The question of how a character can stay protected while wearing this stuff can be answered with protective runes in the form of tribal warpaint or tattoos, their actual armor consisting of invisible Deflector Shields, a Healing Factor making armor moot, or the 'wearer' simply being a Screaming Warrior with no sense of self-preservation. It does seem, however, that at least some male examples are intended as legit fanservice. There is debate about whether half-naked male warriors in fiction are sexually objectified in the same way as female ones, or whether a heroic, muscular body is merely part of the power fantasy that the male audience is encouraged to vicariously live through. At the downplayed end you can have an armor version of Sleeves Are for Wimps to show off their muscular arms. Barbarian Heroes and post-apocalyptic tribe members tend to be depicted as Walking Shirtless Scenes: you might add one big pauldron, a pair of forearm bracers, and an armored belt or loincloth, but nothing that would obscure those chiseled pecs and abs.

Additionally, armor materials that are stiff or bulky in real life will be implausibly stretchy and skin-hugging in drawing or animation, thus showing off the character's figure more.ĭespite the preceding paragraph, this trope does indeed have male examples, particularly when the goal is to portray male fighters as super-macho and/or 'uncivilized'.

They don't seem worried about being Exposed to the Elements, or that someone might stab them in the belly or shoot an arrow at their sternum: the Cleavage Window in particular makes you wonder if they're trying to get shot there. Even if the skimpiness isn't that extreme, there will usually be skin showing at the neckline, shoulders, midriff, or thighs. Alas, what's a creator to do? Well, if you aren't particularly worried about realism, you can dress them in something that kind of looks like armor, but is designed to show off the wearer's skin and secondary sex characteristics with seemingly no concern for safety or defensive usefulness.įor females, the full-blown version looks like a bikini bathing suit-albeit one made of some armor-like material such as metal or leather-that leaves the whole body naked and exposed to danger except for those parts which cannot be shown on network TV: namely, the breasts, butt, and pubic area note And even then, they can push the envelope with things like Underboobs and Thong of Shielding. But what if these characters are warriors who are expected to wear armor into battle? Whether the technology of the setting calls for mail shirts, full plate armor, ballistic vests, or Space Marine suits, most types of practical armor hide all the 'good parts' under layers of protection. Usually when you include sexy characters in a work, you want to put them in revealing clothing for maximum fanservice.

Realistic female armor skyrim