The preferred bathing method of Ms. Fanservice.
"You know when they show someone on TV, washing their hair under a waterfall? That's fucking bullshit, man... cause that thing would knock you on your ass!"
Lost in the middle of a forest? Need to take a shower? Cue the convenient nearby waterfall. Excellent source of Fanservice. Although often that character doesn't have to fully undress and can do Non-Nude Bathing, which may lead to a Sexy Soaked Shirt or Shirtless Scene.
Often this trope also leads to an Interrupted Bath, Shower of Awkward, Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen and Outdoor Bath Peeping, which may cause the bather to have a Naked Freak-Out... or to threaten the intruder armed if they Can't Bathe Without a Weapon. Other times it can lead to an impromptu Shower of Love.
In Real Life it's somewhat less practical, particularly for large waterfalls, since in most cases the water would be stone cold and would have enough force to knock you flat if you were to step under it. Some martial arts works go with this, with a warrior standing beneath the falls as part of his Training from Hell.
Contrast Meditating Under a Waterfall, which has a different purpose. Compare Skinny Dipping. May overlap with Purification Bathing.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Berserk combines this with Shower of Angst with the first time we see Casca following the Eclipse.
- Kallen's true identity in Code Geass is exposed to Suzaku when he walks in on her doing this and she attempts to attack him.
- Komaeda is introduced in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School taking one of these after his fateful plane crash.
- Shirenu takes a shower under a melting glacier in the 2nd Devilman OVA.
- Shizuka takes a shower under a little waterfall in an episode of Doraemon where Nobita and his friends go on a desert island.
- Duranki: Usum washes at a waterfall before joining their friends' group bathing.
- In the uncensored original version of The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Misty washes her bare breasts beneath a waterfall in hopes of getting them to "evolve" before catching Ash and Brock spying on her and streaking off into the night.
- The 22nd episode of Excel♡Saga has Pedro, Sandora and Nabeshin showering under a waterfall.
- Haru from Free! met his first love this way. The waterfall, not the naked woman.
- Miaka is shown in an artificial one near the middle of Fushigi Yuugi. Tamahome, of course, gets a peek.
- Genesis Climber MOSPEADA has Yellow Belmont doing this twice.
- In Ikkitousen episode 9, Hakufu Sonsaku strips off her dress but keeps her panties on to go Skinny Dipping and have a waterfall shower.
- Love Hina hits this up at least twice.
- During the trip Sara and Naru take one, but Keitaro suddenly falls in on them.
- Later lost on a desert island finding an oasis, Naru takes one while making a Leaf Bikini.
- In a Filler of the Naruto anime, Hinata combined this with a Nude Nature Dance, by dancing in a waterfall.
- Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
- While lost in the library. (Yes, the Library has a waterfall. Many, in fact.)
- And much later, Asuna and Setsuna take one.
- Chisame takes one and, much to her chagrin, Jack Rakan is also taking one on the other side of some rocks.
- Raina takes a waterfall bath in the Nishikaze To Taiyou one-shot.
- Outlanders: While Kahm is having a bath, she goes over to the portion of her bathing pond where the waterfall is and has a waterfall shower to rinse off the shampoo that she had in her hair.
Comic Books
- For unexplained reasons, Julia is taking one in the Batcave just before Hush escapes in Batman Eternal.
- Fauna the Jungle Girl takes one after she is stranded on an alien planet in Cavewoman Color Special. This turns into a Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen situation when flying creatures steal her uniform. This is pure Fanservice and little more than an excuse to show Fauna cavorting around in the nude.
- Abbey and Ash take one, to wash off zombie goo, in Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #5.
- In Extinctioners, Scarlett Ann Starfox takes a shower under a waterfall while wearing a swimsuit.
- Green Lantern: Bleez of the GL - Red Lantern Corps was fond of taking these on her homeworld before she got abducted by the Sinestro Corps.
- In Harley's Little Black Book #6, Harley and Lobo take a waterfall shower while stranded on an alien planet. It nearly turns into a Shower of Love, but they are interrupted.
- Marvel Illustrated Swimsuit (which Marvel Comics published annually between 1991 and 1995) featured several illustrations of superheroines taking waterfall showers. Of course, if you're strong enough to toss tanks around, you can probably handle the force of the water.
- Some publicity artwork for the French graphic novel Pyrénée shows the Wild Child heroine showering beneath waterfalls. Not intended as Fanservice, because she's too young...
- Red Sonja takes one (surrounded by strategic Censor Steam) just before she is captured by an Evil Sorcerer at the start of Red Sonja Annual #4.
- In Strangers in Paradise, Freddy and Casey get married while standing naked under a waterfall... but soon regret it when they realize how cold it is.
Comic Strips
- Non-fanservice example (unless you're a furry): In one Krazy Kat strip, Officer Pupp is taking a Waterfall Shower.
Fan Works
- Blizzard Storm: Both Sakido and Eric get this idea in Waterfall Romance, followed by an accidental Outdoor Bath Peeping, which ultimately leads to Their First Time.
- Empath and Smurfette take separate showers in the waterfall during their honeymoon in the Empath: The Luckiest Smurf story "Empath's Honeymoon". It is during Smurfette's shower that Empath tests the limits of how much and when he can touch Smurfette with his touch-telepathy when she is in the shower.
- In Chapter 43 of Kitsune no Ken: Fist of the Fox, Hinata accidentally comes across Yugito taking one of these in an artificial waterfall on the balcony of her high-rise penthouse suite. Hinata watches for a good few minutes, despite her moments of blushing at Yugito's daring, even unconsciously comparing her own chest size to Yugito's at one point. For her part, Yugito doesn't mind the audience but is still careful about not embarrassing Hinata (too much).
- In Chapter 29 of Pokémon Reset Bloodlines, Ash finds a rather secluded waterfall and decides to wash himself under it. Things get a little awkward when Iris, an Innocent Fanservice Girl with no nudity taboo in story, shows up and joins him, even stripping naked in front of him before he can say anything to stop her and nonchalantly chatting with him about his training regime. A similar set up occurs in Chapter 36 with a larger variety of characters, though Iris interrupted a girl's shower that time.
- In Voyeurs
, the Jedi Temple has a natural waterfall in back of it, and some female trainees sneak to a hidden vantage point to watch Luke take a shower in it after his morning run. The first two get caught by Mara Jade and another, only for those two to start watching as well. Maybe not quite as big a deal for Mara, since she later married him, but it does mention her not wanting him to do it anymore after they marry.
Films — Animation
- Surf's Up: Cody and Lani end up cleaning themselves up under a waterfall after getting covered in glowworm poo.
Films — Live-Action
- Almost Heroes: Edwards and Hunt spy on Shaquinna bathing in a waterfall with a telescope, although they only see her Toplessness from the Back.
- After the raid on the drug dealer's compound, the Angels celebrate by taking one in Angels Revenge.
- In The Bride With White Hair, Ni-Chang and Yi-Hang, the Star Crossedlovers of the film, have sex under a waterfall.
- King Kong:
- The heroine taking this sort of shower occurs in the 1976 remake of King Kong, and in the 1998 animated musical adaptation The Mighty Kong.
- Kong himself takes a shower under a waterfall as part of his morning routine during the opening scenes of Godzilla vs. Kong.
- In the film The Last Samurai, Tom Cruise's POW character comes across his host (the widow of the man he killed) taking a waterfall Shower of Awkward.
- Isabel takes one in a jungle lagoon, and is spied on by the eponymous heroine, in the Z-grade Italian film Luana, Girl Tarzan.
- The Man Who Killed Don Quixote: After Toby falls through the rotten boards into the cave, he discovers Angelica standing under a waterfall at the mouth.
- One of Phoebe Cates' two nude scenes ever was in one of these in the otherwise unmemorable The Blue Lagoon rip-off, Paradise.
- Mandakini takes a shower under a waterfall in a transparent white sari in the Bollywood movie Ram Teri Ganga Maili.
- Robin Hood does it in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Marian spies on him to the horror of her maid.
- Eve showers naked under a waterfall in the 1984 sex comedy Second Time Lucky.
- Tanya Roberts took two as the titular character in Sheena, which made the MPAA create the PG-13 rating.
- Happens in She-Wolves of Wasteland (a.k.a. Phoenix the Warrior), when Phoenix and Keela stumble across a clan of friendly women showering bare-breasted under waterfalls.
- In The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, Robin rinses himself off under a small waterfall in the outlaw camp while Scathelock is tending to Stutley's wounds.
- In A Walk on the Moon, Diane Lane and Viggo Mortensen get it on under a waterfall.
- Raining In The Mountain. Master Wu Wai, a lay Buddhist scholar who claims to be impervious to temptations of the flesh, is shown leading the monks in prayer while his female servants bathe in their white robes under a nearby waterfall, casting a Disapproving Look every time one of the monks is Distracted by the Sexy. General Wang finds this amusing and invites Esquire Wen to join him in Eating the Eye Candy, so neither are happy when they're informed at that moment that the Abbot is finally ready to have a word with them.
Literature
- Robert A. Heinlein's Glory Road. Oscar and Star bathe under several waterfalls in the area called the Singing Waters (so named for the sounds the water makes falling over them).
- Subverted in The Saga of Darren Shan. On Vampire Mountain, all showers are waterfalls inside caves. Its impracticality is even lampshaded, justifying why the vampires bathe so rarely while staying in the mountain. It's also an effective if painful way of waking yourself up from a hangover.
- At the end of The Tale of the Body Thief, David Talbot cleans off beneath a waterfall after being turned into a vampire; this scene doubles as Showing Off the New Body.
Live-Action TV
- In Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Dr. Quinn and Sully have a Shower of Love under a waterfall shower.
- General Hospital managed to pair this with Shower of Angst when Karen took one after nearly being raped.
- Done frequently by the female contestants on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.
- In I Survived A Japanese Game Show, one of the punishments for the losing teams was going through this.
- Off the Map: Happens several times as a Running Gag, always in the same waterfall and always ends up with said character shower being interrupted.
- In "Smile. Don't Kill Anyone", Lily, Tommy and Mina's first meeting with Dr. Ryan is when they stumble upon her bathing in a waterfall in the wild. She nonchalantly gets out and wraps herself in a Modesty Towel to properly greet them. When Mina questions it, Ryan calls the waterfall "God's Shower".
- Later in the same episode, Lily decides to use the same waterfall to shower, but it turns into a Naked People Trapped Outside situation when her towel washes away... right as Ben is strolling by and happens to get an eyeful which causes Lily to have a Naked Freak-Out until he returns her towel and warns her she's bathing on a main hiking trail.
- In "It's Good", Lily is again showering in the same waterfall at night, when Mateo walks in on her also telling her she's bathing in a main hiking trail. It turns into a Waterfall Shower of Love when he joins her.
- The Shannara Chronicles: Will first meeting with Amberle is him walking in on her doing this. After getting a view of her Toplessness from the Back, he slips up and when he gets back up she already has a dagger to his throat.
Tabletop Games
- Priest(esse)s of Eldath, Goddess of the Singing Waters in the Forgotten Realms setting, are stated to pray while under waterfalls and as unclad as possible when in the woodlands or far away in the wilderness.
Theme Parks
- The "Elephant Bathing Pool" scene in the Jungle Cruise at the Disney Theme Parks features an elephant showering by using a waterfall.
Video Games
- A cutscene in Far Cry shows Valerie taking a shower under a waterfall as she tells Jack about the CIA's involvement on the Big Bad Krieger's work.
- Hitman 2 has a hiker do this in "The Last Yardbird" sniper mission. He's blocked from reaching a waterfall with a "No Trespassing" sign, but if 47 destroys it, the Hiker will strip off his shirt and bathe in the waterfall.
- Metal Slug: Awakening adds a new feature absent in the original game, where in the Villeneuve Mt. System Marco can come across two enemy mooks bathing under a low waterfall. They'll run away like crazy after being spotted.
- Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny: The intro cutscene has Oyu bathing nude in a waterfall before putting on her armor.
- Follow the singing in Shadow Warrior (1997) to find a woman doing this. But don't stand too close for too long, or your character's pickup lines will lead her to whip out an Uzi.
Webcomics
- Evon takes one after running away from Hero in Evon.
Western Animation
- Samurai Jack:
- In "XCVII" Ashi takes one to wash away the rest of the coal on her body (which she had had since she was a child). But when she comes out, she realizes that she's got nothing to wear, so she makes a new outfit made of leaves.
- Jack himself does this whenever possible, doubling as a Bath of Poverty since he's a broke, homeless fugitive. He still enjoys it though, and so do we.
- Like Bugs above, Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants does this not for the Fanservice, but it's because he's enjoying himself after SpongeBob and Patrick make him a tiki paradise vacation.
- In the Looney Tunes short "Wet Hare", Bugs Bunny, in an example not intended as Fanservice, uses a waterfall as a shower and is trying to stop a lumberjack from damming the river that provides it.
- Alexa bathes with some other girls under a waterfall in Wonder Woman (2009).
Real Life
- Artificial waterfalls are a popular choice for many pools and resort locations.
- This Bengal tiger in Nuevo Vallarta.
- The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa in Iceland has a waterfall shower... it's actually very warm like the rest of the lagoon.