Basic Trope: Stubble is badass.
- Straight: Bob is the badass hero in a grizzly action movie and has stubble.
- Exaggerated:
- Every badass character has stubble, and anyone who is not badass is clean-shaven.
- Alternatively, the macho beard.
- Downplayed: Bob is a badass with a slight five-o'-clock shadow — visible, but not grown out enough to feel stubbly to the touch.
- Justified:
- Bob has no time to shave cause of his badass lifestyle, but doesn't want to let his stubble grow out so he trims it.
- Bob just likes the way stubble looks.
- Bob is unable to grow a beard
- Bob's facial hair is a side effect of superpowers.
- Inverted:
- The least badass character is the only one with stubble.
- The Action Hero (the most badass and the main character) is the only one with a clean-shaven face, all other men have stubble.
- Subverted: Bob has stubble, but he turns out to be a wimp.
- Double Subverted: ...Until Bob pulls a Let's Get Dangerous! and reveals that he was just Obfuscating Stupidity.
- Parodied:
- Every character who is remotely badass has stubble, even the girls.
- It is physically impossible for Bob to shave his stubble, or for his stubble to grow any longer. Or it grows back the instant he shaves it off.
- Bob can (and does) use his face as sandpaper.
- Generally wimpy characters automatically become badass after not shaving for a few days.
- Zig Zagged:
- Characters with stubble seem to be either end of the extreme. Either they are a wimp and loser or they are a stone cold badass. And the few who fall into Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass and appear to be losers but are actually very powerful.
- Bob the badass starts with facial hair that realistically goes back and forth between stubble and a beard as he grows it out and shaves it.
- Averted:
- Stubble is purely a fashion statement and has nothing to do with badassitutde.
- The cast is entirely female, or only the female characters are badass.
- No one has a stubble. Or if someone has it, it's temporary and only because he didn't have time to shave.
- Enforced: The audience needs to know right away which character is a gritty badass, and stubble = gritty.
- Lampshaded:
- "A true badass never shaves! Razors are for the weak!"
- "He's so manly, you could sand wood with his face!"
- Invoked: "Bob, you'd look a lot tougher if you grew some stubble."
- Exploited: Bob has lost confidence in his abilities for whatever reason. So he lets himself grow a bit of Perma-Stubble, which makes him look badass enough to restore his self-confidence.
- Defied: Bob is a total badass, but doesn't like the feel of stubble so he continues shaving.
- Discussed: "That guy must be badass. He looks like he hasn't shaved in a week."
- Conversed: "That character must be badass. He looks like he hasn't shaved in a week."
- Deconstructed:
- Everyone who grows stubble is immediately badass and society is thrown into turmoil. For instance, teen males who grow stubble earlier end up dominating their schools, be they nice guys or jerks.
- Bob's stubble is the first step towards a full-blown Beard of Sorrow.
- Bob focusing on maintaining his perpetual stubble is shown as a sign that he's more vain than actually badass.
Back to Perma-Stubble, Mr. Sandpaper.
