History Main / TheDeadHaveEyes

[[folder:Films -- Animation]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'': Jack Skellington can see and hear just fine without eyes and ears. In the commentary, Creator/TimBurton mentions that Disney wanted him to add eyes for more expression, but luckily, Jack's eyesockets were expressive enough to not need them.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* The lich and necromancer Xykon from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath and [[ExpressiveSkull Expressive Eyesockets]], which taken together tend to resemble photo-negative eyeballs.
** Undead SuperSenses also come up at one point, in the form of a racial bonus to listen checks (IE supernaturally excellent hearing).
* The zombies in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' have human intelligence and who can pass for humans... under medium/heavy zombie makeup. One even mentions they need to eat the tissue they want to repair/maintain for it to stay "healthy". So most zombies who only eat muscle go blind and deaf (and very dumb) after the first few years.

[[folder:Other]]
* One of Creator/JeffDunham's characters, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, has [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] (and eyebrows, and a [[BeardOfEvil goatee]]), even after being reduced to a skeleton.
[[/folder]]

* The ''Manga/HighSchoolOfTheDead'' zombies are [[AvertedTrope completely blind]] and in fact won't know you're right next to them as long as you stay completely silent. They hunt via sound only.

* The poster for ''Film/DeadAlive''.

* In Creator/LucioFulci's ''Film/{{Zombi 2}}'' (also known as ''Zombie,'' or ''Zombie Flesh Eaters''), the recently undead walk around in a sleepy haze with their eyes closed at all times. Whether or not they have eyes is unclear. The oldest zombies seen, however, seem to be totally without eyes; the ancient conquistador zombie has writhing worms coming from a mostly-decayed eye-hole.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder: Tabletop RPG]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'': Jack Skellington can see and hear just fine without eyes and ears. In the commentary, Creator/TimBurton mentions that Disney wanted him to add eyes for more expression, [[AvertedTrope but]] [[UncannyValley luckily]], Jack's eyesockets were expressive enough to not need them.

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'': Jack Skellington can see and hear just fine without eyes and ears. In the commentary, Creator/TimBurton mentions that Disney wanted him to add eyes for more expression, [[AvertedTrope but]] [[UncannyValley luckily]], Jack's eyesockets were expressive enough to not need them.
[[/folder]]

** Death Knights keep their eyes. Then again, they are very well preserved, skin discoloration being the only sign of rot. Their eye ''color'' changes from whatever it was in life to pale blue, or for a handful of NPC death knights, purple. Of course, their eyes also start ''[[GlowingEyesOfDoom glowing]]'', a traditional ''Warcraft'' trait for anyone magically empowered.

* Despite lack of functional organs, undead in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' tend to have either this kind of vision or GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath. Even the skeletons are somehow able to see you despite that they ''have'' no eyes. Presumably it's [[AWizardDidIt magic]].
** One of the options for playable undead of both genders (And [=NPCs=] sharing the same models), is an X-shaped leather strap bound to their face covering the eyes. They can still apparently see.
*** It only covers they eyes on the female model. The male undead with that option still have their eye sockets visible, altho they have no eyes.

** Although the last part is true for skeleton mobs. Almost all skeleton mobs are specifically mentioned to be basically the puppets of necromancers that have no real thoughts of their own. However, there are some exceptions.

* Brook from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is a [[DemBones living skeleton]]: he has/had the power to come back to life ''once'', but only managed it after having decayed into a skeleton; thus he is physically (shape, mass) "just bones" but at the same time ''biologically'' fully human; long story short, he can see without eyes (and eat/poop without a GI tract, etc.), a fact he constantly [[LampshadeHanging jokes about]].

* The pic is from ''Film/TheReturnOfTheLivingDead'', by the way. ''It's time to paaaaaaaaaaaarty!''
* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'', the undead pirates are decaying skeletons except for their eyes.
** Though since [[spoiler: Jack]] turns into a similarly decayed skeleton within minutes of picking up a cursed coin, this is probably just [[AWizardDidIt a reflection of the curse]]. One could even theorize that since the undead pirates still possess their souls trapped within their rotting shells, of ''course'' they still have eyes.

** Also, the poster for ''Film/DeadAlive''.
** But subverted in ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'' where the Deadite Army (who are mostly just skeletons in armor) have empty sockets.
*** Then played straight with Bad Ash, who gets his head set on fire and loses pretty much all the flesh off of it, but keeps his eyes thoroughly intact.

* Interestingly, it was the Italians who tended to be the only ones averting this trope in the 70s and early 80s, because they tended to go for maximum {{Gorn}}. As a result, EyeScream dictated the nastiest eyes possible.
** In Creator/LucioFulci's ''Film/{{Zombi 2}}'' (also known as ''Zombie,'' or ''Zombie Flesh Eaters''), the recently undead walk around in a sleepy haze with their eyes closed at all times. Whether or not they have eyes is unclear. The oldest zombies seen, however, seem to be totally without eyes; the ancient conquistador zombie has writhing worms coming from a mostly-decayed eye-hole.
* Subversion: In ''Film/BurialGroundTheNightsOfTerror'', the zombies are uniformly eyeless.
** Now now, there's a few that have [[http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/spacemonkey_fg/More%20Random%20Pics/Nights3.jpg one]] or [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jVdgPXcKK0Y/ToK40-cQ99I/AAAAAAAAAV4/alvJVV_rP-4/s1600/Burial+Ground+3.jpg both]] eyes.
* Averted in ''Film/TheMummy1999'', the eponymous mummy has to [[EyeScream borrow eyes]]. Unfortunately for him, he borrows them from the first person he comes across, who happened to be someone who can [[BlindWithoutEm barely see]]. Their myopia somehow doesn't affect him, aside from making him mistake the heroine for his long-dead lover.
** In early drafts of the script, he ''was'' affected by the borrowed eyes's myopia. This was rejected as a LevelBreaker.
** On the other hand, the various minions he summons don't seem to be bothered by their lack of eyes.

* Death from ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' is another example of a skeleton ''without'' eyes, merely with two blue points of light in his eye sockets. Probably because Death is not supposed to be a horrible monster, but a main character. Much of the [[CoversAlwaysLie cover art]] by Josh Kirby (falsely) depicts him with normal eyeballs, though.
** Played with in "Pyramids". When the King first returns to life, as a mummy, he is quite blind until he stumbles around and finds the one jar with his eyes. Then, he gently picks them up. Since he died very recently, this is reasonable. But, when [[spoiler:ALL of the many past Pharohs]] come to life, this trope is played straight. After all, the Kingdom has been around for 7,000 years.

* The 3.5 ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' supplement ''Libris Mortis'' stated that skeletons and other undead without normal visual sensory organs have "Lifesense". That is they can see as if living creatures gave off light in a 20 foot radius that illuminates the environment for them and everything else is total darkness.
** Also from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the Demiliches don't have eyes per se but instead, two large red jewels that [[RedEyesTakeWarning work just as well]].
** Another ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' example: the 1st edition adventure L1 ''The Secret of Bone Hill'' had two undead skeletons with eyes: the skelter and the remains of a high level magic user.

* Sir Daniel Fortesque, the player character of ''VideoGame/{{Medievil}}'', is a literal half-example: Despite being dead for a century and having lost all the skin and muscle on his head (plus his jaw), he still has one good eye left in his socket. His other eye, however, is missing because he was killed by getting an arrow through it.
** If you look in the opening cutscene, before the magic resurrection spell was cast his eyesockets are empty. The spell [[SlidingScaleOfUndeadRegeneration restored his "intact" eye]], and when he finally returns to his rest the eye shrinks away to nothing.

* In ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', Morte is physically no more than a speaking, floating skull, but his eyes appear still perfectly functional. He can even roll them despite not having any musculature. Morte [[JustifiedTrope explains that this is because]] he's not really a skull, but a Mimir: A man-made construct (like a golem, but sentient) designed to look like a skull, but with eyes included.
** [[spoiler:This turns out to be a lie, however, and none of his fellow skulls in the pillar have eyes.]]

** If you were wondering about the other eye, it popped out at the end of tooie when [[CrossesTheLineTwice they were playing kickball with her head]].

** If you look in the opening cutscene, before the magic resurrection spell was cast his eyesockets are empty. The spell restored his eye.

* In ''Dawn of the Mummy'', the mummy and its zombie followers have normal eyes upon awakening in the present day (of the eighties).

* Not a zombie, but ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man]]'' arch foe [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Skeletor-spoo.jpg Skeletor]] can see without eyes and talk without lips or tongue.
** He's a lich, which is a type of undead.
** As part of his general character redesign for ''The New Adventures of He-Man'', Skeletor received actual eyeballs; in the pilot they were solid black with red highlights, but changed to green with black pupils thereafter.

[[FridgeLogic Think about it.]] A newly risen zombie, magically animated skeleton or mummy should be no more able to see victims than a bat... okay, bad example. There is a good reason behind this though: who would be afraid of a blind and deaf zombie? And, to be perfectly fair, there are plenty of other problems with the undead bio... [[ArtisticLicenseBiology UnBiology]], anyone?

Interestingly, the undead may even develop SuperSenses in the form of superior smell, hearing, or even "[[VeinOVision living radar]]". The skeleton/zombie [[EyesAreUnbreakable with still-intact eyes]] is probably a modern trope. Historically, this may have to do with the SpecialEffects and makeup needed for eyeless sockets being difficult or impractical to use, since it would potentially blind the actor and remove some of their ability to emote[[note]] (well, emoting that they don't emote, anyway)[[/note]]. As modern horror movies and CGI have blurred the line between rotting zombie and skeleton with bits of flesh and organs still hanging on, for increased {{Squick}} factor, there are now those that toe the line between "recently deceased zombies (with functioning eyes)" and "older stop motion polished skeletons (without)".

'''Murray:''' How can ''you'' walk around without a brain? Some things no-one can answer.

* In Zak's BadDreams about his dead parents in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: City of the Dead'', this is averted; his parents have empty eye sockets, though they are otherwise relatively intact. Played straight in the holographic cover for the Limited Collector's Edition; one view shows a skeleton lying back on grass with the tatters of some kind of jacket over its bones, while the other view has it starting to sit up, jaws open, worm things twining among its bones and coming out one eye socket, while the other socket bears a glaring eye. [[CoversAlwaysLie There are no]] [[DemBones skeleton zombies]] [[CoversAlwaysLie within the pages]].

Interestingly, the undead may even develop SuperSenses in the form of superior smell, hearing, or even "[[VeinOVision living radar]]". The skeleton/zombie [[EyesAreUnbreakable with still-intact eyes]] is probably a modern trope. As modern horror movies and CGI have blurred the line between rotting zombie and skeleton with bits of flesh and organs still hanging on, for increased "yuck" factor. So while it makes sense for recently deceased zombies to have functioning eyes, and older stop motion polished skeletons not to, there are now those that toe the line. Historically, this may have to do with the SpecialEffects and makeup needed for eyeless sockets being difficult or impractical to use, since it would potentially blind the actor and remove some of their ability to emote[[note]] (well, emoting that they don't emote, anyway)[[/note]].

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Barragan Luisenbarn's [[OneWingedAngel Resurrecciòn]] is a plain skeleton- no eyes ([[GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath glowing]] or real) what so ever (although "plain" isn't exactly the right word, taking into account the cool clothes he gets by transforming). Despite this, he's perfectly able to see, not to mention talk, hear, etc.

[[FridgeLogic Think about it.]] A newly risen zombie, magically animated skeleton or mummy should be no more able to see victims than a bat... okay, bad example. There is a good reason behind this though: who would be afraid of a blind and deaf zombie? And, to be perfectly fair, there are plenty of other problems with the undead bio... [[YouFailBiologyForever UnBiology]], anyone?

* Justified in ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'' with Duane: his corpse decomposed as usual despite his soul still walking it around, but he has pymaric eyes made of glass and gemstones. [[spoiler:His original eyes were stabbed out before he died, anyway.]]

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': In the story where the other three Dark Judges revive Judge Death by using the corpse of some unlucky citizen as his new vessel, there's a panel showing Death's eyes flickering open before he dons his helmet.

* Averted in The Tombs Of The Blind Dead film series, where the Templar Knights had their eyes put out when they were executed. Their revenants can hear you just fine though.

* Despite lack of functional organs, undead in ''WorldOfWarcraft'' tend to have either this kind of vision or GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath. Even the skeletons are somehow able to see you despite that they ''have'' no eyes. Presumably it's [[AWizardDidIt magic]].

** Death Knights keep their eyes. Then again, they are very well preserved, skin discoloration being the only sign of rot. Their eye ''color'' changes from whatever it was in life to pale blue, or for a handful of NPC death knights, purple. Of course, their eyes also start ''[[GlowingEyesOfDoom glowing]]'', a traditional Warcraft trait for anyone magically empowered.

* The lich and necromancer Xykon from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath and [[ExpressiveMask Expressive Eyesockets]], which taken together tend to resemble photo-negative eyeballs.

* Averted in the 1972 Creator/AmicusProductions film version of ''Film/TalesFromTheCrypt''; the two times we see characters who have been dead for a while, their eyes are completely gone (Creator/PeterCushing's character is the most memorable example).