death Note: Aizawa, after many frustrating attempts to get through a metal detector, flings his pants in the air in a gesture of disgust.
- From Dragon Ball, one of Piccolo's trademarks is throwing off his Weighted Clothing before a fight.
- Fairy Tail parodies this with the ice mages Grey and Leon, both of whom take off their shirts (much to the confusion of the surrounding characters who point it out) before a fight, and Grey has a habit of randomly stripping without noticing it due to his training.
- In the anime Freezing, the last image of the series before the credits is of Satellizer's bra in mid-air.
- Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist often did this with his coat. And his ripped shirt in the first episode. Cue squeeing from many fangirls.
- In Han-Gyaku-Sei Million Arthur episode 9, Kaguya decides to take a shower in her room, and strips in this fashion, with all her clothes, instantly coming off into the air... just as Tekken walks into the room and gets the full eyefull (The viewer only sees a Between My Legs and Shoulders-Up Nudity shot), with her clothes hitting the ground just as he apologizes and closes the door. She stands there frozen for a while before she blushes and has a delayed Naked Freak-Out. She's later seen in her bed crying about being Defiled Forever since he saw her naked.
- Haruhi Suzumiya does this quite often, whenever Haruhi is forcing Mikuru into a new Sexy Whatever Outfit.
- In Haunted Junction, Mutsuki Asahina uses this to switch from seifuku to miko robes. In contrast, Haruto is usually the last one finished changing into his "holy garb", having to deal with all of those silly buttons.
- Occurs in the fifth omake for To Heart: Remember My Memories, where Akari Kamigishi takes off her bear costume in front of a stunned Multi.
- Hellsing's Integra does this with her Badass Longcoat during the final battle with the Major.
- Happens once in Love Hina. Keitaro is in the room when Naru does this, leading to Kitsune admonishing her (and Shinobu freaking out). Being Love Hina, this leads to Keitaro's... abrupt exit from the room, and possibly the atmosphere.
- At the end of episode 16, the titular heroine of Madlax discards her white cocktail dress (which seems to be her most deadly combat outfit overall) to distract the attacking soldiers, so she can sneak behind them to give them a Full-Frontal Assault (only her Sexy Silhouette is seen) wherein she utterly succeeds. Moments after that, she is seen wearing it again, so she dresses just as fast as she disrobes.
- The first appearance of Dieci from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS has her appearing with a cloak that she promptly throws away together with the cloth wrapped around her BFG.
- In episode 4 of Midori Days, we see the handkerchief that doll-sized Midori had been wearing go flying through the air when she changes into a new T-shirt/dress. In episode 6, Shiori strips off a seifuku on-camera and flings its parts into the air around her.
- In Episode 3 of My-Otome, the Black Knight throws off his cloak disguise to reveal himself to Shizuru, in preparation for battle.
- In Naruto, most members of the evil organization Akatsuki tend to rip/throw off their cloaks. Sasori and Kakuzu are the most noticeable ones. The third Shippuden movie had several examples of this for the heroes, with Naruto slow-mo casting off his cloak in front of a sunset, being the most epic.
- In episode 14 of Negima! Magister Negi Magi, students Misa, Madoka, and Sakurako do a simultaneous costume change, and we see three sets of clothes in the air at the same time. To top it off, the viewer's first sight of the girls in their new outfits is done with rainbows and twirling motions as if it were the conclusion of a full Transformation Sequence.
- In Otoboku - Maidens Are Falling For Me, Takako and Mariya fling their clothes when challenging each other for the swim competition.
- Parodied in the first episode of Penguin Musume Heart; when Penguin tries to do this, she "pulls the wrong tab" and accidentally flashes the class. She then successfully changes into her campaign (for student council president) outfit.
- In Ema Toyama's Pocha Pocha Swimming Club the club president can change into her swimsuit like this in three seconds.
- Pokémon
- Pokémon: The Series:
- The Team Rocket trio do this in many episodes where they are unable to resist revealing themselves or reciting their motto. It seems to be their primary (or perhaps only) way of changing clothes.
- May deciding to change her clothes on the beach.
- Ash does it in the first Christmas episode.
- Korrina does this in Pokémon the Series: XY to switch from casual clothing to her rollerblading outfit. Somehow, this actually adds a helmet and rollerblades while wearing the same outfit.
- Pokémon Adventures:
- Red does this twice. First was RGB when Green stripped off his Team Rocket disguise. Another was in FRLG when he stripped off his jacket for a man-to-man fight and then ripped off his shirt for leverage on the controls of a battleship he tried to land.
- Silver thankfully gets rid of his ridiculous Team Rocket outfit this way in FRLG.
- Gold had one in the Emerald arc where he threw off his enemy disguise.
- Sapphire had one in R/S arc where she changed to her jungle attire.
- Lenora flings off her apron before battling against Black.
- Pokémon: The Series:
- In The Prince of Tennis, Atobe Keigo flings off his uniform's jacket as part of his dramatic first entrance onto the tennis court.
- Ranma ½:
- Kodachi Kunō's first appearance at Fūrinkan High School is capped off by her flinging her school uniform off to reveal her gymnastics leotard — a move she makes several times in the series.
- Even more ludicrous instances where characters (usually female Ranma, Akane, or Shampoo) toss away their swimsuits or otherwise short-skirted clothing, to reveal ordinary clothes underneath. Huh?!
- Female villains in Sailor Moon have a tendency to do this when revealing their true identity to the Victim of the Week.
- Mayumi in SHUFFLE! did this while changing into a waitress uniform. Halfway through she realized she probably didn't need to remove her underwear, but by that time, she'd flung them some place where she couldn't find them, and ended up going commando.
- The criminal killing Playing with Fire NEXT Lunatic in Tiger & Bunny wears an All-Encompassing Mantle. When he needs to get serious, he burns the mantle off.
- Happens at least once in Urusei Yatsura, with Sakura unbuttoning and flinging aside her school nurse uniform to reveal herself dressed in full Miko regalia beneath.
- Yusuke throws off his pajamas early in the YuYu Hakusho manga. Less "ready for ass-kicking", though — more like "ready to enjoy the one day of life I get before I go back to being dead".
Films — Animation
- Cats Don't Dance: Sawyer begins the biggest scene like this.
- In Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, "Baby" Brent has the ability to pull off his tracksuit in one swift motion. Considering he pulls the whole thing up over his head, one has to wonder about how he gets his pants off...
- My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Sunset's Backstage Pass: On waking up the first day, Sunset throws her empty pajamas on her bed from off-screen; the next second, she's fully clothed.
- In Turning Red, this is inverted when Mei flies out of her ritual outfit.
Films — Live-Action
- In Airplane!, during Ted Stryker's flashback about how he first met Elaine, before dancing with her, he throws his jacket off and strikes a "Staying Alive" Dance Pose, only for someone to throw the jacket back at him.
- Avalanche Sharks: Jenna takes off her shirt and tosses it at the sheriff while wearing a bikini bra underneath it in one scene after he jokes about citing her and Lacy for indecent exposure based on how they're already dressed.
- In Charlie's Angels this trope is rather deliberate. Two of the girls change from beaded cocktail dresses to black leather kick-ass clothes as they chase Creepy Thin Man.
- James Bond: In Octopussy, Magda whips off her sari to use as a weapon against Kamal's goons. She doesn't put it back on, thereby keeping the fetish appeal burning.
- Piranha3d: Swimming in the lake, Danni and Crystal slip off their bikini bras underwater and toss them at Jake before beginning their underwater ballet scene for their pornographer boss.
- The Sicilian (1987). An Italian female aristocrat walks through her Big Fancy House casually dropping her clothes on the floor, to be picked up by the maid.
- Some Like It Hot: When Joe does a rapid change from Josephine to Junior, Josephine's clothes come flying out of the bathroom door seconds before he emerges dressed as Junior.
Live-Action TV
- Arrowverse: In Supergirl, "World's Finest", Barry Allen appears Just in Time to save Kara Danvers from falling out of a skyscraper. He discovers she was never actually in danger when she shoots off into the air and her clothes fall on his face.
- Whenever a suction tube is used in Come Back Mrs. Noah for Tube Travel or Instant Costume Change there's an inevitable gag of someone's clothing (usually their trousers) being sucked off and dumped on the floor to the Laugh Track of the audience.
- Doctor Who: In "The Woman Who Fell to Earth", the Doctor tosses several articles of rejected clothing out of the change room of a charity shop while picking out her new outfit.
- Probably the only reason anyone remembers Bucks Fizz at Eurovision 1981 is due to a masterful execution of this trope. Anyone wanting to "see some ''(beat)'' more!
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- Get Smart. Max and the Chief go to make contact with a CONTROL scientist whose cover identity is a stripper. Seeing how Max is Distracted by the Sexy, the Chief suggests they wait for her back at the lab, but Max insists they stay "and see Dr. Steele doesn't lose her cover! (Cue Steele's top hitting him in the face) Figuratively speaking..."
- LazyTown: "Defeeted": This happens to the Feet Crazer Maker 6000 after Pixel activates the switch to get them off. They're sent flying all the way off-stage, prompting Robbie to run over and get them before it's too late.
- Power Rangers:
- Power Rangers Ninja Storm: If they're not already in their ninja uniforms, our heroes fling their civilian clothes immediately before entering the Transformation Sequence, in order that their pre-transformation outfits match the Stock Footage.
- Similarly, Anubis "Doggie" Cruger in Power Rangers S.P.D. flings his trench coat off during his Transformation Sequence.
- The Ninja Rangers in season 3 of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers back-transformed from their Ninja costumes. (Yes, there was a bright pink ninja suit.) This actually started as early as season 2! Kimberly does this with her Pink Ranger uniform following the battle with Zedd's goons with the ancestors of the other Rangers. It becomes standard for the Ranger forms in season 3.
- Red Dwarf: Midway through the infamous Blue Midget dance in "Back in the Red", the Cat ducks behind the giant metal leg of a Blue Midget and throws off the dorky Dwayne Dibley disguise he was using, reemerging in a more appropriate blue sparkly outfit.
- This is a standard ability of nearly all Super Sentai members to be able to switch to other clothing as either a disguise or emergency weaponry if their regular powers are disabled. Female members made the most use of this but the guys can also make use of this if need be. During GoGo Sentai Boukenger's ending shorts about the previous 29 Super Sentai, they play with this during the Mirai Sentai Timeranger segment, having the entire team toss off their coats... and Satoru flinging off all of his clothes to reveal the Timeranger biosuit underneath. Satoru promptly freaks out in embarrassment.
- In Ultraman, the team uses this to change from business suits to battle uniforms.
Tabletop Games
- Dungeons & Dragons: Invoked with the 5e attribute "Cast-Off", introduced in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, which makes it so a player's armor can be removed with a single action instead of a few minutes (putting it back on is still going to take the full amount of time, though).
Video Games
- Kira Daidohji of Arcana Heart does this with a Modesty Towel (revealing a School Swimsuit underneath) for her entrance. It's likely a parody of another would-be world conqueror, see the Street Fighter example above.
- BlazBlue brings us Noel, Litchi, Makoto, and Mai, all of who have introduction poses. Noel and Makoto throw off their cloaks, Mai throws off her cape, while Litchi grabs her dress and sweeps it around herself, setting a new world record for fastest change into alluring attire.◊
- When facing Chun-Li in Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 and Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium, Mai Shiranui will enter the match dressed as Chun-Li, only to rip off the disguise and toss it away.
- In Darkstalkers, B.B. Hood's "Cool Hunting" super has her fling away a cloak to reveal... other Dark Hunters, who open fire on the opponent.
- Goris the scholar in Fallout 2 dramatically flings off his oversized robes whenever a fight starts, at the same time revealing that he is an intelligent Deathclaw. Something that quickly gets to be a pain in the ass, as it delays the start of every battle, even one against a rat.
- Final Fantasy:
- In Final Fantasy X, Shiva throws her cloak off as part of her summoning sequence. Rather than just disappearing like most Flung Clothing, we see it fall and get caught by Yuna.
- In the opening of Final Fantasy Type-0, Class Zero arrives in hooded Akademeia uniforms, but all twelve of them quickly throw them into the air to reveal their faces and vermillion capes (amusingly, the uniforms they're wearing underneath are almost identical to the ones they throw, except with pauldrons and capes, and less uniform).
- Mickey Mouse does this in Kingdom Hearts II, flinging off his black hoodie and revealing his Kingly outfit underneath. Amazingly it comes off as awe-inspiringly cool, even compared to the previous cutscenes of Squaresoft pretty boys kicking ass. This was just after Goofy was hit by a giant boulder. The coat coming off, along with Mickey's one-liner made the point very clear; many Heartless were going to die very quickly. Riku does it in a later scene, too.
- The King of Fighters:
- When you first fight Rugal Bernstein in The King of Fighters '94, he is wearing a tuxedo, never uses any special moves, and it is still a pretty difficult challenge for your team. If you beat him, though, he throws his shirt and jacket off and fights for real. The result isn't pretty.
- Many female characters do this- with Leona and Athena often throwing off full outfits.note Blue Mary has a little fun with it - she throws her jacket in the air and yells "Antoine!" Her dog, Antoine, then runs by and leaps up to catch the jacket. King tosses her hat forward, then kicks it offscreen. The boss of 2001, Igniz, uses this as a basic attack.
- Done by the final boss of MadWorld, The Black Baron "Stop Starin'!" tosses his pimp robe just as the music comes on. One Pre Ass Kicking One Liner later, and the fight is ON.
- Mega Man:
- Sigma flings away his cape (over)dramatically before battling X in Mega Man X and Mega Man X5. And yes, jumping into the thrown cloak will damage you as if you ran into an enemy.
- Zero does a similar action; throwing away his tattered brown cape as Pantheons find him in the opening to Mega Man Zero 2.
- Serges (one of the X-Hunters) in Mega Man X2 also does this with his cloak/robe in the first battle with him; the catch is, if you don't start moving ASAP when you get control back, it will hit you for some damage.
- Colonel.EXE in Mega Man Battle Network 6 also weaponizes this if your health is low. Get hit by his thrown cape and you'll be paralyzed, allowing him to finish you off with his finishing move.
- Metal Gear:
- The aged Liquid Ocelot throws off his trench coat before engaging Old Snake in one last fight. This reveals two things: first, Ocelot is in amazing shape for a man in his seventies. Second, he has a cybernetic arm instead of Liquid's arm. This arm hurts, as evidenced by the large chunks of health Snake loses when he's hit by it.
- The Boss throws her cloak off before a fight in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
- Pokémon:
- In Pokémon Black and White 2, gym leader Elesa wears a yellow puffy coat when the player meets her, and flings it off once the battle starts.
- In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Volo does this as part of the reveal of their true nature. More impressively, he manages to remove his hat and massive backpack all at once.
- Ricardo in Shadow Hearts: From The New World throws his hat when he uses his unique skill "Fated Day's End".
- At one point in Skies of Arcadia, a female villain wearing a belly-dancer outfit somehow manages this - she flings her very sheer shawl at the camera and is then suddenly clad in her full navy uniform.
- From Spy Fiction (2003): In this Stealth-Based Game, the characters can disguise themselves as anyone they take a picture of. Putting one on is done off-screen, in any convenient hidey-hole (trash bin, closet, bathroom stall, etc.) but removing one can be done at any time with the classic flung clothing move.
- In Street Fighter II, the end boss M. Bison throws off a cape before fighting whichever character made it to him. This becomes subverted (and a little less unique) come Alpha/Zero and beyond, when he keeps the cape on at all times, and other characters get the cloak-flinging: Zangief and Cammy (although hers is more of a hooded cloak). His Alpha incarnation being inspired by his appearance in the Street Fighter Animated Movie, it's only natural to make mention of it as well. At first, he fights with the cape on (while still just toying with the heroes), but once provoked to fight seriously, he tears the chain off the cape and flings it off, ready to get his hands dirty. In Street Fighter IV, he fights with the cape off again. The cape (and the flinging) only appear in some Rival Cutscenes.
- Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People: In "Homestar Ruiner", Homestar's clothes are seen in the air when he gets ready to take a shower. Luckily, Strong Bad's The Cheat-like reflexes prevent us from seeing anymore (he is naked later on in the game... except it's blurred out).
- In Under Night In-Birth, Akatsuki's introduction pose has him wearing a black hooded cape. Before fighting, he takes it off.
- Come X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Sabretooth gets a pimp robe to put on and take off (Birdie brings them in both cases though, so not really a fling).
- Very frequent in the Like a Dragon series, where all the badass yakuza have to do to reveal their topless, tattooed (or in some cases not tattooed, as part of The Reveal) upper bodies is to tug on one corner of their shirts, jackets, etc.
- Played for Laughs in a substory in Yakuza 3, where a random thug tries to intimidate everyone with his "manly" tattoo, but it's anything but, doing the same dramatic coat throw that other characters in the series have done before.
- Reaches an apex during the climax of Yakuza 4, where everyone except the cop characters and Akiyama does this before their respective final battles.
- Yakuza 6 makes a point of this with Takumi Someya, where him throwing off his bathrobe shows how he has no irezumi on his back despite being a high ranking yakuza.
Visual Novels
- This is how Olga Orly reveals her true self and personality in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. She goes from a timid serving girl in thick Russian clothes to a not-so-timid gambler with an appropriate outfit.
Webcomics
- In strip #12◊ of the Star Wars parody webcomic Diary of a Crazed Mimbanite, Dark Dingus uses his Force powers of telekinesis to strip the Han and Leia Expy facing him of more than their brandished guns... to his Squick in the latter case.
- Dragon Mango: In this page, after being accused of using a Jedi Mind Trick relic to cheat in a competition, Lemon strips down in front of the crowd to prove it's not on her person. And she manages to take all of her clothes off in a single dramatic pull. Apparently, it's a Ninja thing.
- Done in Erfworld here.
- Used in Gunnerkrigg Court for Kat's transformation into Wrench Wench mode, complete with "Fling" as an Unsound Effect.
Western Animation
- Male example in the Avatar: The Last Airbender episode "The Beach:" Zuko flings his shirt off to go play volleyball. There are also Disturbed Doves. And Squeeing Fangirls Eating the Eye Candy to lampshade the sheer gratuitousness of the scene.
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold the Music Meister does this about eight or nine times in close succession. Perhaps quick costume changes are another one of his superpowers.
- Lampshaded in Futurama: In the episode "Less Than Hero", Leela reveals to her parents that she is the superhero "Clobberella" by ripping off her clothing to reveal her super suit underneath — even though the outfit's high collar should have been visible under her usual tank top. Moments later, she tears it off as well, improbably revealing her usual long pants and clunky boots beneath the legless Clobberella costume.
Leela: It was brisk. I dressed in layers.
- In the House of Mouse episode "Salute to Sports", Goofy attempts to sing the national anthem and gradually removes his clothes to read the lyrics written on signs attached to his body. The scene cuts to Minnie watching as Goofy's clothes are flung past her, culminating in his underwear landing over her head.
- In the second season finale of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, when the royal wedding is overrun by an evil race called the Changelings, the main characters throw off their bridesmaids outfits before going out to retrieve the magic MacGuffins that can defeat them, prompting Rarity, the one who designed and made them, to try and catch them. It takes the others yelling at her to throw off her outfit as well.
- In the episode "Circus of the Stars Part 2" of Team Galaxy, Yoko, Bret, Josh, and Fluffy run on stage and tear off their clown costumes in such a fashion.
