What are codpieces? I guess I could call them "crotch padding". Worn long ago by europeans for a variety of reasons. The reason I can remember most is to... um... emphasize the guy's "manliness" and to hide his weakness in that area. I guess it's the same reason why some men in that era also had large beards as the size of the chin was also an indication of "manliness".

I just see it as a weird piece of clothing. Kinda like how women "pad" their bras. Makes me wonder what else people did to... um... make themselves look... "impressive"... O_O

edit: Oh, yeah... thank Ozone for inspiring this thread in one of his posts... in the video game forums.

I personally am all for the padding of crotch regions if it leads to hilarious public pelvic-thrusting.

It always reminds me of this one statue of spider-man I once saw at the mall thought. When they sculpted him out, someone made sure to give him a nice crotch bulge underneath his costume. It always bugged me because I wanted the statue to take home, but the crotch bulge was kind of distracting in a not-so-awesome way.

*Kif sigh*

They came from armour- as a way to protect your family jewels and also as a way or having quick access to them so you could take a pee without getting off all your kit.
The modern version we have in use is what we call a "box" in Australia, People wear them for protection in cricket. I know they have similar things in baseball, but no idea what they're called...?

The most famous use of the codpiece in contemporary pop-culture was by Larry Blackmon of the band Cameo. His bright red codpiece, black tights and funny hair made a hilarious combination.
-People might also remember the famous "black Russian" in an episode of the first series of Blackadder.

Also, many tribal peoples in Africa and Melanesian people from Fiji and Papua New Guinea wear elongated baskets over themselves in that region, strapped to the chest to show how amazingly long they are.

They're called "jockstraps".

Oh, great... this just reminded me of a parody my brother sang when we were younger. Where "The artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince" sang about his "Little Red Jockstrap"...

I guess now I need more brainbleach O_O

"Wave your hands in the air like you don't care..."