So you've been injured in some way, and you need immediate healing. Luckily, you have a friend with Healing Hands. He does what he does best, and nurses you back to perfect health in seconds. You look down to admire your friend's handiwork and think, "Wow! He's good! My bloodstains are gone, and the puncture mark in my leather jacket is gone too! How does he do it?"
That's the question this trope raises. How do healers launder and repair your clothes, as well as heal your wounds, so quickly? This is commonly seen in fantasy and sci-fi works, and is seldom explained. When it is, it's usually Handwaved by the explanation that the healer is just that good. Sometimes Healing Hands don't even have to be involved; characters with a Healing Factor will often display this talent.
When this happens in something drawn, like a Manga or Comic Strip for example, it is so the artist doesn't need to keep drawing the bloodstains and tears in clothing. To avert this, the artist would need to remember where each bloodstain and clothing tear was placed on said character, and then draw it in every subsequent frame involving that clothing. So, unless they are Lampshaded, examples from animation will not be added.
Related to: Magic Pants, Beauty Is Never Tarnished.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Justified on Bleach:
- A Soul Reaper's clothing is simply another manifestation of his spirit, like his body. When healed, the clothing heals as well.
- Orihime's power seems like this at first, but is later revealed to reverse events, able to undo anything, even death.
- Dragon Ball series averts this trope usually. Senzu beans (which completely heal anyone who consumes them) and more notable Dende's healing power leaves his subject's clothes in whatever condition they started in. On a related note, several characters have shown the ability to completely create clothes of any kind they want, through apparent psychic powers.
- Fist of the North Star: Ken's shirt is ripped to shreds in every Transformation Sequence by his muscles growing bigger, and is back for the next scene.
- Similar to the Bleach example, Barrier Jackets in Lyrical Nanoha are made out of a mage's mana, so healing magic can repair them. There's even a scene in A's where Vita isn't worried about the outfit Hayate designed for her getting damaged because it will "grow back". This doesn't stop Hat Damage from being her Berserk Button.
- In Zatch Bell!, Zatch's mantle is alays seen good as new the next day no matter what the damage. After the Faudo arc, it's revealed that the mantle is a gift to Zatch and his twin brother Zeno from their father, King Bell. Made out of a powerfully enchanted cloth, it can stretch and contort to the shape the wearer wishes. It is very durable and can be used to protect themselves and their allies from a good deal of attacks. Furthermore, the amulet on Zatch and Zeno's outfit fixes whatever damage the mantle receives. Zatch learns to use it quite well
Comic Books
- In the Marvel Universe, some of the more established heroes have costumes made from "unstable molecules" (obtained in some form from the Fantastic Four), which presumably allows them to repair themselves.
- In the comic book/computer program book Timelost, Jacque, a traveler from the future, wears clothing that automatically repairs itself no matter how damaged it gets.
Films — Live-Action
- Marvel Cinematic Universe:
- In this deleted scene
from Thor, Selvig is wounded by a shard of glass, and then healed by Thor's "healing stone". The stone not only clears up the wound but patches Selvig's cardigan as well.
- In Thor: Love and Thunder, Thor's cape gets damaged during a crash landing. When it's pointed out to him, Thor insists it will grow back. And indeed it does.
- In later movies, nanomachine armors such as Iron Man's or Black Panther's can repair themselves. For example, in Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos rips of Iron Man's helmet during their fight, and the armor promptly reforms one around Tony's face. However, how well this repair works depends on their nanomachine reserves, which can end up depleted. This is what happens in Spider-Man: No Way Home to Peter Parker's Iron Spider armor after Doctor Octopus rips off the chest part; the armor replaces it to save Peter from being stabbed, but has to use the nanomachines that were covering his head for this, unmasking him.
- In this deleted scene
Live-Action TV
- Justified on Charmed, since Leo's powers can also "heal" broken objects. (Sometimes. When the writers remember.)
- Castiel's healing on Supernatural takes this form, at least when healing himself. Regardless of how many times he's been shot, stabbed, or tortured, the damage to his outfit is always undone by the time he's fully healed again. Justified in that his angelic powers include telekinesis and a sort of light Reality Warping — while he can't create entire buildings and people like his brother Gabriel can, he's able to conjure smaller things like a glass bottle and clothing when he needs them.
Tabletop Games
- In Aberrant, eufiber is a semi-sentient fabric whose properties include it being self-cleaning and self-repairing. Many novas have costumes made of eufiber.
- In most editions of Dungeons & Dragons this trope is Zig-Zagged both in the rules and at the DM's discretion. For the most part clothing damage is hand-waved, and magical items are stated to be capable of minor self-repair. Should a character be, say, caught in a fireball, however, a GM can roll a check on damage to items they are carrying as well. This includes such things as clothing, and severe damage to clothing is explicitly stated to require repairs separate from the wearer. In a further zag, however, most casters are able to learn simple and low-cost spells for repairing mundane items, making actively invoking the trope entirely possible for most healers.
Video Games
- Team Fortress 2's "Meet the Medic" video: When the Medic turns the medigun up to full power, it not only heals the Heavy's injuries, but repairs the damage to his jacket.
Webcomics
- Concerned lampshades this in issue 49.
- Lampshaded as part of a joke in The Order of the Stick, "The Benefit of a High Bluff Score":
Elan: But how did it fix my cloak...?
Web Original
- Mnemoweave in Phaeton will return to its old shape shortly after being damaged.
Western Animation
- In many episodes of Samurai Jack, Jack will have his gi damaged and torn, then return to a pristine state in the next episode. One has to wonder where he gets spare clothes, but in Season 5, after regaining his sword's favor, his old gi is also restored, which may give an explanation to this.
