History Main / ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes

** In the FinalBoss battle of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', the battlefield has very low lighting, yet Ganon's eyes are always visible.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' you can see the eye of the Hinox while fighting him in the pitch black forest.
* Occurs a few times in the ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' series.
** In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIV'', Rosella at one point must navigate a pitch-black cave with a resident troll and a chasm opening into a BottomlessPit ... all without any light for the player to see by.
** In the large labyrinth of ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI'', one room is so dark that all the player can see of Alexander is his white eyes against the black surroundings. If the player doesn't have a source of light, rumbling noises and a growl are heard as the Minotaur enters the room, while Alexander's eyes are lifted up, shaken, and... well, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN8_cUuSaSU that's gotta be painful]].

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/simpsons_eyes_black.png]] "Why would you cut the power at night? That's when we need it the most!"]]

** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon Mare in the Moon]]": Downplayed; Twilight and Spike, when they're standing in the near-total-dark library, have clearly visible eyes, although the rest of their bodies can still be seen in the obscurity.

* ''Animation/BoBoiBoy'': After [=BoBoiBoy=] [[BuriedAlive buries Adu Du and Probe with a landslide after trapping them in a pit]], Adu Du's eyes are visible despite them being underground ([[RobotBuddy Probe]]'s glowing eyes don't count).

Here is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xKA27kJWmE compilation]] with a lot of examples.

* In the first book of the ''ComicBook/AngelCatbird'' series, Count Catula spends the night in Cate's closet. When he's in there, only his eyes are visible.

* ''Comicbook/{{Saga}}'' uses glowing red eyes to foreshadow the Horrors behind Marko and Alana at the end of the first issue.

* ''Animation/{{Mechamato}}'': When they're stuck in a pitch black room, the eyes of Amato, Deep and Mara are visible in the darkness, along with Deep's teeth, not counting [=MechaBot=]'s robotic GlowingEyes. For added effect, Amato's SkunkStripe is just as visible as his eyes.

* ''Animation/MotuPatlu'': In "Scooter Race", Dr. Jhatka turns off the lights in his workshop, leaving Motu and Patlu's eyes as the only visible objects.

Here is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IIf8Ed3cKo compilation]] with a lot of examples.

** A shadow person steals Gumball’s wallet in the episode "The Comic", and tries to steal the Wattersons' car tire, but Nicole punches him. However, it’s unclear if he is really a shadow person, or his real appearance is obscured. His eyes are different than the van owner’s, so it is known they are not the same person.

* It’s nearly averted in the ''WesternAnimation/FraidyCat'' episode “It’s a Dog’s Life”, by not having the eyes move at all. In the episode, some dog show contestants chase Fraidy into a cellar. Cue a crash sound, and we see just the contestants eyes. Then, a dog turns on the light, resuming the chase.

* Virtually every ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon that includes a dark scene; the odds of them [[MatchlightDangerRevelation striking a match inside a dynamite shack]] are quite high.
** A particularly notable example is the WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon ''Hyde and Hare'' (1955), where Bugs locks himself in a dark closet with Dr. Jekyll to protect them from "the maniac". Jekyll, naturally, transforms into Hyde -- and it's ''only'' seen by the animation of his eyes turning huge, red, and monstrous.
* Likewise virtually every episode of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo''.
* Spoofed in the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode "Gang Busters", where Buster and Plucky get put in "The Hole" while in prison. They pass the time by using their illuminated eyeballs [[SuddenVideoGameMoment to play Pong and Pac-Man]]. Then one of them lights a match, and when the room was lit ''all that remained were their eyeballs'', prompting them to escape before they get any more stir-crazy... and save more animation money.

* ''WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts'': Mickey Mouse himself in his pie-eyed days. While at face value his eyes seem to be the two black inkblots on his face, in the dark (and in the way these inkblots move around his head and in some colorations of the comics) it's revealed that they're actually two pupils in a merged set of giant eyeballs that take up half his face. His design from ''Plane Crazy'' without the eyes outlined. That, or maybe they just couldn't think of any other way to make those black eyes to show up in the dark.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'', when Captain Hero and Unusually Flexible Girl have sex. The lights go off leaving just their eyes visible as they go through various positions. The positions start off reasonably enough, getting more and more unusual until their eyes are going through a Newton's Cradle type motion.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'':
** One episode of does this with the [[CreepyChild Delightful Children's]] eyes.
** In ''WesternAnimation/OperationZERO'', with Wally and Kuki hiding inside a closet.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'', where his SUNGLASSES glow white in the [[SunglassesAtNight pitch dark]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' uses this a few times. In fact, the episode "Lights Out" is based around this trope. Granted, that the episode takes place in complete darkness for a good chunk of the episode, with no filters whatsoever.

* ''WesternAnimation/BountyHamster'': Spoofed in "Gone Fishin", where Cassie and Marion are SwallowedWhole along with the VillainOfTheWeek who is trying to kill our heroes with a LaserBlade, the only thing visible except for their eyes. At one point the villain appears to have cut Cassie in half, but then two pairs of eyes appear in place of the two detached eyes. Turns out it was just two people standing together with one eye shut.

* ''Literature/CarsonCrossesCanada'': One night, while Annie and [[TheProtagonist Carson]] are on the road, a pair of glowing yellow eyes can be seen in the shrubbery they just passed by.

** ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' has a rather scary example. When the title princess runs in panic in the forest, some yellow glowing eyes seems to stare at her. They actually belong to friendly cute animals but Snow White's imagination makes them look like evil and demonic.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/simpsons_eyes_black.png]]]]

In live action, it is usually used to spooky effect.

* In ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Puyo Pop Fever]]'', Popoi appears in a dark room with only the glow of his eyes to indicate where he is. This might make sense since he's a black cat... but then Amitie is in the same room while the lights are out and the player can see her just fine - she's not even darkened to match the dim room.

* ''WesternAnimation/JourneyThroughTheJungleOfWords'': We see this happen to [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Groucho Barx]] and Olivia Ostrich when they, along with [[JunglePrincess Dualot]] and [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Seealot]], get shut into the cave of King Solomon's Mind.