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Stubborn Hair

 Stubborn Hair
type
FeatureClass
 Stubborn Hair
label
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair
page
StubbornHair
 Stubborn Hair
comment
Some people have difficult hair that refuses to be combed, styled, or changed in any way. Little short of an Important Haircut can change it... and sometimes not even that. Gel, mousse, and other treatments are at best temporary fixes, and often wear off in the same scene, much to the character's consternation.
Though a normal hairstyle can be stubborn, it's not as visually arresting as when this trope is applied to a fictional signature hairstyle, because then when a character attempts to challenge their hairstyle it can pop right back into its familiar shape. For similar reasons, this trope frequently gets combined with Idiot Hair, Messy Hair, Wild Hair, Quirky Curls, Perma-Stubble and Unkempt Beauty.
When it does? That one cowlick of Idiot Hair will constantly spring up no matter how much gel is used. While some characters merely wake up with Messy Hair, others can't get it under control no matter what they do. Stubborn Wild Hair will live up to its name and fight like a cornered tiger for its shape, refusing all attempts at cutting and styling.
In the most extreme cases, shaving the character's entire head does nothing, with the hair demonstrating a Healing Factor as it undergoes Rapid Hair Growth to return to its original state.
While a Hair Reboot can be a useful skill in the arsenal of the Bullet-Proof Fashion Plate, having Stubborn Hair is generally a bad thing, at least from the perspective of disapproving authority figures.
Often accompanied by Appearance Angst, especially if the character dislikes or is self-conscious about the lack of control over their hair.
 Stubborn Hair
fetched
2024-02-21T19:31:43Z
 Stubborn Hair
parsed
2024-02-21T19:31:43Z
 Stubborn Hair
processingComment
Dropped link to HavingABlast: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Stubborn Hair
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Stubborn Hair / int_170487d5
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_170487d5
comment
In ParaNorman, Norman tries to comb his hair to lay down, only for it to pop right back up with an audible "fwump" sound. It does this again when his hair gets messed up, and pops back up again.
 Stubborn Hair / int_170487d5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_170487d5
featureConfidence
1.0
 ParaNorman
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_170487d5
 Stubborn Hair / int_1bdeba5a
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_1bdeba5a
comment
X-Men: Wolverine of the has been burned, blown to bits, and had many other very painful things happen to him. Thanks to his Healing Factor, whenever this happens his hairdo (usually) returns exactly to the same length and shape as it was before. Ditto the Perma-Stubble.
 Stubborn Hair / int_1bdeba5a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_1bdeba5a
featureConfidence
1.0
 X-Men (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_1bdeba5a
 Stubborn Hair / int_221d6e7a
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_221d6e7a
comment
Zen Pencils: In "Strange Like Me", a comic drawn around the words of Frida Kahlo, a young girl's unibrow pops almost immediately back into existence every time she attempts to shave it off, much to her chagrin.
 Stubborn Hair / int_221d6e7a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_221d6e7a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Zen Pencils (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_221d6e7a
 Stubborn Hair / int_261c8d3f
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_261c8d3f
comment
Homer Simpson of The Simpsons has a stubborn Perma-Stubble, which regrows seconds after he shaves.
 Stubborn Hair / int_261c8d3f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_261c8d3f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Simpsons
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_261c8d3f
 Stubborn Hair / int_31877011
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_31877011
comment
The Dandy: The character of super-tough cowboy "Desperate Dan" is always depicted with very tough stubble which in extremis he can use to file or grind metal. He has to shave with a blowtorch and a sharpened spade when he needs to tidy up.
 Stubborn Hair / int_31877011
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_31877011
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Dandy (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_31877011
 Stubborn Hair / int_3b34143f
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_3b34143f
comment
Harry Potter:
Hermione is known for having incredibly bushy hair that can only be tamed with "liberal amount of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion" for special occasions.
Harry Potter himself has hair that always looks messy and resists combing. According to his reminiscence in the first book, it once grew back that way overnight after Aunt Petunia cut most of it off. He may have inherited it magically from his father James, who used to deliberately mess up his hair.
 Stubborn Hair / int_3b34143f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_3b34143f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Harry Potter
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_3b34143f
 Stubborn Hair / int_3e5de40b
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_3e5de40b
comment
In the Scrubs episode "My Cake", Ted's hair was blown out in a style not dissimilar to a clown's after taking a ride in Dr. Kelso's convertible, and the fact that it wouldn't smooth down became something of a Running Gag for the episode. He manages to tame it for a while after using a whole tube of hair gel, but it springs back out at the shock of the Janitor suddenly abducting him from the window as part of his campaign to gaslight Dr. Kelso.
 Stubborn Hair / int_3e5de40b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_3e5de40b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Scrubs
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_3e5de40b
 Stubborn Hair / int_41645a44
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_41645a44
comment
On Space Cases, Radu's hair is impossible to comb — the hair cells, like almost every other kind of cell in his body, have a ridiculously high density.
 Stubborn Hair / int_41645a44
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_41645a44
featureConfidence
1.0
 Space Cases
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_41645a44
 Stubborn Hair / int_4522fd1
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_4522fd1
comment
Tennyo from Whateley Universe suffers this trope at its most extreme. Her hair ignores gravity, breaks scissors, and treats water like a duck's feathers do.
 Stubborn Hair / int_4522fd1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_4522fd1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Whateley Universe
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_4522fd1
 Stubborn Hair / int_468bebb0
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_468bebb0
comment
Discworld:
Soul Music introduces us to Death's grand-daughter, Susan Sto-Helit, whose hair refuses to stay in plaits or other styles, and reminds people of a dandelion. Further adventures show that her hair will accept being in a prim-and-proper bun.
In Wyrd Sisters, Magrat Garlick is a young witch who has been blessed or otherwise, with long, frizzy, unruly, blonde hair. She tries to use magic to make her hair long, silky, full-bodied and manageable. But by about three o'clock, the magic has worn off and she resembles a dandelion clock pulled backwards through a thorn bush.
 Stubborn Hair / int_468bebb0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_468bebb0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Discworld
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_468bebb0
 Stubborn Hair / int_4bcaa9d6
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_4bcaa9d6
comment
Triptych Continuum: Princess Celestia's true mane turns out to be a manure-brown tangle that eats combs and does unspeakable things to brushes. The mane aura most ponies see is stated to be a bit of minor wish fulfillment.
 Stubborn Hair / int_4bcaa9d6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_4bcaa9d6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Triptych Continuum / Fan Fic
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_4bcaa9d6
 Stubborn Hair / int_528ae5d7
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_528ae5d7
comment
The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil: The graphic novel is about... well. The beard in question grows faster than it can be cut, blunts bolt-cutters, pushes through walls. The hairdressers are called in, and they style it upward, but still it begins to overshadow the town.
 Stubborn Hair / int_528ae5d7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_528ae5d7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_528ae5d7
 Stubborn Hair / int_5755b96a
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_5755b96a
comment
Haley Starshine from The Order of the Stick has one strand of hair that is always separate from the rest, no matter which way she's facing. She lost it when her head was shaved by her rival Crystal, but she later had her hair magically regrown while in the Empire of Blood... and was frustrated when the strand popped out after combing and trying it back into her ponytail.
 Stubborn Hair / int_5755b96a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_5755b96a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_5755b96a
 Stubborn Hair / int_57b5c6c4
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_57b5c6c4
comment
In A Taxing Woman, Itakura-san, the eponymous taxing woman, has a stubborn cowlick that her boss is always reminding her about, but her swipes at it with a hand don't do much.
 Stubborn Hair / int_57b5c6c4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_57b5c6c4
featureConfidence
1.0
 A Taxing Woman
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_57b5c6c4
 Stubborn Hair / int_605125d8
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_605125d8
comment
Erma: Whenever Erma tries to cut or style her hair, it magically regrows and falls back into an unkempt mane. It takes a bear trap to stay tied up in a ponytail.
 Stubborn Hair / int_605125d8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_605125d8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Erma / Web Comic
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_605125d8
 Stubborn Hair / int_617e92c0
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_617e92c0
comment
Advanced Variable Geo: Satomi's character bio mentions that she once tried cutting her own hair, since she couldn't afford a barber. And by the time she could, the barber couldn't do anything with it either. It only made it worse.
 Stubborn Hair / int_617e92c0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_617e92c0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Advanced Variable Geo (Video Game)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_617e92c0
 Stubborn Hair / int_6e0f6f4f
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_6e0f6f4f
comment
Goku in Dragonball Evolution tries to prepare for his first day of high school with some hair gel... only for his spiky hair to spring right back up and fling the goop off onto the mirror, catapult style.
 Stubborn Hair / int_6e0f6f4f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_6e0f6f4f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Dragonball Evolution
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_6e0f6f4f
 Stubborn Hair / int_705bb59a
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_705bb59a
comment
In both Vampire: The Masquerade and Vampire: The Requiem, a vampire's body is completely static, locked in the way it was the moment they received the Embrace, and this includes their hair. While it doesn't grow back instantly, it will return to its "default" state the next time the vampire sleeps. For example, one of the included characters in the Requiem corebook is proud of his carefully-groomed Van Dyke beard, but he was Embraced before he had the chance to straighten it out, so a good portion of the first hour of each night is spent grooming it back into order.
 Stubborn Hair / int_705bb59a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_705bb59a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vampire: The Masquerade (Tabletop Game)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_705bb59a
 Stubborn Hair / int_7668653b
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_7668653b
comment
Mass Effect 3: If Shepard speaks to EDI about the materials used to construct her humanoid form, EDI will discuss her hair and how it can be either solidified into a shell to maximize its defensive properties or separated into individual synthetic strands to facilitate infiltration. If it's recently gotten wet, however...
 Stubborn Hair / int_7668653b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_7668653b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_7668653b
 Stubborn Hair / int_7de1376e
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_7de1376e
comment
In Wyrd Sisters, Magrat Garlick is a young witch who has been blessed or otherwise, with long, frizzy, unruly, blonde hair. She tries to use magic to make her hair long, silky, full-bodied and manageable. But by about three o'clock, the magic has worn off and she resembles a dandelion clock pulled backwards through a thorn bush.
 Stubborn Hair / int_7de1376e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_7de1376e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Wyrd Sisters
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_7de1376e
 Stubborn Hair / int_803f56b2
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_803f56b2
comment
9 Chickweed Lane: Edda's friend Thorax had hair so stubborn that Sister Caligula (head-nun of Edda's school) took Thorax to a barbershop where she prayed over Thorax's wayward locks as Edda told the barber "Stay calm, do not show your fear."
 Stubborn Hair / int_803f56b2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_803f56b2
featureConfidence
1.0
 9 Chickweed Lane (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_803f56b2
 Stubborn Hair / int_8132b616
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_8132b616
comment
Played for horror in Uzumaki: the chapter "Medusa" is all about the spiral curse taking control of Kirie's hair and making it immune to any and all attempts to tame it and violent at any attempts to cut it.
 Stubborn Hair / int_8132b616
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_8132b616
featureConfidence
1.0
 Uzumaki (Manga)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_8132b616
 Stubborn Hair / int_977c980a
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_977c980a
comment
Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, The Fairy Godmother: In a world controlled by the Law Of Narrative Causality, Designated Villain Evil Sorceress Arachnia is trying to use Loophole Abuse to avoid cursing a baby princess. She finally states that on the princess' sixteenth birthday, she'll awaken with tangled hair. The titular fairy godmother then has to lock the curse down as "unable to be combed, brushed, or cut; knotted around the bedframe" before The Tradition warps the curse into something deadly like "princess strangled by her own tangled hair."
 Stubborn Hair / int_977c980a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_977c980a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_977c980a
 Stubborn Hair / int_a04b0ca3
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_a04b0ca3
comment
Tintin: The title hero of The Adventures of Tintin has hair like this. He opens the movie attempting to pat down his signature hair spike in the front, only for it to stand up again.
 Stubborn Hair / int_a04b0ca3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_a04b0ca3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Tintin (Franchise)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_a04b0ca3
 Stubborn Hair / int_a7b231a4
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_a7b231a4
comment
The Boondocks: Jazmine DuBois is shown having this problem with her "frizzy" mixed-race hair, i.e. what she adamantly refuses to call her afro. Her parents have tried to straighten it but not even hair relaxers will change its texture.
 Stubborn Hair / int_a7b231a4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_a7b231a4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Boondocks (Comic Strip)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_a7b231a4
 Stubborn Hair / int_aac942e5
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_aac942e5
comment
The Santa Clause: As part of the film's You Kill It, You Bought It premise, Scott Calvin is turning into Santa Claus, complete with long white beard. If he tries to shave it off, it immediately grows back. Dyeing his greying hair doesn't work either, since it fades in seconds.
 Stubborn Hair / int_aac942e5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_aac942e5
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Santa Clause
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_aac942e5
 Stubborn Hair / int_ac4b6a62
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_ac4b6a62
comment
Questionable Content: Despite being short, Hannelore's hair spontaneously messes up over a few panels of her standing still. When she takes her hat off, it springs back after one panel with a FOOF Unsound Effect.
 Stubborn Hair / int_ac4b6a62
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_ac4b6a62
featureConfidence
1.0
 Questionable Content (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_ac4b6a62
 Stubborn Hair / int_ae7c4641
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_ae7c4641
comment
The film version of The Princess Diaries shows a brush breaking off in Mia's hair.
 Stubborn Hair / int_ae7c4641
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_ae7c4641
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Princess Diaries
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_ae7c4641
 Stubborn Hair / int_b1e1d0b0
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_b1e1d0b0
comment
Fluffle Puff is defined by her ridiculously thick fur. Like her, it tends to obey physics when it feels like it. It can be tamed, but doing so tends to make ponies borderline insane.
 Stubborn Hair / int_b1e1d0b0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_b1e1d0b0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ask Fluffle Puff (Blog)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_b1e1d0b0
 Stubborn Hair / int_be19e7a4
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_be19e7a4
comment
Taken to extremes in Strong Female Protagonist with the titular character's hair, which shares her invulnerability superpowers and is styled by her doctor with the help of liquid nitrogen and a circular saw.
 Stubborn Hair / int_be19e7a4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_be19e7a4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Strong Female Protagonist (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_be19e7a4
 Stubborn Hair / int_c4282b71
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_c4282b71
comment
Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic combines this with Expressive Hair. In her normal, happy state, her mane and tale are unruly masses of curls. In "The Best Night Ever", she gets her mane styled at a salon, and it pops back into its default shape seconds later. (However, if she gets depressed, her hair straightens on its own and stays that way.)
 Stubborn Hair / int_c4282b71
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_c4282b71
featureConfidence
1.0
 My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_c4282b71
 Stubborn Hair / int_dcb07085
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_dcb07085
comment
Soul Music introduces us to Death's grand-daughter, Susan Sto-Helit, whose hair refuses to stay in plaits or other styles, and reminds people of a dandelion. Further adventures show that her hair will accept being in a prim-and-proper bun.
 Stubborn Hair / int_dcb07085
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_dcb07085
featureConfidence
1.0
 Soul Music
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_dcb07085
 Stubborn Hair / int_de32e214
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_de32e214
comment
Mia Thermopolis, the titular princess from The Princess Diaries, describes her hair as an inverted yield sign that simply refuses to be shaped any other way.
 Stubborn Hair / int_de32e214
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_de32e214
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Princess Diaries
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_de32e214
 Stubborn Hair / int_e52e9eea
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_e52e9eea
comment
Played for pathos in Interview with the Vampire, where the child vampire Claudia cuts off her long curly hair in frustration over being an Undead Child... only for it to grow back, beautiful as ever.
 Stubborn Hair / int_e52e9eea
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_e52e9eea
featureConfidence
1.0
 Interview with the Vampire
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_e52e9eea
 Stubborn Hair / int_e5feb1e
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_e5feb1e
comment
Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright has astonishing Anime Hair shaped like a pair of wings. It's so inflexible that his knit hat (during his stint as "Hobo Phoenix" in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney) couldn't tame it. By Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies, he's gained an equally-stubborn forelock.
 Stubborn Hair / int_e5feb1e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_e5feb1e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ace Attorney (Franchise)
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_e5feb1e
 Stubborn Hair / int_ea49d044
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_ea49d044
comment
In The Red Tent, Bilhah's hair is described like this, and Adah had a difficult time styling it.
 Stubborn Hair / int_ea49d044
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_ea49d044
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Red Tent
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_ea49d044
 Stubborn Hair / int_ec28245c
type
Stubborn Hair
 Stubborn Hair / int_ec28245c
comment
Dragon Ball Z: When Trunks and Vegeta emerge from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber after spending a full year training inside it, Bulma exclaims over Trunks' hair, which has grown considerably. On hearing the Year Inside, Hour Outside explanation for how it grew seemingly overnight, she asks Vegeta why his hair hasn't grown "all shaggy" as well.
 Stubborn Hair / int_ec28245c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Stubborn Hair / int_ec28245c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Dragon Ball Z
hasFeature
Stubborn Hair / int_ec28245c

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Stubborn Hair
processingCategory2
Hair Tropes
 Stubborn Hair
processingCategory2
Improbable Appearance Tropes
 Ask Fluffle Puff (Blog) / int_44bc3fde
type
Stubborn Hair
 The Dandy (Comic Book) / int_44bc3fde
type
Stubborn Hair
 A Taxing Woman / int_44bc3fde
type
Stubborn Hair
 Interview with the Vampire / int_44bc3fde
type
Stubborn Hair
 Uzumaki (Manga) / int_44bc3fde
type
Stubborn Hair
 Doki Doki Club Meetings (Visual Novel) / int_44bc3fde
type
Stubborn Hair
 Hair Love / int_44bc3fde
type
Stubborn Hair
 The Adventures of Tintin (2011) / int_44bc3fde
type
Stubborn Hair
 The Powerpuff Girls (2016) / int_44bc3fde
type
Stubborn Hair