Line #14 Main/ExpressiveSkull


1	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/login_6.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[MemeticMutation POG]]]]
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4	Despite their complete lack of skin and muscle, characters with their bare skulls for a face can express their mood with their eye sockets and jaws just as well as any other flesh and blood character.
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6	Even though the skull is a mostly static set of bones, many creators, particularly in animation, opt to have their [[DemBones skeletal]] characters have the ability to bend and stretch their eye sockets and jaws to in order to make them seem more lively. They can [[AngryEyebrows furrow their eye sockets into an angry expression]] or widen them in surprise as if they still had eyebrows, their jaws can bend into a scowl or a big smile that ends at the cheekbones and so on, as if it's the bone that creates the facial expression and not the muscle.
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8	Compare to ExpressiveMask. MouthyBird is technically a subtrope. See also SkullForAHead, where this trope is usually used, and DemBones if the rest of the body also happens to be nothing but a skeleton.
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10	----
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12	!!Examples
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14	[[foldercontrol]]
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16	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
17	* Brook from ''Manga/OnePiece'' can emote with his eye sockets, shifting from a neutral to a battle ready angry expression frequently. He can also [[TearsFromAStone cry]] and receive [[CranialEruption lumps]] when hit on the head.
18	* ''Manga/SkullFaceBooksellerHondaSan'' has the titular character visibly emote time to time, usually during an ImagineSpot.
19	* ''Manga/Overlord2012'': Ainz' only emotional response involves his jaw opening and closing. However, the manga has ImagineSpot panels where his skull head is a lot more expressive.
20	[[/folder]]
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22	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
23	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'', the residents of The Land of the Dead are depicted as skeletons whose faces are almost no different than the faces of living people, aside from being made of bone, having empty sockets with glowing pupils, and having no nose. As such, the undead have exactly the same range of emotion as the living. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]], seeing how the story is being told using wooden puppets.
24	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'', the spirits of the dead appear as [[DemBones skeletons]], but they can contort their mouths and eye sockets to make expressions. It helps that they have eyeballs. Justified by the fact that they're spirits, who obviously do not conform to logic of the human world.
25	* Jack Skellington from ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' uses this, although it's questionable whether Jack is actually a skeleton or is a living creature that happens to resemble a skeleton.
26	* Mr. Skully Pettibone from ''WesternAnimation/ScaryGodMother'' frequently raises his 'eyebrows' and blinks.
27	[[/folder]]
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29	[[folder:Literature]]
30	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Death's face doesn't actually ever change visibly, but his expression can still be clearly read as changing since he communicates more or less telepathically.
31	-->"Death’s face was a mask of terror. Well it was always a mask of terror, but this time he meant it to be."
32	* {{Zigzagged\|Trope}} in ''Literature/Overlord2012''. In-universe Ainz is grateful for his {{Lich}} body's unmoving skull, since it gives him the ultimate poker face in situations where he has to [[FeigningIntelligence bluff being more ambitious, intelligent or in-control than he actually is]] (which is ''[[ReluctantRuler always]]''). From the audience's perspective, he still manages to show quite a bit of his true emotions through careful use of camera angles and varying [[GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath the glow of his eyes]], and occasionally through blushes and nervous sweating, or the entire panel going for the SuperDeformed look.
33	* ''Literature/SkeletonKnightInAnotherWorld'' has Arc, who chose a skeleton avatar for his character when creating it and [[TrappedInAnotherWorld woke up as his character in the world of the MMO after falling asleep while playing]]. Because the skeleton avatar is just a reskin of the basic character in the game, Arc is able to express himself as easily as any human (though most don't see it under the face-concealing helmet he wears).
34	[[/folder]]
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36	[[folder:Video Games]]
37	* The CharacterPortrait for ''VideoGame/BreathOfDeathVII'''s skeletal protagonist Dem shows him with both eyebrows... er, eye sockets furrowed.
38	* T-Bone, the giant skeletal train conductor from ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'', rises with a furious attitude, constantly shifts his eyes sockets as he searches for the player, and sports a [[SmugSmiler big smug grin]] in his defeat card if he successfully kills the player.
39	* The skeletons from ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' shift from malicious looks on their skulls as they ruin your party to pained and worried expressions when they're taking hits.
40	* In ''VideoGame/DiscworldII'', Death and other animated skeletons do occasionally exhibit the ability to contort their eyebrow area and eye sockets to show some degree of emotion, as well as being able to blink with eyelids that are apparently part of the skull. It is kept toned down though, as they generally keep a neutral expression.
41	* In ''VideoGame/DragonFable'', many skeletons have expressive skulls. The most prominent one is Captain Davey, an undead pirate who's eye sockets can narrow and widen.
42	* ''Videogame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' featured a downplayed example of this trope during the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sPd6WlNpGo reveal trailer]] for [[OurLichesAreDifferent Kel'thuzad]]. Creator/BlizzardEntertainment went with an {{Animesque}} style of animation rather than a more traditional one. This included Kel'Thuzad making his GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath squint and his face contort in an evil grin.
43	* Papyrus from ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has eye sockets that bend around on his face as he lacks the [[GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath glowing eyes]] that his brother Sans has, which can even grow eyeballs in their place if he gets particularly frustrated/goofy. The brothers also have mouths that are permanently stuck in joyous, cheek-to-cheek grins befitting their personalities.
44	* Morte in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' is pretty good at conveying facial expressions despite being a talking, floating skull that can only move his jaw and eyeballs.
45	* The protagonist in ''VideoGame/MrBones'' still has expressive brows despite being a skeleton. More disturbingly is that his mouth still mimics correct lip formation when he talks, despite having no lips.
46	* Murray, the demonic talking skull from the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series, is usually depicted and being able to raise and lower his brow appropriately depending on the mood he's in. His jaw, however, always retains its shape.
47	[[/folder]]
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49	[[folder:Web Animation]]
50	* Lewis from ''WebAnimation/MysterySkullsAnimated'' typically looks angry (and he usually is) with his eye sockets, though on occasion they relax into more somber moods.
51	[[/folder]]
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53	[[folder:Webcomics]]
54	* Xykon of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' is a lich and his skull is surprisingly expressive, even if it can't do an EvilLaugh. Of course, the rest of his body is also moving more than a normal skeleton. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0449.html This page]] has his eyes change from their default "snarky" shape to wide with shock.
55	* The beleaguered reaper Mye argues with after [[spoiler:Zeno kills her]] in ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' is quite expressive when coming across the spirits that make his job so thankless.
56	* ''Webcomic/FullFrontalNerdity'': During a story arc involving a lich, just about everyone at the table points out this trope.
57	--> [[http://ffn.nodwick.com/?p=2169 "Emotive Bones" must be a lich skill.]]
58	[[/folder]]
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60	[[folder:Web Originals]]
61	* ''Literature/{{Reasoning}}'': The Architect is a mysterious deity that has a SkullForAHead. Despite this, he's still capable of performing facial gestures, such as grinning and raising his bony brows.
62	[[/folder]]
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64	[[folder:Western Animation]]
65	* Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse: Atomic Skull in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' and Blight in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' both have skulls for heads, which tend to be just about as expressive as every other villain.
66	* Grim from ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' uses this to downright silly degrees, even forming lips with the rims of his teeth/jaws at some points, as seen in the page image.
67	* Skeletor of ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'' is usually stuck with a permanent angry expression over his eye sockets, but occasionally he can show other expressions beyond anger, and in one rare case, even form a warm smile.
68	* A Real Magic Skeleton from ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' has the "eyesockets as eyebrows" variant, though sometimes he'll just be given actual eyebrows. His mouth also makes a half zero, which stretches and compresses depending on his mood.
69	* Lord Hater from ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' is a large green eyed skeleton in robes, and yet he's just as fluently animated as the rest of the cast.
70	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ExpressiveSkull