History Main / SpyCatsuit

The writers may try to justify it, saying it's a stealth garment with sensor defeating properties -- so she's seductively slathered herself in AppliedPhlebotinum. It could be for freedom of movement (which make zero sense if the outfit is leather). It could be that she just swam up to the facility and can't ditch the wetsuit. In reality, it's to make the inevitable climbing, shimmying, flipping, and belly-crawling through a LaserHallway look [[{{Stripperiffic}} that much more like a lapdance]]. Of course, it might also be a deliberate invocation of DistractedByTheSexy and IHaveBoobsYouMustObey against male guards/suspicious people she might encounter.

The writers may try to justify it, saying it's a stealth garment with sensor defeating properties -- so she's seductively slathered herself in AppliedPhlebotinum. It could be for freedom of movement (they've clearly never worn skintight leather themselves). It could be that she just swam up to the facility and can't ditch the wetsuit. In reality, it's to make the inevitable climbing, shimmying, flipping, and belly-crawling through a LaserHallway look [[{{Stripperiffic}} that much more like a lapdance]]. Of course, it might also be a deliberate invocation of DistractedByTheSexy and IHaveBoobsYouMustObey against male guards/suspicious people she might encounter.

The writers may try to justify it, saying it's a stealth garment with sensor defeating properties -- so she's seductively slathered herself in AppliedPhlebotinum. It could be for freedom of movement (which doesn't make much sense if the outfit is leather). It could be that she just swam up to the facility and can't ditch the wetsuit. In reality, it's to make the inevitable climbing, shimmying, flipping, and belly-crawling through a LaserHallway look [[{{Stripperiffic}} that much more like a lapdance]]. Of course, it might also be a deliberate invocation of DistractedByTheSexy and IHaveBoobsYouMustObey against male guards/suspicious people she might encounter.

** ComicBook/BlackWidow, originally an ComicBook/IronMan[=/=]Daredevil/Avengers/S.H.I.E.L.D.[=/=]ComicBook/SpiderMan nemesis and later a member of ComicBook/TheAvengers and the Champions, wore catsuits as a constant, often working alongside S.H.I.E.L.D.

* The ComicBook/BlackPanther counts as a male example. (And another particularly appropriate one.)

* ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsMattMurdock Daredevil]] wore a yellow and red catsuit and, later, the renowned red catsuit. His suit was altered from a catsuit appearance to, quite literally, a "devil suit".

* Used rather bizarrely in ''Manga/DeathNote'', where professional thief Weddy wears a classic '60s style catsuit (built-in high heels and all) while infiltrating a building, for no apparent reason. Possibly justified in that the series artist has admitted basing her on stereotypical female spy archetypes, but it still clashes with the feel of the story.

* ''VideoGame/ColdWinter'' have your partner, Kim, wearing a black one as she busts you out a Chinese prison in the first stage. She have a bunch of appearances throughout the game, but she ditches her catsuit after the initial stage and spends her remaining screentime in practical camo gear.

** Comicbook/{{Catwoman}}, of course, wears a catsuit. However, this NewerThanTheyThink, as Selina only [[https://bookriot.com/catwoman-costumes/ started wearing a bodysuit]] in [[Series/Batman1966 the sixties TV show]], previously wearing a green or purple dress.

* Characters/{{Daredevil|MattMurdock}} wore a yellow and red catsuit and, later, the renowned red catsuit. His suit was altered from a catsuit appearance to, quite literally, a "devil suit".

** [[Characters/HawkeyeKateBishop Kate Bishop]], the second ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}, wears a purple catsuit in ''ComicBook/Hawkeye2012''. Creator/MattFraction has stated this was a deliberate ShoutOut to Emma Peel since he writes Kate and Clint with a similar dynamic to that of Steed & Peel.

* While the Film/JamesBond movies, as noted above, avert this trope, the Bond video game ''VideoGame/EverythingOrNothing'' plays it straight with the [[EvilIsSexy evil Bond girl]] Katya Nadanova (voiced by and [[InkSuitActor modeled after]] the supermodel Heidi Klum), who wears a shiny silver catsuit.

* On ''Series/{{Castle}}'', in "Undead Again", Rick and his daughter Alexis have been playing a single game of laser tag since she was five. At 18 and about to leave college, she tells him those days are over and she's grown out of it. Castle was already imminently quitting his adventures with Beckett and now realizes that he's losing his daughter as well. When she realizes how much she's hurt him, she later ambushes Castle, rappelling down from the ceiling in a catsuit to zap him. Cackling maniacally, she claims the whole thing was an act intended to catch him off-guard.

** ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Ann Takamaki wears a bright red skin-tight latex catsuit when engaging in PhantomThief activities. This is actually an InvokedTrope InUniverse, as the outfit manifests as a portrayal of what the user imagines as a “rebellious villain”--to Ann, that’s a sexy and alluring FemmeFatale. One might think that it only makes her highly visible, restricts her movements (not helped by coming with [[CombatStilettos thigh-high boots with high heels]]), and provides no real physical protection while fighting Shadows, but A) It looks really cool, so who cares?, and B) Given that her catsuit is literally supernatural in origin, it might not quite have those problems to begin with.

Only shows up in SpyDrama shows that go light on realism. Any action show that puts a female character through [[TheInfiltration an infiltration scene]] will use it. Mostly used with at least a wink these days.

* Molotov Cocktease from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' Subversion No. 3 is played in the 3rd Season finale when she shows up to help Brock and the Venture family while wearing her "off-duty" getup.

As you may have imagined, this is not something real-life (or realistic fictional) female operatives would wear in the field, though a black turtleneck and cargo pants will pull off a similar look while being much more practical. In fact, this trope originated not with spy fiction at all, but with Characters/{{Catwoman|SelinaKyle}}, whose iconic use of this outfit is both the {{Trope Maker|s}} and {{Trope Namer|s}}. A variant of this is the tendency of female ninja in {{anime}} and superhero comics to wear excessively {{stripperiffic}} outfits.

** As mentioned earlier, catsuits were first introduced by Characters/{{Catwoman|SelinaKyle}}, designed by Bob Kane, and which would also influence the U.S. erotic fetish scene. This is subverted in ''[[ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures The Batman & Robin Adventures]]'' #16 (a tie-in comic to the animated series), which introduced Catman as a villain inspired by Catwoman. So much so that he wears Catwoman's rather feminine-looking catsuit, which looks rather comical on a male figure.

** [[ComicBook/{{HYDRA}} Madame Hydra]] and Madame Viper, S.H.I.E.L.D. nemeses, were known for their green/black catsuits.

** [[Characters/HawkeyeKateBishop Kate Bishop]], the second ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}, wears a purple catsuit. Creator/MattFraction has stated this was a deliberate ShoutOut to Emma Peel since he writes Kate and Clint with a similar dynamic to that of Steed & Peel.