Basic Trope: A topless or nude female character is seen by the viewers from behind only.
- Straight: In a scene where Alice removes her top, we only see her bare back, and the surprised/amused/appreciative reactions of the characters standing in front of her.
- Exaggerated:
- Circumstances always conspire to get Alice topless in front of other people or a gawking crowd, and no matter how it happens — whether she's caught in the bath, caught in the shower, dancing in the moonlight, summoning her power, getting out of a ticket, posing to be arty, can't find her clothes, at her birthday party, zapped by a fabric disintegrator, had her dress torn off by an escalator, fled the scene, future time-traveled, meeting new people, had her sweater unraveled, stripped by security, stripped by the villains, dropped her towel, dropped her linens, lost a game, lost a bet, got her swimsuit much too wet, opened the door, locked outside, dropped her coat, healed and revived, gearing up, cooling down, going for a swim, running 'round town, standing up for a cause, getting ready to fight, losing the battle, settling in for the night — she is always seen from the back, and we see the reactions of the onlookers as they cheer, jeer, or just stare in awe.
- During the swimsuit portion of an international Beauty Contest, all of the contestants experience a Wardrobe Malfunction en masse, and all of their tops fall off simultaneously. We only see their bare backs, and the flashing of cameras from the gasping/cheering crowd.
- Downplayed: Alice is seen from behind, but is wearing a bra or bikini top.
- Justified: The producers are trying to keep the rating family-friendly.
- Inverted: When Alice is topless, the viewers get a full-on shot from the front.
- Gender-Inverted: In a scene where Bob isn't wearing a shirt, we only see him from behind.
- Subverted: In a shot that starts as this trope, Alice turns towards the camera.
- Double Subverted: Conveniently placed Scenery Censors still prevent the audience from seeing anything too risque.
- Parodied: We see Alice from behind walking through a fancy dinner party, and she appears to be topless. Many of the party attendees drop their gaze to her chest as she walks past with expressions of surprise or approval, along with murmured comments like "Nice pair!" or "Wow, those could cut glass." One male attendee stops Alice to ask her if they're real, to which she responds of course! Another male attendee asks if he can touch them, and Alice says it's no problem, as she raises her hands up to give him easier access. As the attendee appears to be pawing her front, he compliments her on how hard the tips are. He also says he was thinking of buying a pair like these for his wife, and asks if there are any drawbacks to the size. Alice admits they're as heavy as they look, but they go with every outfit and always make her stand out in a crowd. As the attendee pulls away, he notices that he appears to have smudged them, and apologizes. Alice says she doesn't mind if he uses a little spit to clean them off, so the attendee licks two of his fingers, appears to paw her front again, and thanks her for letting him try them out. Alice makes it to the open bar, picks up her drink, and finally turns towards the camera. It is revealed that she's merely wearing a Sexy Backless Outfit, along with a pair of extravagant diamond necklaces that have been capturing everyone's attention.
- Zig-Zagged: Sometimes Alice is seen topless from behind, sometimes she's seen topless from the front, and sometimes the shot is somewhere in between.
- Averted: Alice never has a topless scene, in the work.
- Enforced: "We really want fanservice, but have to keep the rating below a certain level. Gonna have to do one of those topless from the back shots."
- Lampshaded: "Alice has a really pretty back, doesn't she?" "Yeah, but I wish we'd get to see her front for once."
- Invoked: Bob needs a code that's tattooed on Alice's back, without letting her know. He buys them tickets to her favorite rock band, and then stands behind Alice as she flashes her breasts to the band.
- Exploited: Show Some Leg and/or I Have Boobs, You Must Obey! (But with Alice viewed from the back, of course.)
- Defied: Every time the camera is about to see Alice topless from the back, Alice quickly puts her top back down and shoos the camera away.
- Discussed: "Wow. Those are nice."
- Conversed: "Whenever they have her take her top off, they always shoot her from the back." "It's probably in her contract."
- Implied: Alice begins to remove her top for a strip search, but the camera pans away before she gets it all the way off, and we just see the reaction shot of the security personnel conducting the search (who appreciate the view).
- Deconstructed: Alice (Breaking the Fourth Wall) rests easy, knowing that the audience can never see her breasts.
- Reconstructed: Even though she's safe from the audience, this does not apply for everyone else.
- Played for Laughs:
- Alice is constantly asking the other characters what they think of her latest piercings, chains, chest tattoos, and other additions to her breasts. Their opinions make her additions sound fascinating or bizarre with fanciful names ("Nice quadruple spiral chains!"), but the audience never sees them.
- A running joke is that Alice's breasts have an almost hypnotizing effect on men who see them (well, more than usual), due to some special quality of her breasts that is alluded to, but never explicitly stated. Men who see them are literally entranced, and anyone who asks what makes them so special is told "You just have to see them." The viewers never get to see what this is.
- Alice is either a Shameless Fanservice Girl who constantly flashes her breasts to solve problems, an Innocent Fanservice Girl who has no qualms about stripping if it helps the cause, or a Reluctant Fanservice Girl who is always accidentally stripped topless in front of other people, or begrudgingly going along with a plan that involves exposing her breasts. Normally, repetition of this kind of scene would get gratuitous, but with the setup of the shot from behind Alice, the scenes can focus on the more comedic elements of the situations as opposed to the nudity.
- Played for Drama:
- The map to a lost kingdom is tattooed on Alice's back, so the team literally needs to look at her back while she's topless to learn the kingdom's location.
Head back to Toplessness from the Back, and imagine what it must look like from the front.
