From green-haired meanie to purple-haired sweetie.
Expository Hairstyle Changes in Western Animation.- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius:
- In Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Cindy sported pigtails. When the premise was picked up for a Nicktoon, Cindy was updated with a new design and given a Ponytail; though its Justified since the movie takes place a while before the show. Libby's hair originally had bangs and a bun, though later in the series she was given a design changed for plot reasons and her hair became cornrow-braids.
- In "Normal Boy", when Jimmy's Brain Drain 8000 malfunctioned and turned him into a clueless idiot, the curl on the top of his giant hairdo becomes more swirly and cartoony.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender:
- Every time anything changes in Zuko's life, with the sole exception of his encountering Aang for the first time, his hair changes. He took up his weird head-shaved thing that no one else wears when scarred and banished, he cuts his queue very symbolically upon going from 'exile' to 'fugitive,' he (unintentionally) grows out his hair into steadily less severe styles while relaxing during Season Two, and then he puts it up into a topknot while reconciled with The Empire and lets it down before Calling the Old Man Out. Over half of these changes receive lovingly detailed depictions in the show.
- Aang's shaggy hair in the season 3 opening is used to set the tone and indicate his new outlook.
- This happens to Azula in season 3 finale, the haircut is self-inflicted, and it gets worse with a disheveling during her climactic battle.
- Fire Lord Ozai's hair remains remarkable symmetrical for nearly all of his limited appearances until the season 3 finale. When Aang turns the tide of the final battle and pins Ozai down, the Fire Lord's hair start falling out of line. After Aang takes away his firebending, Ozai's long symmetrical hair falls over his face in disheveled mess, which becomes his new permanent look as he is thrown in prison for war crimes, symbolizing the loss of control over the Fire Nation and his fall from grace.
- Ben 10:
- Gwen sported chin-length hair in the original series, followed by sporting long hair in the first two seasons of Alien Force, then putting her hair up in a ponytail in season three of Alien Force, Ultimate Alien and the first episode of Omniverse, then back to chin-length hair in later appearances in Omniverse.
- Her future counterpart sported a pixie cut in the original series episode "Ben 10,000" and later a ponytail in "Ken 10".
- Julie sported chin-length hair in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, then Girlish Pigtails in Omniverse.
- Carmen Sandiego: When we see Gray in Carmen's flashbacks of her time with V.I.L.E., he has his bangs swept across his forehead. When we see him again in the present, his bangs are now sticking straight up, a style that remains for the rest of the series.
- At the beginning of the prequel episode "XANA Awakens" of Code Lyoko, Odd has a very different hairstyle; he adopts his current spiky hair to mimic his Digital Avatar on Lyoko. (He actually has to go through the change twice because of a Return to the Past.)
- Technus of Danny Phantom starts off with wild hair that would make Doc Brown proud; when he upgrades himself to Technus 2.0, his hair is now sleek and tied back to possibly allude to the removal of his flaws from his first form since he now dons a more serious outlook.
- In Futurama, Amy Wong apparently grew her hair out between "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" and "Bender's Big Score". It was burned back down to its original length by Bender's trademark fiery burp during the introdump.
- John Stewart changed his appearance from short black hair, to a shaven head and goatee in between the ending of Justice League in the last episode of which, he broke up with Hawkgirl, and the beginning of Justice League Unlimited. The first thing Shayera says to him upon meeting him again, apparently for the first time since the end of Justice League is:Shayera: ... Hate the beard.
- Kaeloo: In season 5, former Alpha Bitch Pretty is revealed to have undergone offscreen character development and given up being a bully. As a result, this season has her sporting a new hairstyle.
- This happens all over the place in the fourth season, of The Legend of Korra.
- Three years after the events of book three, Mako and Bolin — especially Mako — both have hairstyles that are more restrained and kempt than what they've worn previously, as befits their roles as a bodyguard to royalty and a peacekeeping soldier. When Mako goes back to his old job as a cop in the sequel comic, he reverts to the more casual look.
- Jinora's signature hairdo has become a bob after having to shave it off at the end of book 3 to receive her Airbending Master tattoos. All of Tenzin and Pema's children have grown their hair out to some degree, in fact.
- Korra, on the other hand, after the Trauma Conga Line at the end of book three, cuts her signature ponytail off and leaves her hair loose at chin length (as well as wearing Earth Kingdom Green clothes) so that people won't recognize her as the Avatar while she's still weakened and struggling with her flashbacks and Enemy Without.
- Lilo & Stitch: The Series is fond of having flashbacks of Jumba Jookiba with various hairstyles, as opposed to his "modern" style of three little hairs.Jumba: I like hair. It just doesn't feel evil scientist-like.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- Pinkie Pie is depicted with two hairstyles: straight and slick when she's dull or sad, and poofy and curly when she's her normal carefree happy-go-lucky self. In "Party of One", when she has a mental breakdown in thinking she was totally friendless, her hair goes completely straight
- Starlight Glimmer switches manestyles after her Heel–Face Turn, changing from bangs to a single tendril swept to one side. According to Word of God, her old manestyle made her look matronly, as befitting her role as leader of her Town with a Dark Secret, while the new one makes her look younger to fit her new role as Twilight Sparkle's student.
- Sunset Shimmer from the Equestria Girls spinoff has duller colored hair by the time of the Rainbow Rocks encore shorts, likely representing her Heel–Face Turn and becoming one of the gang. In Season 1 of the Better Together web series, her hair has become more stylized, gaining more flowing curls at the bottom and two tendrils that sag by her cheeks.
- From the largely-forgotten Re-tool The New Adventures of He-Man: in the fourth episode, after an entrance of messianic awesomeness using his magical sword to transport himself across space to save the invaded people of Primus from their moment of ultimate defeat, He-Man displays his inexplicably (but quite explicitly) longer hair that has somehow grown from a short-back-and-sides in the previous scene (and episodes) to a long mullety cascade. He even takes a moment to tie it into a ponytail and luxuriously shake it before laying the smackdown on the bad guys. This is never explained or referred to.
- The Owl House:
- Amity starts the series with her brown hair dyed green to resemble her mother's, but in "Through the Looking Glass Ruins", she decides to break away from her toxic influence, she dyes it purple with her natural color at the temples.
- "Hollow Mind": Philip had short hair and his brother wore his hair in a ponytail during childhood. They had switched their hairstyles when they reunited on the Boiling Isles, signifying how the time since they were separated had warped Philip's love for his brother into obsession while his brother unlearned their community's witch-hunting ways.
- "Thanks to Them":
- Hunter grows his hair out past his shoulders when he no longer has to abide by the hairstyle regimen of the Emperor's Coven. However, seeing himself in the mirror triggers a panic attack when he realizes he now resembles both Belos and Caleb, two figures who have caused him immense trauma, and he starts frantically chopping his hair off with kitchen scissors, which Willow later fixes into a cropped version of his old hairstyle, minus his Idiot Hair.
- Luz's mom Camila has always been depicted with straight hair styled into a bob. When she becomes more open-minded through caring for several magical children and realizing her attempts to make Luz more "normal" have alienated her from her daughter, Camila's hair becomes curly again. When Luz enters Camila's bedroom, we can even see that she's thrown her hair straightener in the trash.
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power:
- Glimmer grows her hair out into a bob between the third and fourth seasons, making it look more like her dead mother's hair, but unlike its in-universe inspiration, it's much more asymmetrical, as if to show that she hasn't fully stepped into Angella's shoes and is still working on fitting into her newfound role. And indeed, she proves very insecure about her authority as queen, and makes quite a few mistakes, at least one of them catastrophic.
- Catra gets her hair more under control, and removes her ear-tufts, as she moves to her fourth season costume and tries to get herself under control - she's working to suppress her more emotional, erratic side and concentrate on getting what she thinks she wants. In particular, she removes the tufts after Shadow Weaver touches them while manipulating her, in an obvious attempt to shore up her emotional vulnerabilities. It doesn't work, and her second Villainous Breakdown, which takes place after she's gotten her hair more controlled, is if anything even more emotionally devastating than the first.
- Adora's hair going from its former ponytail to being long and unstyled after destroying the Sword of Protection to save the world represents her newfound freedom after rejecting all the forces that have tried to control and manipulate her.
- Hordak wears his hair tousled after Entrapta's free spirit starts influencing him. When he is reconditioned by Horde Prime, his hair is bleached and pulled backwards again, but one strand gets loosen when he gets his memory back and and kills Horde Prime.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars:
- "Missing in Action": After amnesiac clone commando Gregor is informed of his true identity, he cuts his hair back into his old short military style and shaves off the messy beard he'd grown during his time on Abafar.
- The uncancelled seventh and final season has some characters with hairstyle changes:
- Anakin Skywalker now sports the "Jedi '70s Mane" he has in Revenge of the Sith, to indicate that events are closing in on those of the movie.
- Clone medic Kix has, for no explained reason, grown his hair out into the "regulation" clone trooper haircut from his previous almost completely bald look.
- Star Wars Rebels:
- In Season 3, Ezra Bridger sports a buzzcut, as opposed to the mop-top he had previously, to reflect his more serious, darker outlook after Malachor.
- In Season 4, Kallus wears his hair loose and uncombed as an Alliance officer, unlike how he wore it as an Imperial.
- Steven Universe:
- Back when Greg and Rose first met, Amethyst had short, chin-length hair, which was reflective of her childish personality at the time. Later she changed it to be around ankle-length to show her personality's development into that of a slightly more mature teenager. Interestingly, a portrait in "So Many Birthdays" (which occurs long before Greg met Rose) show her with long hair.
- Connie sported waist-length hair throughout the series' first four seasons and the start of season five. However, during the time of the latter, she and Steven argue over him surrendering himself to Homeworld, leading to a weeks-long estrangement between them. By the time Steven (and the audience) see her again at Kevin's party, she is revealed to have cut or had someone cut her hair down to chin-length and added bangs. Following the two-year Time Skip between the end of the fifth season and Steven Universe: The Movie, her hair has regrown to shoulder-length, and she retains her bangs, while also keeping part of it tied back with hair clips. She keeps this style throughout the epilogue Future season.
- Sadie sported blonde, shoulder-length hair that remained relatively unchanged throughout the first four seasons and most of season five of the original series. However, after joining the band that would become Sadie Killer and the Suspects and quitting her job at the Big Donut, she dyes her hair green right before the end of the series (possibly just for one concert). At some point during the two-year Time Skip between season five and the movie, she has just the tips and edges of her hair dyed (in a lighter shade of green). By the time of Little Homeschool's first graduation ceremony in the Future epilogue series, by which point the band has broken up and she has started dating Shep, she has returned her hair to its natural blonde color and now wears it in a ponytail.
- Throughout the franchise, Steven's signature curly hair remains relatively unchanged, save for a few temporary exceptions. The most notable changes, however, come during the epilogue Future season:
- After Steven trains with Jasper to hone his newly-emerged destructive powers, his hair briefly shapes into a pompadour hairstyle to match his new ruthless (and slightly arrogant) personality.
- Later, after returning from Homeworld, sinking into deep denial about every bad thing that has happened to him as of late, and trying to help others the way he used to as a kid, his hair shapes to resemble that of his late mother in her Diamond form.
- In addition to Pidge's Important Haircut, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Allura stopped appearing with her hair down after becoming a Paladin in season 3 by sporting a Prim and Proper Bun for the rest of the series, though would still appear with her hair down during the final season, along with Acxa outgrowing her hair to neck length during the Time Skip between season 6 and 7 and Honerva undoing her bun by having her hair down after becoming Haggar before tying it to a ponytail during the final season, following after regaining her pre-Quintessence identity and then into a bun in the final episodes.
- In Xiaolin Showdown, Kimiko tends to sport a different hairstyle in almost every episode when she's outdoors. Averted in Xiaolin Chronicles as her hairstyle remains the same when outdoors.
