Basic Trope: An anthropomorphic turtle, armadillo, or other shelled animal wears clothing only covering the front half of the shell, leaving the rest of the shell exposed like a backpack.
- Straight: Arnold the armadillo wears a shirt and pants, but his shell clearly shows through the back of his outfit.
- Exaggerated: Arnold wears several layers of clothing under his shell.
- Downplayed: Spike, an anthropomorphic porcupine, wears clothing that has a few of his quills sticking out of the back - while not as impossible, it still does raise a few questions on whether or not it's easy for him to put on and remove his clothing.
- Justified:
- Herman the hermit crab can wear clothing like this because he's a real species that can remove his shell (or in the case of animals with ordinarily non-removable shells, Removable Shell applies to them for whatever reason).
- Arnold has clothing specifically suited for him, which opens at the back like a hospital gown to accommodate his shell.
- These clothes are made to compensate for the fact that, due to how they evolved, the front half of the shell is usually not as sturdy as the back.
- Arnold is a genetically modified superarmodillo who is capable of removing his shell.
- Inverted: Arnold only wears clothing covering the back of his shell. He's technically Going Commando by not wearing anything on the front.
- Subverted: Arnold isn't really an armodillo, and his clothing not covering the back of his shell gives away his disguise.
- Double Subverted: Then Roger the actual armodillo walks in, and he wears his clothes the same way.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted:
- Arnold doesn't wear anything at all, due to considering his shell enough of a Clothing Appendage.
- Arnold doesn't have a shell (or has a shell that's flattened), so wearing clothing normally is no big deal for him.
- Lampshaded: "You ripped my shirt! Do you know how hard it is to find shirts that only cover the front half of your body?"
- Invoked: Arnold can't find a regular shirt that fits him properly, so he wears a modified piece of clothing that leaves his shell exposed.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: "No, my shirt's not tucked in to my shell. I just glued it on."
- Conversed: "How in the world do shelled animals in cartoons put their clothes on?!"
Back to Shell Backpack
