Trench coat
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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In fiction
Comics and graphic novels
Trench coats are used in a number of comics, animated series, and graphic novels. The use could be traced back to the the Golden Age of Comics. Most of the heroes in question owned their creation in earlier pulp detective archetypes. This included Doctor Occult, Green Hornet and Crimson Avenger, among others. John Constantine, the main protagonist of the Hellblazer series, wears a trench coat as an integral part of his image and refers to himself as a member of the Trenchcoat Brigade. Rorschach from Watchmen wears a trench coat. Marvel Comics thief and supersoldier Fantomex wore a white trench coat as part of his costume. During Grant Morrison's run on the X-Men comics, titled New X-Men, the characters Jean Grey and Emma Frost wore leather trench coats. Gambit from the X-men usually wears a brown trench coat over his armor.
Many of the characters in Frank Miller's Sin City wear trench coats. Comic book villain The Joker occasionally wears a gray or purple trench coat, often accompanied by a matching wide-brimmed zoot hat. Osmosis Jones's nemesis, Thrax, wears a trench coat. Tommy Monaghan, the titular star of the comic book Hitman, regularly wears a dark green trench coat. The Phantom (aka Mr Walker) wears a signature trench coat and a fedora when walking in town as an ordinary man. The Punisher AKA Frank Castle also wears a trench coat to conceal his skull t-shirt. He also wears it when he feels he needs to scare crooks into running away.
The Crimson Avenger & The Question in Justice League Unlimited.
In Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury, television news reporters are frequently depicted wearing trench coats. The military details, like the D-rings and the collar strap, are carefully drawn, indeed exaggerated.
In the manga Trigun, Vash the Stampede wears a custom-made red trench coat. One of the villains of the series, Legato Bluesummers, wears a white trench coat before he is rendered immobile.
Trench coats are also common wear among various Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX characters, including Seto Kaiba, Zane Truesdale and Chazz Princeton. Those that wear them are usually rivals to their series' respective heroes.
Cowboy Bebop's Spike Spiegel wears a brown trench coat in several episodes, twice wearing it during fights with his nemesis, Vicious.
Science Fiction
Most of the characters of The Matrix trilogy belonging to the human faction, such as Neo and Morpheus, wore trench coats during their incursions in The Matrix. The Replicant Roy Batty in Blade Runner wore a black leather trench coat, while Deckard wore an original Burberry trench coat. A leather trench coat was used as one of the trademarks of vampire Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Likewise, the vampire Angel, also a Buffyverse character, often wore trench coats, especially during the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when he reverted to his evil self, Angelus. Kyle Reese wears a trench coat in Terminator 1.
In the 2002 sci-fi series Firefly, the rebellious Independent Faction of the Unification War became known as Browncoats for wearing brown trench coats in combat (as opposed to the sophisticated battle suits of the Alliance).
In the TV series The X-Files, both Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are known for wearing trench coats frequently.
Film
Throughout the Blade Trilogy, the main character Blade is often shown wearing a unique ankle-length trench coat, black with a red liner. Eric Draven, portrayed by Brandon Lee, wore a trench coat as part of his wardrobe in the film "The Crow". Kevin Smith's character creation Silent Bob always wears a green trench coat. Lemony Snicket, fictitious author of the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events, is often shown in photographs wearing a brown trench coat. Carmen Sandiego wears a red trench coat and a red fedora as her main costume. On the movie Jeepers Creepers, Creeper would wear a trench coat that disguised himself. The characters Mark and Ken Gor of the A Better Tomorrow films are also famous for their long, dark trench coats known as "dusters". In the animated/live-action film Osmosis Jones, the evil Thrax (voiced by Laurence Fishburne) wears a black ankle-length trench coat.
