History Main / GangOfHats

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' heavily distinguishes its gangs as well. The Triads are identifiable by their blue jumpsuits and black bandanas, TheMafia all wear black suits, ties, and gloves, and the Red Jacks and Purple Nines, two feuding gangs on Shoreside Vale, identify themselves with the colors they're named for.

** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', the street gangs (Grove Street Families, Ballas, Varrios los Aztecas, Los Santos Vagos, Rifa) all identify by color scheme. This is also the first game where the different ethnicities aren't united as one gang (for example, there are several Black and Latino gangs vying for territory control and power).
** Downplayed in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. Gang members dress a bit more nondescriptly here, but are still distinguishable if you know which [[YouAllLookFamiliar character models]] to look for.

* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games before San Andreas used this to an extent, it kinda dropped as the series progressed. Or rather, it was a curve. The original game had pretty nondescript organized crime, GTA 2 had a circus of gimmicks, GTA 3 had some thematic stuff, Vice City had ethnic gangs that emphasized the ethnic part, and in San Andreas, the street gangs (Grove Street Families, Ballas, Varrios los Aztecas, Los Santos Vagos, Rifa) all identify by color scheme. This is also the first game where the different ethnicities aren't united as one gang (for example, there are several black and Latino gangs vying for territory control and power). ''GTA 4'' expanded this even further. Also appears in ''GTA V'', usually in outfit style (the bikers i.e.) or occasionally color-coded (as with the two black gangs, the allied green one Lamar is in and the enemy purple one).

*** Marienburgers are from the richest trade port city in the entire Empire. They come across as effete snobs to everyone else, and it shows in how the leaders dress: flamboyant dress and lots of jewellery on display. Poorer members of the warband might just wear simple shirts or leather jacks with bandanas, as many of them are former ship's crew and dockland thugs.

* ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' has the [[TheKlan Fraternal Order of the Raven]], which is either an {{expy}} of the KKK or the Columbian branch of it, wearing black hoods instead of white. They're even ''more'' racist than the average citizen, to the point that their headquarters has a golden statue of John Wilkes Booth in its lobby, and an un-ironic painting of the heroic Booth shooting a devilish UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln in Ford Theater. The group is also zealously loyal to the Prophet and his family, to the extent that some of them have chained coffins to their backs as penace for their perceived failure to save Lady Comstock from an assassin. Their trademark ability is the "Murder of Crows" vigor, which allows them to [[OneToMillionToOne turn into a murder of crows]] and unleash swarms of corvids against their enemies.

* ''Series/HighAndLow'' has at least 10+ gangs, and so to help everyone keep them straight they each have a very specific aesthetic. They often take the tropes associated with their groups and {{Exaggerate|dTrope}} them, making them quite easy to differentiate.

** House Moon and Star are all [[MadScientist mad wizards]] or [[KnightTemplar alicorn worshiping lunatics]]
** House Stormwing are all Spartan expies (with a few Vikings added into the mix)
** House Everfree [[BiologicalMashup half pony hybrids]] or [[TheSavageIndian forest dwelling wildponies]]
** House Earthborn are [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot knight gadgeteer cowponies]] or [[NobleSavage buffalo tribals]]
** House Whitegold are [[CorruptCorporateExecutive backstabbing merchants]] employing PrivateMilitaryContractors
** The Cult of Laughter are [[MonsterClown evil clowns]] with [[LovecraftianSuperpower unnatural magical powers]]

** The O'Driscolls are TheIrishMob. Green accessories that celebrate their shared heritage are common.

** Angelo Bronte's gang are all Italians or Italian-Americans. None of them are seen without an exquisite tailored suit. They're almost a proto-Mafia.
** The Murfree Brood are a band of horribly inbred yokels who cruelly torture, rape and cannibalize their victims, comparable more to a band of savages or animals than a criminal gang. They are hardly ever seen wearing a shirt, displaying their deformed bodies.
** The Night Folk of Lemoyne's swamps wear primitive clothes and use only bows and melee weapons. They never speak and [[AmbiguouslyHuman some wonder if they're even human]].
** The Del Lobos are stereotypical Mexican Banditos.

** The Skinner Brothers are a multiethnic gang of sadists who live in the woods of Tall Trees and sadistically hunt and skin human beings.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'', we've got the Yellow Scarves, who are traditional gang members who simply (wait for it) identify by wearing Yellow Scarves. Then we've got Dollars; the newest and biggest kid of the block; a gang formed over the Internet. Some members know each other in real life; but mostly only know each other by their online selves; and are summoned by [=PDA=]; most are extremely hardcore {{Otaku}}. Yes, it's a Weaponized [[ImageBoards 2channel.]] Be very afraid.

** Spoiler for the novels: [[spoiler: Later on in the Blue Square, a group within the gang is formed who are identified by blue bandannas and balaclavas printed with a design, which resembles the mouth of a shark baring its sharp teeth. This group's purpose is to rid the Dollars of the members who use the name for whatever wrong-doings they feel free to commit. Apparently the Dollars does have rules, but they're completely unheard of by everyone except their founder.]]

* In ''VideoGame/HuntDown'' we have several:
** The Hoodlum Dolls are punks and leathermen
** The Misconducts are Hockey hooligans
** The Heatseekers are Hoverbikers
** The No.1 Suspects are black Japanophiles

* Team Aqua and Team Magma in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire''.
** Frequently Lampshaded by the gang members - "Who do you think has cooler outfits, Team Magma or Team Aqua?" "You can't be a member of Team Magma, you're not dressed the part!"
** Almost all the evil teams wear the Dark-Type hat, except Cipher. Their type of choice is usually [[TheCorruption Shadow]].
** Even in-game (which doesn't tend to call attention to the uniforms of Team Rocket or Team Plasma), characters often make a point of how odd the uniforms of Team Galactic are. They're frequently compared to spacemen.
** Team Flare dresses in stylish red clothing, red sunglasses and red hair. The higher ups either wear white clothing, different colored hair (or no hair at all), an even more stylish sunglasses that aren't necessarily red or both. All these are quite fitting for a team whose goal is [[spoiler: to create a more beautiful world]].

** The Laramie Gang act as hired thugs for wealthy ranchers. Fine clothes and red identifier neckerchiefs are dress code.

*** Averlanders are from a prosperous mountain province, so they wear fine, colourful uniforms. Many of them were former trappers or poachers and it shows in both their garb and their armament; outdoorsy cloaks and hoods are the dress code, bows and arrows are the WeaponOfChoice and traps are also often employed to good effect in the UrbanWarfare.

* In Machinima/RedVsBlue, the Red and Blue armies wear, respectively... red and blue. Big shock, right? The only characters with armor colors outside of this is the medic working for both armies (who wears purple), the colorblind recruit who accidentally goes to the wrong base at first (in yellow), and the Freelancers, who are... definitely not red ''or'' blue.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' animated short "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPRRupAM4DI Hero]]" features Los Muertos ([[NamesTheSame no, not]] ''[[VideoGame/{{Crackdown}} that]]'' [[NamesTheSame Los Muertos]]) a gang of punks clad in skeleton-themed phosphorescent body paint.

*** Caesar's Legion is an attempt to recreate the Roman Empire [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace in post-apocalyptic America!]]]], and as such its legionnaires have made their best attampt at Roman ''lorica'' and weapons using [[ImprovisedArmor scavenged sports equipment]] and makeshift throwing spears and swords.

* Most of the armies during the Golden Age Saga of ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' consist of this, each having an AnimalMotif and a uniform armor that went along with it in some way. Such examples included the Black Rams, White Tigers, and Purple Rhinos. The Band of the Hawk, which our protagonists belong to, downplays this by only their leader Griffith wearing bird-themed armor and the rest only wearing insignias.

* The Gangreen Gang of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. They all have inexplicable [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation green skin]].

* While not gangs ''per se'', the various racing teams in the ''Film/SpeedRacer'' movie all had themes (the Viking team, the snake team, the military team, etc.) and they even had [[NiceHat silly hats too]].

*** The ''Nuka-World'' DLC introduces three distinct gangs of raiders in an uneasy alliance. The Disciples are {{spik|esOfVillainy}}y, sadistic {{Knife Nut}}s who raid for the carnage and mayhem, the Operators are [[BadassInANiceSuit well-dressed]] {{aristocrats|AreEvil}} only in it for the caps, while the Pack are {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s with an AnimalMotif, running around in brightly-colored fursuits.

[[folder:Film]]

* Similarly to the example above, a lot of the opposing teams in ''Anime/InazumaEleven'', especially in Season 1, revolve around one gimmick. Occult is a team of kids based on monsters, Nose is a team of kids who look and behave like animals, Mikage Sennou is a team of brainwashed kids who rely on technology, Shuuyou Meitou is a team of {{Otaku}}s, Sengoku Igajima is a team of {{ninja}}s and Zeus is a team of [[AGodAmI wannabe-gods]].

Compare PlanetOfHats (where it's more than just criminals looking this way), GroupIdentifyingFeature (with which this may overlap) and CarnivalOfKillers (where the gangsters are not working together, and might even be in open competition). Not related to GangOfCritters. Incredibly, sometimes TruthInTelevision.

*** Middenheimers are big, mean men who wear wolf pelts to identify themselves as worshippers of Ulric, the god of wolves and winter -- by custom the wearer has to have killed the wolf himself, with his bare hands. You'll also be hard-pressed to find a Middenheimer who wears a helmet, preferring BaldOfAwesome and ManlyFacialHair.

*** Middenheimers are big, mean men who wear wolf pelts to identify themselves as worshippers of Ulric, the god of wolves and winter -- by custom the wearer has to have killed the wolf himself, with his bare hands. You'll also be hard-pressed to find a Middenheimer who wears a helmet, preferring BaldOfAwesome and BadassBeard.