A superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police does not get "muddy"!
Large Man with Dead Body: Who's that then?
The Dead Collector: I dunno, must be a king.
Large Man with Dead Body: Why?
The Dead Collector: He hasn't got shit all over him.
The Dead Collector: I dunno, must be a king.
Large Man with Dead Body: Why?
The Dead Collector: He hasn't got shit all over him.
The conspicuous lack of grime, dirt, or bruises on actors, especially those in action sequences. There is an inherent suggestion of grueling badassness to completely cover a character in sweat and grime to show that he's really gone through the wringer. This might be a remnant of older special effects, which lacked CG but were very fond of various fluids and chemicals being waded through and thrown around.
Particularly noticeable on female characters. The human antithesis to this is probably Bruce Willis, who by the end of his movies is drenched in about five pints of grime, sweat and blood, mostly his own. Sigourney Weaver's stint as Ripley in Alien was probably the first major female exception.
One practical reason is that film and television scenes are rarely shot in chronological order, requiring the director to carefully keep track of which scenes are supposed to show which markings. The easiest solution is to avoid the issue by not having any stains in the first place.
See also Beauty Is Never Tarnished and Bullet-Proof Fashion Plate. May not protect against Gunge. For vehicles, see Damage-Proof Vehicle.
Has nothing to do with Elemental Barrier.
Examples
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Anime & Manga
- The sword Sayafushi from Bleach, which was a failed attempt to make a perfect sword that came out too perfect to be usable, has the property that no blood will ever stick to it because it is too smooth and can't be damaged.
- In Dragon Ball Z, one of the defining features of the planet-shattering fights in the series is that the terrain around the fighters is often torn to pieces by the force of their blows, and energy blasts regularly kick up huge clouds of dust (often from which the intended target emerges unscathed). Despite this, whilst characters often suffer wounds and battle damage, they almost never get dirty.
- Naruto: While not normally in effect this trope was once invoked for dramatic effect; after Gaara's team clears the Forest of Death portion of the Chunin Exams in record time, proctor Anko and one of her colleagues (but luckily for the audience, not the local Watson) notice that Gaara doesn't have a scratch or speck of dust on his body. As it turns out, Gaara didn't get dirty because he was covered by a layer of sand.
Art
- Michelangelo Buonarroti's Pieta is one of the more famous examples in art. Jesus' lovingly-detailed, well-toned muscles and polished-smooth skin don't look much like someone who's spent three days dying of thirst and blood loss. Mary also invokes this, with a face completely absent of the lines or blemishes that would have been typical on a woman who was in her late forties at least. Michelangelo largely gets away with it, because the anatomy is so good that it easily overshadows the inaccuracy, and because Jesus seems like a good candidate for someone with an actual version. This hasn't stopped some artists from trying
◊, though.
Comic Books
- Many superheroines tend to benefit from this trope, to the point where it is the Second-Most Common Super Power.
But it's worth noting that for most of comics history, minor injuries just weren't drawn on either male or female superheroes — a combination of the same artistic factors that contribute to Generic Cuteness, and the standard action hero's Made of Iron that turns severe injuries into Only a Flesh Wound. And superheroes tended not to get injuries at all, unless they were plot-sensitive (such as messing up a Secret Identity) or it showed off a power. A secondary historical reason is also due to the Comics Code in the United States that existed for a few decades. Visible injuries would probably bump up the rating and, at a time when comics were severely censored, it either wasn't worth the risk or might not have been allowed at all, much as with film under the Hays Code. - Superintendent Sam Steele from The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck's "Hearts of Yukon" chapter. A superintendent of the North-Western Mounted Police does not get... 'Muddy'. Nor, for that matter, does he get 'blown up' or say "Yowch!". And yes, it does protect against being thrown into chest-high mud.
- Both lampshaded and justified in an issue of Superman, during John Byrne's run. Using his voluminous cape as an impromptu "robe" during a journey to the thirteenth century, Superman speaks briefly with two peasant farmers, then continues on down the road. The farmers turn to each other.
"Who was that strange man?"
"I know not; some great king, belike."
"Aye, for who else could walk in such filth and not stain his robes?"- Pre-New 52, Superman's invulnerability was a protective aura - a literal dirt forcefield. Once, while hiding out in disguise on Apokolips, he lamented the fact that this forcefield kept him from looking completely authentic amongst the unhygienic Lowlies that populate the planet.
- In the pages of Comicbook/X Men, Emma Frost's costumes are always a pristine white no matter what she goes through on a mission. It's possible she may be using her psychic powers to merely APPEAR pristine in the minds of those around her. Similar to how she hid her aged appearance in the Old Man Logan comics.
Fan Works
- The titular character of Hope Comes to Brockton Bay explicitly has a minor superpower that prevents anything from sticking to her. It has all sorts of interesting interactions, including making her one of the very few people who can't be held by containment foam and allowing her to perform surgery without needing gloves or having to wash her hands.
- With Strings Attached
- Apparently the Hunter has one of these —until he has his Heel–Face Turn. The battle on the Plains of Death leaves him completely disgusting and stinking to high heaven, even after John hoses him down.
- Averted, though, with John's cloak, which spends the book getting smellier and smellier because he's afraid to wash it lest he wash the magic off.
Film — Animated
- Done in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. No character goes out of a fight dirty. Epically fixed in Advent Children Complete, where everyone, after fighting, gets a good amount of dust, grime, and of course, blood.
Film — Live-Action
- A similar Running Gag is used in Evil Dead 2, in which Ash and everything around him would get drenched with ichor in one scene, then show no trace of goo (or at least, that particular color of goo) in the next. He does suffer lasting wounds and wardrobe-damage, however.
- Humorously done at the end of Ghostbusters (1984), when Venkman (the "coolest" Ghostbuster) has only a dob of marshmallow in his hair, while the rest of the cast is completely covered. Apparently Bill Murray was not enthusiastic about being covered in goo again (after getting slimed earlier in the film) and convinced the others that having Venkman unscathed in this scene would be funnier.
- The Great Leslie in The Great Race, up through most of the pie fight when he gets hit with a white pie.
- A strange version appears in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V. The film gave a good deal of attention to historical accuracy (as much as was possible given that the play itself is Tudor propaganda) and realism. Accordingly, the cast spend much of the film dirty, bloody, and generally pretty realistic. Henry's white horse, however, remains remarkably clean. This is particularly noticeable during the Siege of Harfleur, when a very soiled and bloody Henry comes racing out from the city gates on his horse, which looks like it's just been carefully bathed for Grand Prix dressage. Someone apparently forgot to tell the wranglers about the "realism" thing.
- James Bond almost never gets dirty during his action scenes - the biggest exception being Licence to Kill, where after setting the villain on fire, leading to a big explosion, Bond is bloody, with a wild hair and entirely covered in sand. Nothing less glamourous.
- And he gets really, really dirty throughout the entirety of Quantum of Solace.
- Quantum of Solace also features an exception to the rule regarding actresses never getting dirty. By the end, Olga Kurylenko is covered in just as much grime and sweat as Daniel Craig.
- Daniel Craig also gets covered in blood after killing a goon in Casino Royale (2006), a subversion to Bond's habit of simply straightening his tie and walking off afterwards.
- Sort of lampshaded in Last Action Hero after Arnold's character falls into a tar pit and all it takes to clean himself completely is a few wipes with a tissue, prompting his kid sidekick to comment, "Tar actually sticks to some people."
- This trope is both played straight and inverted in a Shout-Out to the aforementioned Ghostbusters scene in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Bill Murray's character is the only one to get bitten by leaches while moving through a swamp.
- Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films subtly obey this trope.
- The peasant characters are always dirty, whereas a King like Aragorn is at least less dirty. However, it is only in the coronation scene near the end of the third movie that Aragorn's head is no longer a mop of stringy, oily hair.
- Gandalf the White's whiter-than-white robes but his case is justified and even then the edges that touch the ground are dirty; as Gandalf the Grey Pilgrim he is quite disheveled and wayworn.
- As an elf, Legolas is always far better and cleaner looking than the men. However, when a lot of other elves show up at Helm's Deep in The Two Towers, Legolas notably looks a lot worse than them.
- In A New Hope, Princess Leia and the others end up in the trash compactor on the Death Star, yet none of them get remotely dirty. While Han and Luke at least have the excuse of changing out of their disguises, Chewie is naked and Leia is wearing a white dress, yet neither has a spot on them. Mark Hamill tells an amusing anecdote about this: as they were filming one of these scenes, he piped up saying "I was just underwater, shouldn't my hair be all mucky and dirty?" To which Harrison Ford replied "It ain't that kind of a movie, kid. If anyone's looking at your hair we're all in a lot of trouble."
- Considering the amount of time that the characters of Resident Evil: Extinction have spent on the road on a refugee convoy they all seem to have dirt forcefields, especially the women.
- Transformers Film Series:
- Every Transformer with a GM-licensed vehicle mode, thanks to the Product Placement agreements. However, in robot-mode you can see the paint scuffs and dents. note
- Mikaela's white pants in Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, which stay totally clean even after she's been laying in dirt and sand.
- In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Carly somehow gets through a firefight between Autobots and Decepticons, wanton collateral damage left and right, and a collapsing building with shards of concrete and glass raining down from all sides without a single scratch. As for Sam... he looks like he ran into a bus... and a wood chipper... and a wild bear.
Literature
- Rachel from the Animorphs series. To the extent that the others (especially Marco) snark about it. Once, her best friend Cassie jokingly throws a dirt clod at her. "I just want to see if it is actually possible for dirt to cling to you." Rachel catches the clod, drops it, and refuses to show Cassie her hand. Memorably, in one book, the narrator describes Rachel as being able (paraphrased) "to be hit by a flood, picked up by a tornado, buried in a mudslide, and walk out with perfect hair, perfect clothes, and perfect makeup." Note that Rachel is the Blood Knight of the team.
- The Diamond Age: Nanotechnology is so common that almost all fabric is a self-cleaning nanotech construction. Children can play in the dirt in their best clothing and be still largely presentable afterwards.
- Lampshaded in the Dragonlance novel The Legend of Huma by the wizard Magius. During a long trek, Huma and Kaz wonder why they are all muddy and Magius is still clean. Kaz then deliberately tries to kick mud onto Magius, which just bounces off some invisible barrier.
- Non-character example: In Ghost From The Grand Banks, one of the investors funding plans to raise parts of the Titanic made his fortune by developing dirt-proof windshields and window glass.
- Justified in The Raven Tower: Perks of being appointed Raven's Lease by the eponymous Physical God include rule over the nation, Purpose-Driven Immortality, and robes of office that always stay spotless white.
- Trapped on Draconica implies that Rana uses Shock and Awe powers to make dust afraid of her and keep her dress clean.
Live-Action TV
- Combined with Beauty Is Never Tarnished in the Adam Adamant Lives! episode "The Sweet Smell of Disaster". Adam and Georgina lay a trap for the villain and his female sidekick in a room full of soapsuds, and in the resulting fight everyone gets covered with foam. When the survivors emerge, all have suds on their clothes — except for Georgina, who's merely damp.
- Doctor Who:
- Played straight in "Carnival of Monsters", where Jo sinks to her waist in a swamp on location. Her clothes are clean and dry in the studio scenes set less than a minute later.
- Averted, then played straight in "The End of Time". The Doctor is shot by the Master's captors, then ends up taking a skydive from an alien ship through the skylight of a mansion. By the time he takes the fatal blast of radiation to save Wilf, he looks like he's been through the wringer. After the blast, he heals his external injuries with the first energies from the upcoming regeneration, so that he'll look his normal, dapper self for his final goodbyes.
- Game of Thrones: Ser Loras Tyrell should be covered in blood, sweat and grime in "Blackwater", yet he's completely clean. Loras' flawless appearance is further highlighted after Lord Tywin Lannister arrives to the throne room because the old man's face is coated with blood splatter and dirt.
- Unintentionally done on the Discovery show MythBusters. Jamie always wears a white shirt, and almost never gets it dirty no matter what he's working on. Adam often teases him for it.
- An episode of The Six Million Dollar Man in which the woman of the episode goes waist-deep into mud and in the next scene is clean.
- Star Trek: Picard: Since Elnor is a gorgeous character (and portrayed by Evan Evagora, an ex-model no less), the producers clearly didn't want anything to detract from his physical beauty.
- When Elnor slices through Romulan soldiers like they're butter in the "The Impossible Box", there is a lot of arterial spray, yet not a single drop of green blood splashes on him.
- In "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2", after walking a long distance from La Sirena to Coppelius Station in the blazing heat, Elnor looks pristine when he arrives at the entrance, which juxtaposes Narek's sweaty appearance and the subtle, but visible dirt marks on the latter's clothing.
- This is usually Played Straight for the Winchester brothers in Supernatural, but in the episode "What Is And What Should Never Be" (S02, Ep20), a victim keeps appearing to Dean and she is dirtier and more disheveled with each appearance.
- Wonder Woman: The show was surrounded by one. Wonder Woman could have a rolling catfight down a grassy hill in "Wonder Woman vs. Baroness von Gunther" and come up clean and without grass stains. Or she could beat up a room full of bottle-smashing, food throwing football players in "The Deadly Sting" and sill be clean. Or even win a rock smashing, mook throwing fight on a dirt road in "The Girl with a Gift for Disaster" and still be clean. Steve Trevor was the same, for example, making his way through a Nazi forest in "Fausta, the Nazi Wonder Woman" without dirt, grime, or sweat.
Tabletop Games
- Lampshaded in the parody RPG, Diana: Warrior Princess where a Dirt Forcefield is one of the powers of royalty.
- Dungeons & Dragons:
- The ritual Fastidiousness in the fourth edition grants magical protection from dirt as well as water damage.
- The cantrip Prestidigitation can be used to clean one's equipment. In certain editions, it can be cast an unlimited number of times per day, so adventurers don't need to worry about being walking masses of sweat, dirt and gore.
- Pathfinder features the Prestidigitation spell, allowing many types of spellcasters to keep themselves and their party clean.
- Princess: The Hopeful: Princesses of Mirrors get a charm that lets them keep dirt, grime, and anything else that would cause social penalties from sticking to them. Princesses of Hearts, by contrast, have a charm that lets them look elegant and composed even when dirty, provided they had some good reason for being dirty in the first place.
Video Games
- In Illbleed, the main female protagonist's appearance isn't affected by the environments, but it gets more and more torn, blood-soaked and muddy as she fails to save friends (i.e. completing a level without rescuing the friend there). In order to get the true ending, you have to lose everyone, at which point she is completely naked with only a few mudsmears to cover her bits.
- Kingdom Hearts generally plays this straight, as might be expected by the offspring of Disney and Final Fantasy. The secret movie "Birth by sleep" is an interesting exception - not only does it throw the impossibly-clean aesthetic out the window, it also manages to introduce a female lead in the middle of battle, covered in a mixture of dirt, grime, and her own sweat.
- A number of endings in the Mega Man X series have the heroes spotless, despite being in a series of violent battles.
- In Shadow of the Colossus, Wander will get progressively dirty and bloodied through the game, as expected of someone who fights walking mountains. He won't immediately show it though, as his appearance only updates after a colossus dies and the respective cutscene plays out.
- Most games in the Tomb Raider franchise play this straight, except Tomb Raider (2013).
- Total War: Warhammer: Sigvald The Magnificent is a champion of Chaos who floats over the battlefield. Canonically blood and dirt don't ever stain his armor. This is reinforced in the game proper; if you have the Blood for the Blood God DLC activated, blood splatter will NEVER land on Sigvald despite everyone around him being painted red from head to toe.
- Yo-Jin-Bo plays it dead straight. Running through a forest and fighting ninja will not even scuff your shoes, much less rip kimono or cause horrendous sweating and body odor.
- Zig-Zagging Trope in ''Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine: One of the game's major mechanics is that you regain health from slaughtering your enemies in as bloody and messy a way as possible (with chainswords and power axes and thunder hammers), so at the end of a battle your character's armor and face is completely splattered in blood. However, it will all have faded away within thirty seconds.
Web Comics
- This trope is crushed under the steel tracks in Gunnerkrigg Court. Quite fittingly, by Jones.
- In The Zombie Hunters, a gag strip lampshaded this with regard to Charlie's labcoat, which he'd recently befouled in the course of punching a zombie's head in.
Web Original
- There's a student at the Super Hero School Whateley Academy whose codename is Pristine. She literally has a forcefield that keeps her body and clothes immaculate. Which prompted at least one other girl to get a devisor to build her a low power Personal Forcefield Generator to achieve the same effect. There is an untapped market here.
Western Animation
- In The Legend of Korra, Toph reappears living in the middle of a swamp, and yet her clothes are immaculate and her hair pure white (Korra, by contrast, spends the entire episode getting muddier). How does she do that without any means of looking at herself? Greatest earthbender in the world, remember?
- Usually played straight in Teen Titans; characters' outfits are always pristine even during fights, and on the occasion that someone gets slimed by one of the show's goo monsters, it disappears in the next shot.
Real Life
- Swans, egrets, and many other birds live in an environment with lots of mud and dirty water, and spend their days dabbling around in this mud finding the edible objects in it. They still have enough time to keep their own pure-white plumage looking clean. This is certainly an impressive feat when you imagine how much work all that preening must be. But they do it, because the best way to attract the opposite sex is to prove that "I've got such good genes that I can maintain these beautiful feathers and keep them from being tarnished by mud, lice, or injuries." Like us, they'll do anything for the chicks.
- Cats are famously fastidious about cleaning themselves. Healthy cats spend a good portion of their day grooming, so they are usually quite clean. One reason theorized is that this helps them hunt by not having the scent of blood and dirt giving them away. Dogs, on the other hand, go the opposite route and roll in other animals' feces and dirt; the theory for that is it hides the smell of dog from their prey.
- Corgis have fur that repels dirt fabulously, in exchange for shedding nearly 365 days a year. "Shedding season" for them only means that they shed more than usual, and new owners are often forewarned about owning vacuums.
- There are some places where there cannot be dirt in the area while products are being manufactured. These are called clean rooms, and anyone who wants to go into one will have all dirt and dust blown off of them and vacuumed away so that they are perfectly clean.
