History Main / HeldGaze

* Anne and Gilbert share a Passionate Look when the two reconnect in a gazebo in Kevin Sullivan's adaptation ''[[AnneOfGreenGables Anne of Avonlea]]'' (1987).

* ''{{Twilight}}'' consists of Edward and Bella basically doing this for two straight hours.

* Not surprisingly, ''{{Twilight}}'' the novel was doing exactly the same in nonvisual form.

* In Pokemon, Jessie and James from Team Rocket, of all people, do this, at the end of the episode 'Holy Matrimony'. When Jessie and Meowth think James has got married and left forever, he suddenly returns in a hot air balloon, ''literally'' whisking Jessie off her feet. And then the two stare into each other's eyes while reaffirming their partnership, while Meowth runs after them, complaining that they forgot about him 'again'.

[[AC: ComicBooks]]
* ''ElfQuest'' has a specific name for this trope - Recognition (which is practically a LampshadeHanging of sorts for the supernatural version of the trope). "Soul meets soul when eyes meet eyes"; which is a powerful biological urge to mate that pretty much guarantees healthy, gifted children.

[[caption-width-right:350:Aw ... love is in the air - or rather, ''the eyes'']]

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/camille_love_scene.jpg]]

-->"For me, meeting someone's eyes is always risky. Every human being knows what I'm talking about. Try it. Walk up to someone, without speaking and look them in the eyes. There's a a certain amount of leeway for second, or two, or three. And then there's a distinct sensation of contact, of intimacy. [[LampshadeHanging Harry Dresden, ''White Night''.]]

* Howard and Vince from TheMightyBoosh do this often. [[HoYay It's sort of platonic.]] [[UST maybe.]]

* ''StarWars: AttackOfTheClones'' this happens between Anakin and Padme twice: once as a gentle lover's gaze into each other's eyes, and then later as an indicator they are about to BigDamnKiss - and they do.

Bob and Alice have been spending a lot of time together, causing people to [[EveryoneCanSeeIt comment on their relationship]] but so far nothing has resulted from it. Often though, they will find themselves gazing deeply into each other's eyes, one indication of their {{UST}}. Can often precede an AlmostKiss, as this is usually what is happening before that. If this is an extremely intense gaze into the other's eyes, this might be an indication that a BigDamnKiss is on the horizon. It can also be a platonic look between [[HeterosexualLifePartners two friends.]]

* Mulder and Scully of ''{{The X-Files}}'' were big on doing this.

A subtrope of AlmostKiss, as this commonly happens before the kiss, and sometimes it precedes a BigDamnKiss, and it is also a subtrope of Longinglook, but different in that it is two people holding each other's gazes.

[[AC: '''{{Meta}}Example''']]
* ThisVeryWiki records a picture of a man and a woman holding each other's gaze in the manner of a HeldGaze on the RuleOfRomantic page.

* ElfQuest has a specific name for this trope - Recognition (which is practically a LampshadeHanging of sorts for the supernatural version of the trope). "Soul meets soul when eyes meet eyes"; which is a powerful biological urge to mate that pretty much guarantees healthy, gifted children.

* In {{Tangled}} Flynn and Rapunzel share a HeldGaze before their AlmostKiss after they have watched the lanterns rise into the sky.
* In the LittleWomen 1994 adaptation starring Winona Ryder and Christian Bale, Jo and Laurie share one before Laurie's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove and their BigDamnKiss.

* Anne and Gilbert in Kevin Sullivan's adaptation of the two [[AnneOfGreenGables Anne novels ''Anne of Avonlea'' and ''Anne of the Island'']] has Gilbert and Anne share a Passionate Look when the two reconnect in a gazebo in his film ''Anne of Avonlea'' (1987).

* The platonic version occurs in IceAge after Manny has just rescued Diego from death at the lava fields.

* {{Twilight}} consists of Edward and Bella basically doing this for two straight hours.

* {{Enchanted}} has Robert and Giselle doing this at the ball during their DanceOfRomance.
* In PeterJackson's 2005 remake of KingKong, Ann and Kong find themselves gazing into each other's eyes often during her captivity and their reunion in New York features a very meaningful one. Heck, even the ''poster'' for the film has them doing this!
* Doc Brown and Clara share one in BackToTheFuture Part III.
* The [[HeterosexualLifePartners platonic]] version occurs between Stoick and Gobber in Dreamwork's HowToTrainYourDragon when they grasp hands, looking each other in eye, before going off to distract Green Death together to buy their people some time.
* In NationalTreasure, the first variant occurs twice between Ben and Abigail twice. First, when they are arguing about her coming along with them to keep the Declaration safe: they gaze deeply into each other's eyes and Ben gives in to Abigail, with the Jefferson Memorial in the background. The second time it happens is when the adventurers are down in the tunnel beneath Trinity Church; Ben grabs Abigail, and they look deeply into each other's eyes soulfully before they [[BigDamnKiss kiss.]]

* Not surprisingly, {{Twilight}} the novel was doing exactly the same in nonvisual form.
* In Jim Butcher's TheDresdenFiles, Harry even has a name for this - the Soulgaze, where two people catch a glimpse of each other's souls because they share a gaze.

** This is a LampshadeHanging, as Harry is typically GenreSavvy about most things - including RealLife Shared Gaze, though in the context of TheDresdenFiles, it is much more supernatural than the actual trope suggests, but Harry does mention the RealLife variant (below).
* Rudyard Kipling's JungleBook references the direct gaze that when an animal views it, it signals a threat, and it comes into play during the wolf-pack meeting at the beginning when Mowgli is allowed into the pack. His ingenuous, even gaze is unsettling to the animals gathered when he looks at them, meeting their gaze for only a few seconds, as most look away quickly except for ones like Bagheera, who knows something of the ways of men.

[[AC:LiveActionTv]]
* Mulder and Scully of the XFiles were big on doing this.

* HowIMetYourMother: This is one of Barney's "moves" to invoke intimacy and seduce women ([[HoYay And Ted]]).
* In the ''NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'' episode "Guide to: Positives and Negatives", Sarah Gothman and Mark Downing have this before they kiss. [[spoiler: [[IncrediblyLamePun It's electrifying]].]]

* Couples on PhineasAndFerb often employ this trope for {{ShipTease}}. For instance, Ferb and Vanessa share one when he first meets her, and Phineas and Isabella have also held each other's gaze - most notably in the special ''Summer Belongs to You!'', when they are stranded on the island.
* In {{Spirit}}StallionOfTheCimarron, Spirit and Rain have a deep gaze into each other's eyes under a tree. Spirit also does this with Little Creek, Rain's owner at least once.
* In {{Disney/Tarzan}}, this happens between Tarzan and Jane when he first meets the girl, and they stare into each other's eyes in wonder.
* In Disney's HouseOfMouse, on the episode ''Max's Embarrassing Date'', Max and Roxanne stare into each other's eyes before they AlmostKiss, wherein Minnie interrupts them.

* RealLife aversion: While true for ''H. sapiens'' when other primates lock gazes, that is a ''threat display''. Because of this, some zoos have have signs near the monkey enclosure warning visitors to not look directly into the monkey's eyes because it will scare them.

* Couples on PhineasAndFerb often employ this trope for {{ShipTease}}. For instance, Ferb and Vanessa share one when he first meets her, and Phineas and Isabella have also shared gazes - most notably in the special ''Summer Belongs to You!'', when they are stranded on the island.