"Absolute Territory" (zettai ryouiki in Japanese) describes the area of uncovered thigh between the skirt and the stockings that's apparently a total magnet forMale Gaze.
Zettai Ryouiki is made up of three components:socks, skin, and skirt. More broad definitions permit the use of other articles of clothing in place of a skirt (such as shorts). As per usual for fandom whoobsess about costumes, this can be considered aMoe attribute and thus, appear prominently in character designs and schoolgirl outfits.
Since a Zettai Ryouiki is defined by the length of the stockings or socks, some people have categorized it into grades depending on the length of the socks. This ranking system goes from Grade F to Grade A.[1] However, only Grades A and B are considered true Zettai Ryouiki.
As a relatively new phenomenon, the symbolism of Zettai Ryouiki only recently began to crystallize. Since it is, by nature, a sensual costume that doesn't reveal the "naughty bits", it symbolizes budding, innocent sexuality, a trait common forThe Ingenue who is already aware of her attractiveness but not (yet) cynical enough to put it to use (which is why many aTsundere wears Zettai Ryouiki). Of course, as with any symbols,Genre Savvy characters caninvoke the trope on purpose even if far from the described archetype themselves.
A ratio of 4:1:2.5, the so called "Golden Ratio" (黄金比 ōgonhi), is considered the ideal. Where 4 is the length of the skirt, 1 is the length of the Zettai Ryouiki, and 2.5 is the length from the bottom of the Zettai Ryouiki to the knees.
AnAction Girl may trade the skirt forhotpants but if it doesn't include thigh-highs and visible skin, it's not Zettai Ryouiki. This trope not only covers socks, butThigh-High Boots as well.
Examples should be limited to thigh-high (called "Rank A" on All The Tropes) and over-knee (called "Rank B" on All The Tropes) stockings. Use the page image to identify them.
Examples of Zettai Ryouiki include:
General
This is quite common inEcchi/Hentai anime, manga, dōjinshi and video games.
Rie Kugimiya-voiced characters seem to have a tendency to wear Zettai Ryouiki:
Aria H. Kanzaki fromHidan no Aria, yetanotherTwin Tails wearingTsundere voiced byRie Kugimiya, who happens to be one of her schools eliteS Rank students. Her zettai ryouiki are known to magically shift between A and B whenever she reveals the dual thigh holsters that she somehow keepshidden under her skirt.
Kallen Stadtfeld in her school uniform, not to mention herCustom Uniform. She is also credited with popularizing the hotpants+socks variety of Zettai Ryouiki.
C.C's new black outfit inR2 also uses the hotpants + socks variation.
Nunnally gets to use a B Grade Ryouiki in theKnightmare of Nunnally manga, as it's included in the Ashford Academy's middle school uniform. Same goes toAlpha Bitch Ekaterina, herGirl Posse, and Nunners'sbest friendAlice.
Anya gets to use a Grade A while in her Knight of Rounds uniform.
The technical term for the near-impenetrable shield with which the Shinkirou is equipped is the Absolute Defensive Territory (Zettai Shugo Ryouiki). Don'ttell me, especially given the amount of real Ryouiki in this series, that that's not tongue-in-cheekpar extraordinaire on the part of the writers.
The comedy manga compilationKnight Volume 2 has a story ("Decide for Yourself" by Hina Mido) where C.C. actually launches into a rant about Zettai Ryouiki when Lelouch dismisses her question of "thigh-high versus knee socks" with "doesn't matter to me". Sadly this getsLost in Translation, but anyone familiar with the concept can tell the original intent of the rant.
C.C.: What did you just say!? Are you stupid? This is for a school uniform! I'm talking about a mini-skirt! The knee-length socks which show our shiny knees, or thigh highs that highlight the area between the edge of our skirt and our thighs! If you don't have a hard time choosing between these socks, you don't know anything about school uniforms.
Touka, the daughter of the Tennouji Family (fromNogizaka Haruka no Himitsu 2nd season), has a Grade A Zettai Ryouiki, aside from twin tails and tsundere spoiled brat personality, making it a Grade S.
Love interest Rion Akagami wears this inCage of Eden, even when they're stuck on a tropical island inhabited by hordes of prehistoric animals.
Featured in the opening. TheB-Side of theLucky Star opening song single, "Kaeshite! Knee Socks", is pretty much entirely about thigh-highs. Naturally,Konata's father mentions it in one of the series' manySeinfeldian Conversations.
Ayano Minegishi has this as part of her school uniform.
Finally, in some of the manga sketches,Konata and Yutaka have this as well.
Mazinger Z: Sayaka Yumi tended to wear short skirts whether she was wearing her school uniform or casual clothes. And later in the series she wore avery short white-red skirt and knee-length, white boots. In the manga versions more female characters wore attires or uniforms that showed their tights, such like the Gamia orMinerva-X inShin Mazinger Zero.
Chiaki Minami,(occasionally worn by Kana at home) also the standard uniform in her school inMinami-ke.
Nanoha and Fate's basic Barrier Jackets in the third season seem to have been designed with this in mind.
Fate's Barrier Jacket in the first two seasons, as well, and Nanoha's normal outfits (non-Barrier Jacket, non-school uniform) from those seasons. And the Lieze twins (very perfect "A" Grade). And Vita's normal non-combat outfit (only "B"-Grade, which is sad because she meets both of the added requirements for a Grade S). AndTeana's Barrier Jacket and military uniform. Yeah, this show runs onFan Service, alright.
Young Nanoha sported these in the OP of the first series.
Alice inAria since it's part of her school uniform, making her of the very few main characters who regularly wears something else aside from her Undine uniform. In one anime episode, Aika wears the variety with shorts.
Seemingly part of the school outfit onSchool Days. It's alsohumorously refereed to, as an army of school girls in short skirts activate Zettai Ryouiki by putting on knee socks in an attempt to draw more people to their classroom for theSchool Festival. This instance is doubly notable as thelast comedic occurrence in the anime beforethings go straight to hell.
It's also part of the school outfit in the one Margaret attends inMadlax.
And Kagura Tennouzou's school inSpeed Grapher. IIRC, Kagura also uses Zettai Ryouki when she dones a veryStripperiffic outfit as the Divine Goddess. Yui and Haruna's school inCorrector Yui also has it as a part of its standard outfit. Yui's elemental suit makes the skirt, or even panties, pretty much pointless while initiating, also.
Mahou Sensei Negima. Considering that Ken Akamatsu has written about moe on his blog, this is certainly intentional, and shows up quite often, on Yue Ayase, Evangeline,Chachamaru (After herMid-Season Upgrade, she seems to have the stocking component built into her synthetic skin, Ako, Natsumi and Akira in the Magic World, Nodoka, the other girls from Yue's magic academy,Asuna (Grade S, even), Anya (also Grade S), Chisame and Makie, Yuna, Takane D. Goodman, Setsuna (on rare occasions), Ku Fei... evenNegi joins in for a moment during acrossdressingInstant Cosplay Surprise during the school festival (as if the fox girl outfit wasn't enough).
Yuuki Cross, and several of the female characters inVampire Knight wear these.
Flay Allster and Miriallia Haww inMobile Suit Gundam SEED, since this is a part of their military cadet uniform. When Lunamaria "Luna" Hawke became a redcoat in ZAFT and asked for acustomized uniform with a pink miniskirt, she also added long black socks to it.
BothNena Trinity andChristina Sierra fromMobile Suit Gundam 00 also use the hotpants variety. In Season 1, Nena combines it with socks; in season 2, she switches to the long boots version. Mena Carmine,Nena'sIdentical Stranger wears thigh-high boots paired with a miniskirt.
Part of the standard uniform for most schools inKyoshiro to Towa no Sora, and since the appropriately-named Academia (the series' setting) is a scholastic city (everything is, or is related to or servicing, a school), that means just about every girl in the city falls into this trope. By law.
Frequently, Nico Robin ofOne Piece, if thigh-high boots count.
Yoko fromTengen Toppa Gurren Lagann goes the hotpants route (which Kamina gets a good long look at). She later switches out the socks for boots of about the same length. She's has a Grade A but is missing theGirlish Pigtails required to qualify as Grade S.
Rosario + Vampire: Kokoa Shuzen, Mizore Shirayuki, and Yukari Sendo. With thehair, and theattitude Kokoa bumps up to Grade S! However with Mizore, they actually make it an obvious part of herMoe factor, when attempting to seduce Tsukune during moments with hisHarem.
Jessie's Team Rocket miniskirt and thigh-high boots in the anime.
Also, Lyra from both the anime andPokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver sports a Grade B shorts version.
In thePokémon Special manga, Dawn's counterpart, Platinum, has higher stockings making her closer to a Grade B.
Sabrina's anime outfit is a Grade A.
Rosette fromChrono Crusade has thigh-high stockings and slits up to nearly her waist in her militia uniform, making it a variation of this trope.
D Gray Man: Lenalee Lee. When you think about it, she's actually got Grade S Zettai Ryouiki at first, what with herGirlish Pigtails and all (though she's not much of aTsundere). That is, until the wholeEshi incident. And her socks/boots give her magical powers. No, really.
Karin. She also gets points for pulling it off with a ninja uniform (for ninja in the service of Orochimaru, no less), though she uses shorts instead of a skirt.
Naruto's mother Kushina also liked the look when she was young.
Hinata wears them during the 300th episode Milestone celebration.
Alsh theVampire fromBloody Kiss has his preferred Zettai Ryouiki at 10–15 cm.
Hinagiku tends towards the hot pants variety, and also gets points for beingTsundere, but no twin-tails.
Even Isumi joins in on occasion.
In the season 2 first opening, Ha--, er, Hermione gets the treatment, withthe usual result.
Faye Valentine fromCowboy Bebop, though with hot pants and not a skirt.
In the 4th season ofMariasama ga Miteru Yumi Fukuzawa starts dressing this way outside of school.
InPandora Hearts, this appears to be the Latowidge School girl's uniform. Note that this is not an all-girl's school, either.
Sumire's high school inVenus Versus Virus apparently has this as part of the school uniform. What is it with all-girl schools and ultra-short skirts in anime?
Runo inBakugan: New Vestroia is GradeS. (InBakugan Battle Brawlers, she was a thoroughly unremarkable C-Grade, though she already had the other two parts of the S requirements). Sadly, she and the other two main girls fromBattle Brawlersare pretty much gone by the second episode.
Mira returns in Mechtanium Surge with a new grade A outfit.
Nodoka ofSaki almost has all the requirements needed for Grade S. Just lacks thepersonality. Yuuki wears a very suspicious one too, and her personality is a bit more fitting as well.
Kanon (one of Ren's school friends) wears A-Rank in both her school uniform and her street clothes. She also has twin-tails; unfortunately, she is not aTsundere.
Umino Masachika ofSatou Kashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai sports a solid Tybe B while wearing her school uniform. Most of her classmates wear there stockings somewhere below the knee.
These seem to be part of the school uniform inStudent Council's Discretion. Even when they're wearing swimsuits, the stockings remain.
The default female cadet uniform aboard theLibertad inSoukou no Strain is very definitely Grade A.
Yukino's rival Maho Izawa inKare Kano. This is actually included in the default winter/autumn uniform of their school, but Maho wears it outside school too.
The girls fromI''s. This manga isfull of Grade A & B.
Emba fromWild Rock sports a Grade A male version of this (other characters too, but his is the most obvious).
Airi ofQueen's Blade fame/infamy qualifies. If she were Tsundere, she might possibly be Grade S.
Nina ofWords Worth, a story-driven H-series, gets the unusual naturally occuring version of this, being a mini-skirted catgirl. Ranks somewhere around a lower A due to how she carries it off.
Ran Mouri/Rachel Moore fromCase Closed/Detective Conan sports the look from time to time. It's quite noticeablein the first OP, where she uses Type A... If she wore pigtails, her Type BTsundere traits would give her a Grade S.
Hitagi Senjōgahara fromBakemonogatari, who would be a Grade S ifKuudere counts for the personality factor.
Utau has a Grade A in her black uniform. Add her signature twin tails and her tsundere attitude, and Utau Hoshina is officially a Grade S!Not to mention her Lunatic Charm costume, as well as Dark Jewel and Seraphic Charm. And Seraphic Charm's supposed to be angelic.
Several of Amu's casual outfits have Grade A as well.[1]
And Amulet Spade, which, instead of a skirt, has short shorts and adds garter belts.
Amulet Diamond had a Grade A and Amu wears pigtails while transformed, although she is usually not tsundere.
Sae fromAmagami SS often displays this when in her school uniform, as does Kaoru in her waitress outfit (much to the protagonist Junichi's delight during her arc).
Chocola and Vanilla fromSugar Sugar Rune both have Zettai Ryouiki, Chocola with a Grade A and Vanilla with a Grade D.How much you wanna bet that 90% of the time Pierre stares at Chocola's legs instead of her face?
In the second ending for the anime, Maka's got some of this thing going on, specifically Grade A.
Not to mention Blair, who has a Grade A with her thigh high boots and witch dress.
And many variations of Maka's Spartoi uniform feature thigh highs.
Kim Diehl and her weapon Jacqueline (who usually wear matching uniforms).
Tsubaki has Grade A and combines it withFashionabl Asymmetry in her Spartoi uniform.
The Korean version ofMazinger Z calledRobot Taekwon V gives us Yoon, who wears thigh-high boots and a short skirt. Early example.
Many of theidol singers inEL sport Grade A, though given that this is aHentai title, it's to be expected.
Kirino fromOre no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai! displays Grade A in the fourth episode of the anime. Varying degrees can also be seen in some of the games she plays, which should come as no surprise given that she's a secretErogeOtaku.
The Arrancar Loly uses the boots plus miniskirt version—Grade A, more exactly. Since she hasGirlish Pigtails, the only thing keeping her away from Grade S is being aYandere instead of aTsundere.
Oncethe Hueco Mundo arc is over and she becomes a senior in Karakura High, Orihime Inoue starts wearingGrade A.
Anime-only Nozomi Kujo goes between Grades A and C depending on how she's drawn at the moment, but usually is a B.
InHigh School of the Dead,Rei has Grade A in her uniform andSaeko has Grade A (plus garterbelts) when she borrows Rika's clothes.
Kusakabe Maron, fromKamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, definitely counts. As a matter of fact, it seems this is part of the uniform.
There's a ton in|Black Rock Shooter. It would seem that the girls' outfits are designed the way they are so that it would be easier for them to move.Maid Gunner has thigh highs that would have made her a Grade B, but her skirt is too long for her to qualify. It only counts for Zettai Ryouiki when her skirt flies up to, not a panty shot, but high enough that the tops of her thigh highs are visible.
Maria from theWitchblade anime gets these after her personality changes.
AllMagical Girls fromPuella Magi Madoka Magica except Homura. Madoka is a Grade A in her school uniform and a Grade C in herMagical Girl uniform.Madoka has Zettai Ryouiki after her apotheosis. Sayaka is a Grade C in school and B in her magical girl outfit. Mami is somewhat between Grades C and B in her transformated uniform, and Kyouko is a Grade A when transformed.
Several characters inFreezing have some form of Zettai Ryouiki, as it seems to be a part of the standard Pandora outfit (even for battle!). The female lead is one of the few that do not, though she certainly attracts attention in other ways. (Underneath it she does have them.) Ganessa Roland is an unequivocal Grade S, however.
One of the outfits that Minako puts on in the opening sequence[context?] gives her a Grade A.
Several girls inBlue Exorcist, but Kamiki Izumo is the only Grade S. She's got the thigh-highs, the tsundere personality, and her hair is (usually) in twin tails.
The gym uniform,a swimsuit with stockings [dead link], gives all the girls a clear grade A. More like skintight leg-warmers, though; the girls' ankles are also clearly visible. If only they didn't have shoes, they would be able to get the rare Zettai Ryouiki-Foot Focus double-dip.
Houki also has it as a part of her uniform.
Mio Isurugi fromMM! has Grade A and a tsundere personality, but no twin tails.
Although their outfits change almost every episode inHime Chen Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri, Natsuki/Princess Kaguya's standard princess outfit when using the Princess Fairytale card is grade A Zettai Ryouiki (borderline S). Surprising because she's technically wearing akimono. She also has grade A with thigh-high boots when she's untransformed but then she's somewhere around the age of eight...
Emi Kisaki fromKurogane no Linebarrel. Her black uniform sports long socks that almost touch her little skirt. She is a grade A.
Haqua du Lot Herminium fromThe World God Only Knows is a grade A bordering on S due to her tsundere personality, but lacking the twintails.
Taiwan fromAxis Powers Hetalia wears a Grade A inHetaween 2011, while cosplayed as the virtual idolSilverlight.May have bordered on Grade S if you see that she's wearingGirlish Pigtails (which she doesn't, normally) and if you count her interactions with her brothers as her beingTsundere.
Maya Kumashiro fromOccult Academy is a perfect example of the tsundere and zettai ryouiki as well.
Haruhi Suzumiya does it again in theFanfic reboot of her eponymous series,SOS Pretty Cure (available for reading on Wikia), where, being theInnocent Fanservice Girl she is, she does it not only with her uniform (complete withone of her calling cards) during the winter but also as Cure Dio. With the latter, she even pairs it withjean shorts!
InDancing With the Stars, Season 11, one of Brandi's costumes had her dancing in a schoolgirl outfit with long stockings. Given theon-and-off tension betweenBrandi and her partnerMaksim, this was probably a deliberate attempt to invoke Grade S Zettai Ryouiki.
Geum Jan Di ofBoys Before Flowers, sports this on every episode of the show along with her school uniform.
For starters, Miku Hatsune wears thigh highs and a skirt (actually, they'rethigh-high boots, but many people don't even realize this).
And nearly every single fan-made variant of Miku Hatsune (Zatsune, Zumi Hatsune, Kiku Juon, Sai Tonarine, and Kiru Meikane are a few examples) has Grade A, and usually has pigtails.
Luka Megurine has Grade A as well.
Neru Akita has Grade A thigh-highs (boots), a tsundere personality, and... sadly, only a side ponytail. Disappointing, but she is the closest you'll get to Grade S when it comes to Vocaloid.
Rin Kagamine's new Append version bumps her up to a Grade B and a half. Hey, 54 centimeters falls right in between, so we don't know what else to call them. Isn't our job so hard?
Lily has Grade A with thigh-high boots, but hers are more pimped out than the rest of the Vocaloids.
Teto Kasane has Grade A with twindrills.
Iku Acme has Grade B.
SF-A2 miki sports a Grade C thanks to her striped socks.
And then Vocaloid3 pretty much cranks it up to twenty-two. Of the eleven that have been confirmed (not including the Gumi and VY 1 upgrades),five and one-half fit this trope: SeeU, Ring Suzune, Aoki Lapis, Akikoroid-chan, and Cul, plus IA, who has aone-leg version (hence the one-half). That's not even counting the Vocaloidols, of which at least several are going to follow suit.
Tissue-Hime, a Japanese bassist well known for hiscrossplay outfits of various female anime characters, often sports Zettai Ryouiki of various grades in his videos. An example can be seenhere.
Uruha, the lead guitarist ofVisual Kei band The GazettE has sported this more than once, though with booty shorts rather than skirts.
Sever, the lead singer of the bandSumo Cyco, has Grade B in their music video for Interceptor.
Venus fromMetal Gear Acid 2 has Zettai Ryouiki so devastating that it had to be censored for her cameo inMetal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.
Both Kasumi and Ayane fromDead or Alive wear this for their default costumes.
Boktai's Sunflower Girl Zazie has Grade A Zettai Ryouiki. While notTsundere, you don't want to be the one who wakes her up from a nap...
Maya Amano and Lisa Silverman, fromPersona 2 also fall into this category, to some extent. As Tatsuya, there's even an option to tease Maya about it inside of the bomb shelter.
Yukari Takeba goes the socks-and-skirt route, and it's actually quite surprising that she neverpanty-shots throughout the entire game considering the length (or lack thereof) of her skirt.
The female main character ofPersona 3 Portable personalizes her maid outfit with lacy black thigh highs. The hem of the dress is a tad too long, but the skirt often sways around while she's fighting to show off the skin, so it's an A-. Her normal outfit is also Grade C.
Rise Kujikawa falls this trope perfectly as she really is wearing thigh high socks along with her school uniform. Not to mention her Moe personality and pigtails.
TheShadow Hearts series is fond of this. The prequel has Koudelka, the first game has sweet innocent Alice, and the third game hasElegant Gothic Lolitavampire Hildegard, all with very high stockings. German soldier Karin in the second game achieves the same effect with thigh-high boots.
MOMO from has Zettai Ryouiki that can blow your eyeballs out through the back of your head—if you can deal with the fact that she's made of solid loli.
KOS-MOS has this in almost every outfit, and Shion gets it as well in Episode III.
Refia inFinal Fantasy III for DS gets some killer Zettai Ryouiki if you change her job to Scholar. This also makes her aMeganekko.
The same goes for Scholar Artifact armor fromFinal Fantasy XI, when worn by any female player character or NPC. People take the job to level 60 for no other reason than to equip SCH AF. About half of the armor in the game spontaneously develops Zettai Ryouiki when equipped on a female PC. Also of note is the Novennial Dress, which even gives Tarutaru Zettai Ryouiki.
Marche fromFinal Fantasy Tactics Advance has a shorts version of this. Ritz wouldalmost gain this trope, but not quite.
Female human mages inLineage II start with this, and most of their clothing options up to 20 in level are these.
A good number of the skirt-wearing female soldiers inValkyria Chronicles qualify. The most noticable are Alicia, Rosie, and Isara. Alicia is at the very least Grade S, what with her twin tails and initialTsundere attitude (much more so in the anime adaptation).
Rena andSophia both wear short skirts with long stockings.
Millie wears a slightly longer skirt than is standard for this trope, whileReimi wears an outfit that gives the illusion of a skirt.
Nel Zelpher, the deadly serious ninja-wizard fromStar Ocean: Till the End of Time, happens to have avery short, tight-fitting skirt to go with her very tall, yet equally tight boots. That bit of thigh between them is all the skin she shows though, since she's otherwise very modestly and functionally dressed... which arguably makes it that much hotter.
Albel Nox from the sameStar Ocean is an odd male variant. He wears a wrap skirt withwaist high side slits and thigh high stockings. Fayt even calls him out on it to which Albel curtly informs him thatreal men wear skirts. Then again, you don't mess with a girly, skirt wearing man voiced byCrispin Freeman.
Luca and Cloche both have this in their default costumes, Luca is a Grade A, while Cloche averages to a Grade A (her skin tight boots are staggered in length, part extends under her skirt, part is Grade A and part is Grade B). Luca's school uniform has a grade A and maybe even S depending on the scenario.
Jacqli's maid outfit is another Grade A.
Many of the girls' costumes inCross Edge have this, including Mikoto's default outfit and herNurse Uniform. By extension, Aurica's Luca costume and Misha's Cloche costume give them the same grades as mentioned above.
Rita fromTales of Vesperia, though only on one leg, and the skirt may be a bit too long for this. However, her waitress costume title is around a Grade B.
The redesigned Harley Quinn inBatman: Arkham Asylum is a rare Western example of a high-end Grade A, if not Grade S.
.hack//LINK redesigns for Atoli and Tabbi retain their Grade A, while adding it toSubaru andBlackRose.
The Wood Elf Wardancers in the recent video game rendition ofBlood Bowl achieve this look when they reach a high enough level (or receive the best boots in the real-time Blitz Mode). Though odds are that most people's attention will be on the massive mohawk they have, rather than their thighs.
Guild Wars contains a suprising ammount of Zettai Ryouiki for a Western game, in all kinds of forms: standard, hotpants, shorts, thigh-high boots... Unsuprisingly, most of the armor combinations that allow for Zettai Ryouiki belong to theMesmer class; the best examples are the "Elite Canthan" and "Elite Kurzick" armor outfits obtainable in the Factions campaign.
The NPC character Evennia, leader of the Shining Blade, wears type A.
Many of theStripperiffic outfits available for female elementalists feature type B and C.
Female Assassin armor has Canthan and Elite Luxon for grade B. Elite Luxon is a version with shorts.
Seth Balmore ofLost Odyssey has this, though often it's difficult to see due to camera angles.
Almost everyfemale in theNo More Heroes series has Grade A/B Zettai Ryouiki. The obvious exception is Speed Buster... thankfully.
InNo More Heroes 2, you fight a gothic lolita named Margaret who has this. Bonus in that she has the twintails as well, though she does lack the tsundere attitude... probably. It's even mentioned in her song:
Thigh-high socks and my absolute territory Go on and drool the Otaku cannot resist
Downright commonplace in theRune Factory series, with Melody, Major Lynette, Cecilia, Yue, Colette, Carmen, Pia, and Daria wearing Grade B, and Alicia (on one side), Ganesha, the Irises, and Kuruna sporting Grade A.
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin has Tasha in a shorts/boots example.
Killer7's Ayane's Blackburn, a parody of Japanese schoolgirls, sports this look.
The miniskirt + long boots is a standard part of the uniform worn by the Pegasus Knight / Falcoknight / Dragon Knight ladies in the saga. EvenThe Ladette Vaida uses it, and she's FAR fromMoe Moe. Not only them, either. Some troubadours (mounted healers) also use it, like Clarine fromFE 6 and L'Arachel fromFE 8.
Not any female mounted unit: Natasha fromFE 8 (if promoted into Valkyrie), Priscilla fromFE 7 and Cecilia fromFE 6 don't wear ZR. Priss's boots are too short, Cecilia's skirt is too long and the cut on it isn't high enough, and Natasha's cleric robe is excessively long as well.
One non-mounted example (at least, pre-promotion) is Princess Eirika fromFE 8. Actually, here's another: Mia pre-promotion inFE 9/10 (after promoting to upper tier, the skirt becomes too long). Also Lachesis fromFE 4, the inspiration for Eirika's design.
For another non-mounted example: Louise fromFE 7.who is actually Clarine's mother.
Lyre, one of the Laguz from "Radiant Dawn", wears shorts and thigh-high stockings.
As does Ilyana at 2nd and 3rd tier... and Heather at 3rd tier... and Nepheenee... and the aforementioned Mia... and Mist at third tier... Ironically, in this game, the pegasus ridersdon't qualify because they're wearing tights under their skirts (though they still have the thigh-high boots).
Nue Houjuu is arguably the first character in the series with Zettai Ryouiki. However, Suwako Moriya from the same series has been drawn with Zettai Ryouiki in fanon.
Frickin'everybody has been drawn with Zettai Ryouiki in fanon. Possibly even Rinnosuke.
In the 2009 remake ofSaGa 2, several of the various models for the Esper characters sport this look, as well as supporting character Lin.
Lili Zanotto ofPsychonauts has both pigtails and theTsundere personality for Grade S. Her kneesocks however come straight between C and B.
Magna Carta 2 gives us Rue, who's Grade B in her battle sprite. Variant of the hot pants and skirt, as Rue wears both, but her pants go down further than her skirt.
TheCatgirl (and another younger one) who stars in the Korean song "Greenhorn" by Lexy in thePump It Up arcade series. The former has a Grade A Zettai Ryouiki with white stockings.
Cerebella andMiss Fortune fromSkullgirls. Parasoul also has them in some of her alternates.
Valentine fromGuilty Gear 2: Overture fits this somewhat. Hard to believe she is a likely copy ofJustice.
Feena Fam Earthlight seems to have a penchant for thigh-highs stockings. She wears them under herprincess gown, which unfortunately is floor length, with her school uniform (at least when she's notOff-Model), and as part of her work uniform at Trattoria Samon (which also holds true for Natsuke, Mia, and Mai).
Fiacca also has A-Rank Zettai Ryouiki as part of herStripperific battle costume.
In the anime version ofThe Idolmaster, several of the stage outfits have it too andKotori sports this in her work outfit.
In thedress-up gameJojo's Fashion Show, you get bonus points for having boots with skirts to achieve type B.
A particular song fromBeatmania IIDX 19 called "突撃!ガラスのニーソ姫!" (Totsugeki! Garasuno niiso hime!, direct English translation: "Attack! Knee Socks Princess of the Glass") has got some Grade B Zettai Ryouiki in the anime video.
Phantasy Star IV: Rika is perhaps one of the great-grandmothers of this trope: she wears a black leotard (and heavy-class armor), but she wears thigh-high boots that are pretty standard from the front, but from the back, theyjust barely reach the hemline of her cape, making her a Class S (but only from one side).
In the music video of the song 'Frantic' inEZ 2 DJ, the orange-haired girl wears pink thigh-highs. Here's the music video:[2]
Visual Novels
Rin Tohsaka inFate Stay Night. Let's see... 57 cm stockings: check. Double pigtail: check.Tsundere:check. Yes, Rin Tohsakais Grade S! Rider does not have a grade as high as Rin's, but she certainly qualifies too.
The universe finally borne another special example: Astolfo ofFate/Apocrypha. Why special?He had a verifiable Grade Awithout being aWholesome Crossdresser.
Jessica definitely has this, and depending on your definition of knee socks (they stop literally just below the knee), so do all of the other girls. Even Maria. Beatrice sports Grade B in hersuitfrom EP2.
The Siestas have an interesting version of this, as although their boots reach up to their thighs, and they do wear mini-skirts, said skirts are split open in the front (they wear leotard-type things underneath), effectively ruining the look.
Ange pretty much screams Grade S: Pigtails, short skirt, optimal thigh exposure, and she, like so many other characters in that series, is totally Tsundere.
Nayuki, Kaori and Shiori inKanon. Makoto successfully attains Grade S ZR. At least a couple times.
Tamaki Kousaka, Sasara Kusugawa, and the Himeyuri twins inTo Heart 2, all have Grade A.
Kyou (and Ryou, although after a while she stops wearing them) inClannad—even when playing basketball.Kyou's poweris truly without limit.
Miyo Takano ofHigurashi no Naku Koro ni has this as part of her nurse outfit. Also from the same series, the Angel Mort outfit seems designed with Zettai Ryouiki in mind. Rena's outfit is a twist—she wears the thigh socks but her skirt is very long, which would normally disqualify her. However, sometimes she has "Zettai Ryouiki Flashes" where her thighs are visible through the skirt's long side slit, as is clearly visible inthis image.
Every single girl inSHUFFLE!, at some point or other. Mostly in their school outfits.
Ameri inTayutama is a definite Grade S in her school uniform.
When Sam createsCustom Uniforms for each of the cheerleaders inCheer!, she gives Alexa shorter skirt and thigh-high socks, as she stateshere (other comic linked because the one where she mentions her changes doesn't actually depict it).
Angel Moxie:Tristan starts wearing stockings with her warm-weather uniform inthis strip—and has to argue with a teacher that it isn't against the school's dress code on the next page.
InRain, Rudy takes on this look as part of aHalloween costume. DID I MENTION HE'S AGUY?
Web Original
The Cheerleaders, a trio of supervillains from theGlobal Guardians PBEM Universe, consciously make use of this trope as part of their "Jiggle Fu" distraction powers against male opponents.
AllOS-tans have been depicted wearing Zettai Ryouiki at some point. It is especially popular with XP-tan and Firefox-ko.
In theWhateley Universe, Jade has discovered this. Along with the formula. Fear her!
About 85 Percent of dancers in any of fan-made or officialCaramelldansen Vid.
Almost all the girls from Roosterteeth'sPajamachievements series rock this look, most sporting either a Grade C or B, with pajamas of course.
Clawdeen fromMonster High wears her socks at Grade B. Some background characters sport Grade C and B as well.