Trench coats in popular culture

Benedict Cumberbatch wearing a trench coat during the filming of Sherlock.

Trench coats have been the distinctive wear of many famous characters in a variety of media.

In comics

Some popular examples of characters wearing trench coats include Tintin, Rorschach, Carland Cross, Doctor Occult, Green Hornet, the Sandman, and the 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. Marvel Comics thief and purported "super-soldier" Fantomex wore a white trench coat as part of his costume.

Several characters in the Batman mythos wear trench coats. Batman comments that he owns several as Bruce Wayne. In Batman: Hush, Killer Croc, Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Dent, Clayface (pretending to be both Jason Todd and Hush), and Harold are seen wearing the same "generic" trench coat model. Harvey Bullock, many other members of the G.C.P.D., and P.I. Joe Potato wear trench coats as well. The Joker often wears a purple one. Tommy Monaghan, another Gothamite and the protagonist of the comic book Hitman, regularly wears a dark green trench coat. Also from the DC Universe, The Crimson Avenger wears a red trench coat, the Question, the Spirit and The Phantom (aka Mr Walker) wear a signature blue trench coats and fedoras. Clark Kent is also seen using them often.

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. The Punisher, aka Frank Castle, also wears a trench coat to conceal his skull T-shirt. Wonder Man sometimes wears a red trench coat as uniform and Bulls-eye often wears one over his spandex suit. Blade is also seen using them often.

Other comic characters with distinctive trench coats are Dick Tracy (who wears a yellow one), Hellboy (a dirty, tattered brown one, with the right sleeved rolled up past his Right Hand Of Doom), and many of the characters in Frank Miller's Sin City wear trench coats. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles often use them to walk among regular people as anonymously as possible.

In Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury, television news reporters are frequently depicted wearing trench coats.

Science fiction

• In the movie Blade Runner, the protagonist Rick Deckard wore a custom, single-breasted trench coat, while the Replicant Roy Batty wore a black leather trench coat.
• The science fiction series Farscape featured many characters who routinely wore trench coats on the series. Among these were series regulars John Crichton and Aeryn Sun.
• A Duster-style leather trench coat was used as one of the trademarks of vampire Spike on 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, and during the first season of Angel.
• In the 2002 space western 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 television series The X-Files, both Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are known for wearing trench coats frequently.
• In the BBC television series Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes played by Benedict Cumberbatch, wears a dark navy blue styled Belstaff trench coat.
• In the animated series Invader Zim, Dib wears a trench coat.
• In the NBC science fiction series Heroes, Peter Petrelli wore a trench coat throughout most of the first season, as did the villain Sylar. In their first encounter, Peter was wearing a white trench coat, while Sylar's was black, in the traditional good and evil motif.
• In the BBC television series Doctor Who, the Tenth Doctor played by David Tennant wears a light brown trench coat throughout the series; he claims in the episode "Gridlock" that he received the coat from Janis Joplin. Later, the Eleventh Doctor played by Matt Smith wears a dark green greatcoat (similar in pattern to a trench coat, but designed for warmth over waterproofing) in place of his normal tweed jacket in "Let's Kill Hitler" and switches between the two throughout the rest of season 6. The recurring character of Jack Harkness played by John Barrowman wears a Royal Air Force-style greatcoat for most of his appearances on Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood.
• Almost every main character on the television series Fringe wears a trench coat.
• In the sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, Khan Noonien Singh wore a trench coat through most of the film.
• In The Matrix movies Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) both wear trench coats

Film and television

• Castiel from the TV show Supernatural has worn a trench coat in nearly every episode he has appeared in, the trench coat now becoming iconic at conventions and among fans.
• Carmen Sandiego wears a red trench coat and a red fedora as her main costume.
• The Olsen Twins aka The Trenchcoat Twins. The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley.
• In a Hong Kong film A Better Tomorrow, one of the stars Chow Yun Fat, wore a trench coat in the final part of the film.
• In the John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club, John Bender wears a gray trench coat ( it was really an overcoat ) with multiple decorative pins in the beginning and end of the movie.
• In Raiders of the Lost Ark, one of the Nazi villains, a Gestapo agent named Arnold Toht, is always seen wearing a large leather trench coat.
• In the film adaptation of Silent Hill, Radha Mitchell as Rose Da Silva wore a trench coat in the beginning of the film.
• In The Punisher, Frank Castle wore a trench coat.
• The trench coat was a standard feature of the hardboiled detective in countless films noirs.
• In Puppet Master, the main puppet character Blade wears a trench coat.
• In Jumper, Hayden Christensen, as David Rice, wears a trench coat.
• 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, with the exception of Mallrats, in which he wears a leather trench coat.
• Most of crime film from French's Filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville, portray the characters using trench coats, like Le Samouraï and Le Doulos.
• Lemony Snicket, fictitious author of the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events, is often shown in photographs wearing a brown trench coat.
• Many characters in The Matrix film series wear leather trench coats.
• The Immortals of the Highlander series often wear trench coats to conceal their weapons.
• The L.A. police detective Alonzo Harris from Training Day wears a black leather trench coat which hides two pistols.
• The vampire David in The Lost Boys wears a black trench coat over a leather jacket.
• In the movie Moon Child, Sho (Gackt) wears a white trench coat, concealing his guns.
• In the Japanese tokusatsu series GARO, the main protagonist, Saejima Kouga, wears a white trench coat. His rival and sometimes friend or foe Suzumura Rei wears a black trench coat.
• Inspector Gadget always wears a trench coat that has some gadgets and can inflate.
• In the last scene of the film Breakfast at Tiffany's, Audrey Hepburn's character is shown wearing a beige trench coat.
• In the movie Watchmen, Rorschach wears a brown waxed cotton trench coat.
• In the movie Dark City The Strangers are seen wearing trench coats when entering the city.
• In the movie The Returner, Miyamoto often wears trench coats to conceal his weapons.
• Humphrey Bogart as the loner hero of Casablanca.^[1]
• Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies.^[1]
• Colin Farrell as Bullseye in Daredevil.
• In many John Woo films, the main character (played by Chow Yun-fat) wore a trench coat (including A Better Tomorrow, The Killer).
• Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese in The Terminator, with a sawed-off shotgun hidden under it.
• Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger in Wes Craven's New Nightmare.
• David Boreanaz as Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
• Emily Deschanel as Temperance Brennan in Bones often wears trench coats in a variety of colors.
• Unusually, Van Heflin's private eye in Grand Central Murder (1942) wore a trench coat made of leather, a garment that was almost always denoting a villain.
• Wesley Snipes' character (half-vampire vampire hunter Blade) often wore a black trench coat in Blade.
• In the television show Doctor Who, David Tennant often wore a trench coat while playing the title role of The Doctor.
• Clark Kent (Tom Welling) wears a black trench coat while crime-fighting throughout Smallville's ninth season until the season ten episode "Shield."
• In the television show Gossip Girl, both Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) wear trench coats on a regular basis.
• In the Anime television series Lupin III, Inspector Koichi Zenigata can almost always be seen in his trademark light brown trench coat.
• In the movie Goodfellas, Joe Pesci's character Tommy Devito wears a trench coat while killing Stacks Edwards.
• The eponymous main character from the TV police drama Columbo is known for his iconic rumpled trench coat and cigar.
• The character Seto Kaiba from the manga and anime Yu-Gi-Oh! is known for wearing various leather trench coats throughout the series. as well as many other rivals through the series such as Chazz, Jack, and Kaito.
• In the anime Hellsing, each one of the top fighters of each organization wears a trench coat. Alucard from Hellsing Organization, Alexander Anderson of the Iscariot Organization, and The Captain from the Millennium Organization.
• Timmy Turner from The Fairly OddParents wore a trench coat for nearly the entirety of Where's Wanda? from Season 3.
• In the television sitcom Seinfeld, Jerry's father Morty who used to work as a raincoat salesman, invented a belt-less trench coat called The Executive.
• In some crime and legal procedurals such as NCIS and Law & Order: UK, the main cast are often seen wearing trench coats, although this is mainly due to weather conditions of the locations in which the shows are set in.
• The WWE has also provided some good examples:

1. WWE wrestler The Undertaker typically wears a trench coat in backstage segments and when he makes entrances to the wrestling ring.
2. Former WWE, WCW, and TNA wrestlers The Nasty Boys would wear trench coats, with splatter paint, when they make their entrance to the ring.
3. While wrestling for WCW, Ray Traylor as "Big Bubba Rogers", would wear a trench coat to the ring.
4. Former TNA wrestler, Sting (real name Steve Borden), would wear a trench coat, as would nWo Sting.
5. Paul Heyman, former ECW owner and WWE on air talent, is known to wear a trench coat to the ring, and when he delivered his promos.

• Russia, of Hetalia fame, is almost always seen with a tan trench coat edged with brown.
• Ace Hart wore a trench coat in Dog City.
• J.D. (Christian Slater) in the movie Heathers sported a black trench coat.
• In Hong Kong Film A Better Tomorrow, one of the starring Chow Yun Fat wears a trench coat during gun fighting.
• In Transformers: Age of Extinction, the Autobot paratrooper Crosshairs wears a trench coat which stores his weapons.
• Dwight Schrute from The Office often sported a green trench coat ( it was really an east German greatcoat ) whenever the weather was cold.

Video games

• In the game Deus Ex, JC Denton, the protagonist, and his brother, Paul Denton, both wear trench coats.
• Adam Jensen wears a trench coat during multiple levels in the 2011 game Deus Ex: Human Revolution. He can also be seen wearing it on the cover art of the game.
• Aiden Pearce, the main protagonist in the game Watch Dogs, is always wearing a trench coat to help him remain inconspicuous.
• In Metal Gear Solid, FOXHOUND leader Liquid Snake wears a trench coat during most of the game.
• Dante, the protagonist of the Devil May Cry series, regularly wears red leather trench coats, while Nero in Devil May Cry 4 wears a navy blue one with a red lining. In Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Vergil wears a stylized blue priest coat.
• Scott Shelby, one of the four protagonists of the 2010 PlayStation 3 game Heavy Rain, is almost always seen wearing a trench coat.
• Albert Wesker, the central villain of the Resident Evil series of video games, wears a black trench coat in Resident Evil 5. Nemesis, the central villain from Resident Evil 3, also wears a trench coat.
• Caleb wears a trench coat in the games Blood and Blood II: The Chosen, made by Monolith Productions.
• Detective Dick Gumshoe, a detective from the Ace Attorney series, wears a green trench coat. He also has a beige trench coat, but he predominately wears the tattered green trench coat.
• Bob Copper, a Satella Police Officer from the Mega Man Star Force series, wears a green trench coat.
• Looker, an International Police officer from Pokémon Platinum, Pokémon Black and White, and Pokémon X and Y, wears a brown trench coat.
• Giovanni in Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver dons a black trench coat.
• In the popular PlayStation 3 game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the protagonist, Solid Snake, wears a cropped beige trench coat in the third section of the story, Act 3: Third Sun. Similarly, Liquid Ocelot wears a leather trench coat throughout the game. This is also a reference to Snatcher in which the protagonist Gillian Seed wears a similar trench coat as well. This is due to the fact that both games were made by Hideo Kojima. Also in the same game, Big Boss wears a trench coat when he appears.
• The cover art from the video game Fallout: New Vegas features an armored man wearing a leather trench coat strewn with bullet holes.
• In the entire Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, the character Sephiroth is almost always seen wearing his trademark trench.
• The original concept for the Combine in Half-Life 2 had them wearing a trench coat, but the design was replaced with a more simple outfit.
• The members of Organization XIII in the Kingdom Hearts series by Square Enix shear long trench coats that go all the way down to the feet.
• Snow Villiers, from the video game Final Fantasy XIII, wears a light gray trench coat. In an early scene, Sazh Katzroy refers to Snow as 'Trench coat', having not yet learned Snow's name.

Music

• In the early 1980s, Prince wore a purple trench coat as part of his stage costume, initially with nothing but bikini briefs and boots or leggings. By the time of the 1999 Tour, he was wearing a white ruffled shirt and pants along with the trench coat, as seen in the "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" videos. In the Sign o' the Times film, he is wearing a brown leather trench coat for "Sign o' the Times".
• Rick Astley wears a trench coat in his "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video.
• The well known Chiptune artist Nullsleep is frequently seen and well known for wearing trench coats while on stage.
• Musician Kurt Cobain often wore trench coats or similar clothing.
• Pulp referenced the trench coat in their 1998 single "A Little Soul".
• Steve Winwood wears a trench coat in his "Back in the High Life Again" music video.
• David Bowie has been seen wearing a trench coat with the Union Jack design on it since his Earthling Tour in 1997.

References

1. Large, Elizabeth (2005-03-07), Born in the Trenches, Baltimore Sun