Flung Clothing

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    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 is often a sub-trope of this.

    Examples of Flung Clothing include:

    Anime & Manga

    • Kodachi Kuno's first appearance at Furinkan High School in Ranma ½ is capped off by her flinging her school uniform off to reveal her gymnastics leotard—a move she makes several times in the series.
    • 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.
    • One of Piccolo's trademarks is throwing off his Weighted Clothing before a fight.
    • In episode 14 of Mahou Sensei Negima, 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 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.
    • In Naruto, most members of the evil organization Akatsuki tend to rip/throw off their cloaks. Sasori and Kakuzu are the most noticable 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 4 of Midori no Hibi, 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 the anime Mai-Otome, the Black Knight throws off his cloak disguise to reveal himself to Shizuru, in preparation for battle.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Female villains in Sailor Moon had a tendency to do this when revealing their true identity to the Victim of the Week.
    • In 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, wherein she utterly succeeds. Moments after that, she is seen wearing it again.
    • Death Note: Aizawa, after many frustrating attempts to get through a metal detector, flings his pants in the air in a gesture of disgust.
    • The Team Rocket trio from Pokémon do this in many episodes, and it seems to be their primary (or perhaps only) way of changing clothes.
      • Don't forget May deciding to change her clothes on the beach...
      • Fan Disservice when Ash does it in the Christmas episode. Oh, man...
      • Red does this twice in Pokémon Special. First was RGB when Blue 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.
    • 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 in to her campaign (for student council president) outfit.
    • In The Prince of Tennis, Atobe Keigo flings off his uniform's jacket as part of his dramatic first entrance onto the tennis court.
    • The first appearance of Dieci of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has her appearing with a cloak that she promptly throws away together with the cloth wrapped around her BFG.
    • 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.
    • The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya does this quite often, whenever Haruhi is forcing Mikuru into a new costume.
    • Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist often did this with his coat in the anime. And his ripped shirt in the first episode. Cue squeeing from many fangirls.
    • In Corsair, Aura does this when the others come to rescue her, throwing her cumbersome dress off so she can move around more comfortably.
    • Yusuke throws off his pajamas early in the Yu Yu Hakusho manga. Less "ready for asskicking", though - more like "ready to enjoy the one day of life I get before I go back to being dead".
    • In the anime Freezing the last image of the series before the credits is Satellizer's bra in mid air.
    • Fairy Tail Somewhat 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.
    • The criminal killing Playing with Fire NEXT Lunatic in Tiger and Bunny wears an All-Encompassing Mantle. When he needs to get serious, he burns the mantle off.
    • Mayumi in SHUFFLE! did this while changing into a waitress uniform. Halfway through she realised 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.
    • In Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru, Takako and Mariya fling their clothes when challenging each other for the swim competition.


    Film

    • In the Charlie's Angels movie 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. I don't want to know where they were keeping the tops and boots.
    • 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...
    • Sawyer begins the biggest scene like this.
    • 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 Fuel burning.


    Live Action TV

    • 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 SPD flings his trench coat off during his Transformation Sequence.
        • And don't forget how 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 of Mighty Morphin'! 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.
    • In Ultraman, the team uses this to change from business suits to battle uniforms.
    • 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 out of this but the guys can also make use of this if need be.


    Video Games

    • In Street Fighter 2, 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). 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).
        • 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 4, he fights with the cape off again. The cape (and the flinging) only appear in some Rival Cutscenes.
    • In The King of Fighters '94, when you first fight Rugal Bernstein, he is wearing a tuxedo, never uses any special moves, and it 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.
    • From Spy Fiction: 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 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.
    • Mickey Mouse does this in Kingdom Hearts 2, 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.
    • Sigma flings away his cape (over)dramatically this before battling X in Mega Man X.
      • If you're stupid enough to try it, 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 X2 also does this with his cloak/robe in the first battle with him; catch is, if you don't start moving ASAP when you get control back, it will hit you for some damage.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • In Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, 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).
    • Many female characters do this in The King of Fighters - with Leona and Athena often throwing off full outfits. 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.
    • For B.B. Hood's "Cool Hunting" super, she flings away a cloak to reveal... other Dark Hunters, who open fire on the opponent.
    • In a possible parody, Kira Daidohji of Arcana Heart does this with a Modesty Towel for her entrance.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • BlazBlue brings us Noel, Litchi, and Makoto, all who have introduction poses. Noel and Makoto throw off their cloaks, while Litchi grabs her dress and sweeps it around herself, setting a new world record for fastest change into alluring attire.
    • Ricardo in Shadow Hearts: From the New World throws his hat when he uses his unique skill "Fated Day's End".


    Webcomics


    Western Animation

    • 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.

    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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 Mac Guffins 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.
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