Archived Discussion

This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.

Hey, the Final Fantasy VI example is listed more than once, maybe someone should take one out.

Patch: What about Lucca from Chrono Trigger?

Scrounge: So what is this trope, exactly? And would Catwoman's recent putfit with goggles qualify?

osh: Best way to save this entry could be to mention parts of outfits a character wears without any noticable or, more importantly, utilized function. I still recall Yuna's odd hoodie from Final Fantasy X-2...

Seth: Isnt this just Rummage Sale Reject

Citizen: Seth speaks the truth.

Tamsin: Is the trope referring to the way goggles are sometimes used as an indication of a character's leadership, courage, rashness (and other such things common to most of Digimon's goggle boys)? The only other examples I can think of are Naruto (in early episodes) and Cooro from the manga +Anima.

Tanto: As near as I can tell, this "trope" is just someone taking a name they liked out of the bin and writing something — anything — that even remotely fits it. Which annoys me — it's a good name.

Citizen: Well actually... one could make a point of the difference: Rummage Sale Reject is about the fashion train wreck aspect, with the weird mix-match of styles. Goggles Do Nothing could be more along the lines of how those accessories (not just goggles) are never actually used for their intended purpose: goggles never used to even cover the eyes, belts that don't hold anything up, etc... Is this better?

Cassius335: Yeah... Tanto, Twas me. Sorry, I thought that's what names in the Title Bin were for. Besides, The name just rang a chord so strong I couldn't resist. Tasmin pretty much already said what I was thinking: In Digimon, Goggles pretty much are the symbol of the leader (and courage and so on).

I think Osh and Citizen have the right idea in suggested expanding this other items which are present but never (or almost never) utilised.

Morgan Wick: The bin's description makes it sound like it's the point, but it's supposed to be a place to save good titles so they can be brought up. Even to the extent that that is the point, it's supposed to serve as a brainstorm session for good tropes. Use YKTTW to ensure you're not simply being a fool and proposing a stretch or duplicating an existing trope.

Or am I completely off base?

Tanto: I don't think so. It seems fairly self-evident that any entries coming out of the Title Bin have to be worthy tropes in and of themselves. I'd hate to see a good name wasted on a reach.

The whole "meaningless/ignored accessories" idea seems good, though, if it's not duping something else.

Tamsin: Incidentally, I can't remember Davis actually using his goggles. He actually lampshades this in episode 9 ("The Emperor's New Home"); everyone is being blinded by Skull Greymon exploding a Control Spire and he says, "I should probably have put on my goggles!"

Ununnilium: I believe he did so while flying around on Exveemon's back.

Ununnilium: What about Robotnik and Syaoran?

Tamsin: D'oh. Missed out half the sentence.

Ununnilium: Taking 'em out, because their goggles don't actually seem to be useless:

Video game example: Doctor Robotnik / Eggman from Sonic The Hedgehog wears goggles.
Syaoran from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle wears goggles (although, seeing as he starts the series working on ruins in a desert, they could be for keeping sand out of his eyes).

Cassius335: Haven't had a chance to watch all of Tsubasa yet: But outside of the first ep, how often is he actually in a desert?

Cassius335: Nice to see this page looking so healthy.

K.o.R: Just a note: Takato in Digimon Tamers actually did use his goggles for their intended purpose: the appearance in the real world of the Monster of the Week was accompanied by a thick fog which the heroes wore sunglasses, or in Takato's case, his goggles, while running through it.

Andyroid: Moved the simpsons "example" to Memetic Mutation; that's not what this trope is about. Also, learn to freakin' spell, or at least proofread.

Grev: Am I the only one who originally thought Hellboy's horn stumps were goggles?

Meiriona: I saw the Simpsons 'My eyes! The goggles do nothing' example in AMV Hell 3 used as a sub for ASTROBOY, maybe that's where it came from originally? I dunno, it may have been added for AMV Hell 3, considering the nature of the series, but it looked pretty well done....

Antheia: I thought that clip was from Rockman, not Astroboy? Hence the "we built this city on Rock and Roll"...

Haven: Love the image XD Is that a shinigami from Death Note?

fleb: I never saw one like that in the series, but the filename says 'special,' so it's probably one from a special.

AKK: Isn't this technically a subversion of Chekov's Gun? In this case, the "gun" shows up, is put to use, then found to be useless.

Vampire Buddha: Removed a pile of natter and aversions:

Crap

In Tamers, Takato would used his goggles to protect his eyes whenever he entered a digital field (Jenrya (Henry) and Ruki(Rika) used their sunglasses) and anyone without any protective eyewear would cover their eyes.

And the gloves. The Digimon Adventure and 02 characters really seem to like their gloves, even though it's supposedly summer in Adventure. And Miyako/Yolei's helmet in Adventure 02, which she gets in her Transformation Sequence when world-hopping.
- Takuya of Digimon Frontier wore green gloves too. He never ever took them off, yet strangely, nobody commented on it.
- Actually the gloves serve a technical purpose, not a canonical one. Gloved hands are bigger and blockier, and thus much easier to draw and animate. You get this in lots of animation, both eastern and western; see Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse.
Digimon Savers is the only season in which the hero doesn't wear goggles, though Masaru/Marcus's dogtag does hold some significance in his backstory — it was given by his Disappeared Dad just before he went to the Digital World.
Otherwise this trope is averted - pretty much everything the ninja wear has some practical use (what look like random straps are usually meant to hold scrolls or extra weapons), including the headbands.
Just plain averted by Usopp, whose goggles (both his original pair and the upgraded versions) really do help his sniping. Also, the upgraded pair double as binoculars.

Averted with Kei, a recurring side character in Shoulder A Coffin Kuro, who is always wearing his goggles.
Averted in Pitch Black and the other Riddick stuff. Riddick, a scary killer, wears scary goggles. However, when he takes them off it becomes immediately obvious why he wears them: His eyes are extremely light-sensitive to the point where he can see easily in the dark but normal levels of sunlight are blinding to him.
Averted in James Robinson's Starman. Jack Knight's goggles cut out the glare that gets created when he uses his cosmic rod.
- Well, in the first game, Jak uses the goggles to provide a crosshair so he can First-Person aim the fireballs he produces from his hand. By the second, when he gets an actual rifle, the First-Person aiming has been removed.
- The goggle-hat is a real Lego piece; the cantina NPCs are built mostly from stock parts, as opposed to the customized Star Wars-canon characters.
- Yosuke of Persona 4 also has omnipresent headphones, but he actually wears them in battle, either to keep himself from freaking out in battle, or to keep himself moving in battle (he's constantly tapping out the beat, and doesn't take off the headphones until the battle is over).
- It's actually implied in some places that nothing electronic really works in the UG.
- Though he does appear to be listening to whatever's playing on them during his idle animation.
Inverted in Backyard Skateboarding, where goggles save Dmitri Petrovich from hurting his eyes.
Jack from Mad World wears goggles on his forehead... and uses them. He wears them over his eyes during the motorcycle stages. It must help keep the blood splatters out of his eyes. However, he never does anything with the wrenches on his belt...
- Oh, a literal clone by the way. From the film Clones of Bruce Lee.
  - Of course in an earlier appearance he proudly boasts they render him immune to his patent Neuraliser.
Averted in The Spectacular Spider Man. Doctor Octopus' goggles pull double duty, serving as his Expressive Mask and a sturdy replacement for his Nerd Glasses. In an epic battle on an abandoned freighter, they also proved (on at least one occasion) resistant to Spidey's adhesive webs.
In the animated Static Shock, Static's costume included goggles. Partly subverted in that he did, occasionally, use them, usually when flying in inclement weather.

Close Crap

Cut this:

Although originally a quote from The Simpsons, it's also a meme in Digimon fandom, where most lead characters were distinguished by wearing aviator goggles that they never used.

Because a), it's a meme in fandom in general, and was never specific to Digimon, and b), it's an example (and also listed as such) awkwardly shoehorned into the intro.

Archived Discussion Main / GogglesDoNothing