Can you give some examples of the misuse?
The description can probably be tightened up a bit. There are too many instances of the word Squee.
The Internet misuses, abuses, and overuses everything.
- Inverted in Suzumiya Haruhi, as Kyon points out that Haruhi looks the most attractive to him when she has her hair tied into a ponytail, rather than loose.
- Though not yet seen in Axis Powers Hetalia, many fans would love to see China with his hair down.
- Actually, it has been seen, on one of the scenes on That Damn Island.
- Pics please.
- Actually, it has been seen, on one of the scenes on That Damn Island.
- Spoofed in Airplane II: The Sequel when Elaine takes out her bobby pin and throws her hair from side to side.
- In The English Patient, Hana does not feel the fullmetal Squee for Kip until she sees him let his hair down (from a traditional Sikh topknot, not a ponytail).
- Pretty much any advert for any women's hair product, ever.
- One episode of the Discovery Channel series Time Warp showed some people-and the shows hosts-playing paintball. There was a Samus Is a Girl moment when the players pull off their helmets to reveal they're hot girls, then it's immediately subverted when the show's decidedly male hosts do the same. All in slow motion. The second one even shook his head to make his cheeks wiggle, just in case the audience wasn't laughing enough.
- Lilith of Cheers and Frasier is generally considered more beautiful when she lets her hair out of its usual tight bun. Seeing her hair unbound is what prompted Frasier's first kiss with her, and in an episode of Frasier he considers the fact that she's taken her hair out of its bun as evidence that she is trying to seduce him.
- In the ending of Final Fantasy VI , Terra/Tina changes her hair from ponytail to open while doves fly through the sky.
- In Devil May Cry 4, Nero's love interest Kyrie begins the game with her hair tied up and wearing a tiara. After Nero is absorbed by the Saviour, when he next sees her the tiara is gone and her hair has come undone, thus making her look much more attractive.
- Subverted in Terinu. Teri normally keeps his long hair unbound, but when he was shown wearing it up in a ponytail in a flashback, several readers thought it was so cute they demanded more pictures of him like that.
- There's also a scene where Zuko unties his topknot and lets his hair down into a shaggy mop that covers most of his scar, which may fall into the "vulnerable" category of the trope.
- It just plain makes him more attractive, too. Zuko's scar lies on both sides of Good Scars, Evil Scars- and the really nasty looking part is what his hair covers.
edited 7th Feb '12 11:32:22 AM by Osmium
Okay, those are some bad entries.
So, what would help? A rename? Change of description? Or would it help with just cleaning the page and wicks? Well, I see some cleaning has been done.
By the way, have you checked the wicks?
Personally, I think a rename might be in order, to emphasise that this is a combat trope.
The Internet misuses, abuses, and overuses everything.
I hope that cleaning up the description and examples is enough. I brought it here, because the trope description and the laconic is written with such a focus on fanservice that shifting the focus changes the tone of the whole page a lot. I want to hear other people opinion on this before doing anything.
Well, the focus should really be on combat first, fanservice and symbolism second.
Want to toss up an example of how you'd like it?
The Internet misuses, abuses, and overuses everything.
I just tried to do a little wick check. In the 46 wicks from A to D there were:
- 7 wrong
- 21 unclear
- 18 OK
There were tons of examples without context or unclear descriptions:
- April Fools' Day joke on the name.
- Age of Empires III
- Characters/Amatsuki
- Badass Longhair
- Characters/Bakuman
- Characters/Berserk
- Characters/Beyblade
- Blood+
- Bomberman Land Parody
- Bomberman Land Parody
- Bride And Undertaker
- Busou Shinki
- Chasing Time
- Chronicles Of Conflict
- Characters/Crushed
- Curse Of The Golden Flower
- Dead or Alive
- Dead or Alive
- Defense Devil
- Devil May Cry
- Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
Can't say that looks particularly good. I don't think the Zero Context Examples count for much, though I can't say for sure either way. Something needs to be done, that's about what I can say. I did some random checking on wicks myself, but most I found were either correct or without context.
A rename would take a crowner, and I'm not quite convinced it's needed. There aren't that many wicks, though.
Just cleaning and shaping up the description a bit is a good first step, and so far there aren't any protests, at least. One alternative is to do this and see if it will work. On the other hand, it needs to be done either way.
I'd like to see what more people think.
The Internet misuses, abuses, and overuses everything.
Given that "slipknot" is a real name for a type of knot,
◊ the name made me immediately think this was about a "ponytail" tied or braided in a way similar to that existing knot—not something about hair becoming undone.
edited 7th Feb '12 6:39:38 PM by SeanMurrayI
Well, it sort of is, in the way that it comes loose if you pull at it. Probably not the way you were thinking about it, though.
The Internet misuses, abuses, and overuses everything.
It is somewhat metaphorical, which I think is fine; but slipknots are more about being able to change the diameter of the loop, not being able to undo the knot. Loosen, maybe, but I think more of tighten. Kind of a bad metaphor.
Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.
Here a cleand up version of the description Slipknot Ponytail. Feel free to correct any misspeling you see.
My suggestion for the laconic is: A compact hairdo gets undone during a fight or action scene.
An other question Does it count as this trope if the hair becomes undone because the characters remove the hairtie or hairpin themselves to use it as weapon or lockpick? In my eyes this would be a different trope, even if the hair becomes undone during a battle because of this.
Did some very minor edits in the sandbox.
Whether I would count it being removed by themselves, it depends on the situation.
- I wouldn't count it if they were to use it as a lockpick.
- I wouldn't count it if they removed it during a non-action sequence, no matter use.
- I would count it if they removed it to pull off a last-minute block or other save.
In other words, it has to be in actual action and forced by the situation as a desperate measure.
The Internet misuses, abuses, and overuses everything.
Is there any objection to my new description? If not I will change it.
The description focuses for the first half on how sexy it is when long hair is when let down. Ok, this is a trope...
Suddenly the description is about hair getting undone on its own during fights. This is a valid trope too. The probelm is that there is a huge focus on fanservice. And while fanservice is often a reason for this trope to be used there can be a lot of different symbolic meanings. The undone hair is often a sign of a character loosing control over himself or the situation. If the opponent is able to mess up the characters hair that means that he is strong enough to touch them, the fight is a challange. Open hair can be a sign of defeat...
Due to the strong focus on fanservice, there was a lot misuse on the page. Especially examples which were Shaking Her Hair Loose.