Line #77 Main/OnionTears


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5	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/squidward_onions.jpg]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:"Hey, who left this bowl of onions here?"]]
7	%%
8	->''"A hard man is he who an onion shreds, yet not a teardrop sheds."''
9	-->-- "The Seasonings", '''Music/PDQBach'''
10
11	Just like how [[PepperSneeze pepper can make you sneeze]], onions in fiction can produce oceans of tears, giving the appearance that you have experienced a horrendous tragedy, instead of the mild eye irritation that occurs in boring RealLife. Oftentimes, onions will make the characters sob uncontrollably, rather than just leak a few tears from the eyes.
12
13	In RealLife, if the onions are green or very fresh, especially if cut very close to the root end, they can produce the copious tears, often accompanied by sniffing (because your tear ducts and nasal tubes are connected), but not the sobbing (although sometimes, the tears and sniffling can make you congested, forcing you to breathe through your mouth and send you even one step closer to the appearance of sobbing). However, there are easy ways to avoid this eye irritation if you're cutting or peeling onions; chilling the onions first, using a sharper knife, and wearing eye protection are all effective methods.
14
15	This has several useful applications for those with something to hide: either you can disguise your real tears of pain by grabbing some onions to peel (compare SandInMyEyes), or you can use onions to get tears in your eyes and simulate real pain when you don't feel it.
16
17	Vaguely related is the situation in anime where a character simulates crying while not-very-subtly holding an eyedropper bottle. Apparently only the audience can see it, though.
18	----
19	!!Examples:
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21	[[folder:Advertising]]
22	* A 90s Papa John's commercial had two employees talking, and they both start tearing up as they talk about how rough the job can be and how everything has to be "perfect". That's when their manager comes up and gives them more onions to chop up.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'': Jack uses onions to force himself to cry because he think it is wrong that the disturbing information he learns about the world's history doesn't make him cry due to his species being engineered to not feel strong emotions.
27	* This actually happens to Tommy in ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'', the kids are forced to make burgers so they can save a digimon from Arbormon. He puts onions in his, and he even comments on it with the line "Here come the tears".
28	* In episode 10 of Season 1 of ''Manga/KOn'', both Yui and Ritsu do this. Yui in particular looks [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pQHOUcytVs&list=FLzXABVUMyzXf2x3jtFicyWA&index=1 cute]] while doing it.
29	* One episode of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' involved a mirror that could allow whoever held it to travel through time if their tears fell on it (which appeared in a previous episode). Genma tries to invoke this by shoving onions in Ranma's face.
30	* An episode of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' had Usagi and Chibiusa invite a young girl home for dinner. When the girl talks about how sad she is that she doesn't think her mother loves her, she asks if she could help them chop up an onion.
31	* Episode 10 of ''Literature/DragonCrisis'' starts with Ai, Rose and Misaki [[EverybodyCries all crying heavily]], then shows that they are chopping onions at a picnic.
32	* In episode 42 of ''Anime/SmilePrecure'', Nao cuts some onions and gets little bubble tears in her eyes.
33	* In ''Anime/{{Vandread}}'', Pai sees Dita and Hibiki in the kitchen, with Dita crying. She assumes that Hibiki upset Dita somehow, and uses this as an argument to get the men kicked off the ship. She feels bad later when she discovers that Dita was just chopping onions... because she and Hibiki were making her a surprise meal to celebrate her anniversary aboard the ship.
34	%% Needs Context * Iori in Episode 3 of the anime adaptation of ''Anime/TheIdolmaster''.
35	* Onion Oni from ''Literature/{{Anpanman}}'' has managed to weaponize this. He tosses onions and uses his kanabo to peel and slice them by whacking at them. The onion slices then land on the eyes of his victim (normally Baikinman in this case). Also, Onion Oni himself (his head's an actual onion, with two sprouts acting as his horns) is a bit of a crybaby (he's still a little boy, but he doesn't like being seen as just a kid).
36	* Referenced in ''Manga/OnePiece''. Minor antagonist Wanze is a chef who wears goggles. A reader asked why, and WordOfGod is that Wanze wears them to protect his eyes when he chops an onion.
37	* In ''GO-GO Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}!'' episode 40, several Tamagotchis are auditioning for a TV show and are being asked to cry on command. Spacytchi attempts to cheat by using an onion to make himself tear up, but the director discovers the onion and Spacytchi is disqualified.
38	* ''Weaponized'' by [[MakingASplash Laguna]] in ''Manga/EdensZero'', whose power allows him to OneHitKO anyone who cries in his presence no matter the source of the tears. Against particularly tough or emotionally-controlled enemies, he brings out an onion to force them to cry.
39	* In episode 6b of ''Anime/JewelpetMagicalChange'', Airi and Ruby investigate a room in the school that is said to be crying. When Ruby enters the room, she discovers there's a portrait that is indeed crying because Mozart, who is in a potrait right next to him, is peeling an onion. Ruby solves the problem by painting a snorkel mask on the tearful art piece.
40	* In episode 7 of Manga/MyDressUpDarling Kitagawa slices an onion while cooking and comments:
41	-->'''Kitagawa:''' My eyes are on fire. Screw you too, onions; damn. What did I ever do to you?
42	* The fifth episode of ''Anime/PaRappaTheRapper'' has the Great King chop onions to make everyone in the two warring kingdoms cry.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
46	* ''Animation/{{Akis}}'': In "Why Oh Why", Akis' attempt to mimic a woman's acting from a TV program involves her smashing an onion on her face to make her tear up. The onion stings her eyes so much that she can't stop crying.
47	* ''Animation/BoBoiBoy'':
48	** In episode 11, after Adu Du gets Probe to stop watching a sad soap opera, the former takes a look at the soap opera himself and starts crying. When Probe reappears and asks why Adu Du's eyes are red, he lies that he was just chopping onions while exercising, even demonstrating the combo to seem convincing.
49	** In season 3, Adu Du exploits this by making an [[AnthropomorphicFood onion monster]] to get [=BoBoiBoy's=] tears as part of the DNA samples he needs to make [[RobotMe BoBoiBot]]. It attacks the school and makes gas attacks which cause everyone to cry, but Yaya and Ying outsmart it by clipping their noses shut to stop crying.
50	* ''Animation/BoonieCubs'': Season 3 episode 8 is about Bramble mixing up his and Bramble's mother's food baskets and having veggies brought over to a picnic instead of the fruit basket their mother prepared for them. The animal friends find an onion inside the basket and wonder why it's making them cry, not realizing that it's an onion.
51	* In episode 10 of ''Animation/HappyHeroes'', everyone is fawning over how good the food from the rice cooker tastes, and they even start to tear up over it... [[BaitAndSwitch or not]]. The tears are actually just from Sweet S. chopping up some onions.
52	* In ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf: Joys of Seasons'' episode 31, Wolffy has to water the seed of a remembering flower with his tears so that he can feed the resulting plant to Wolnie and restore her memory. One of his attempts to water the seed is to place two halves of an onion over his eyes to make him cry, which doesn't work.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Comic Books]]
56	* ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'': Near the end of Volume 5, Scott is shown solemnly chopping onions with a completely stoic face while his eyes have turned into OcularGushers. A fellow worker comes and comforts him, to which he retorts by stating that it's the onions, not him.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
60	* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'':
61	-->'''Calvin:''' Why are you crying, Mom?\
62	'''Mom:''' I'm cutting up an onion.\
63	'''Calvin:''' ''(to audience)'' It must be hard to cook when you anthropomorphize your vegetables.
64	* ''ComicStrip/TheFamilyCircus'': In one strip, Thel cries while chopping onions. Billy, Dolly and Jeffy cling to her legs.
65	-->'''Billy:''' Don't cry, Mommy! We won't do it again!
66	* In a ''ComicStrip/{{Mafalda}}'' comic strip, Mafalda's mother is tearing up while peeling onions, and her precocious child (who is always worried about the situation of the world) brings her a terrestrial globe "so that she can cry for something more altruistic than an onion".
67	* In a ''ComicStrip/{{Kudzu}}'' sequence parodying Jimmy Swaggart's prostitution scandal, Reverend Will B. Dunn started crying on his show. The last frame revealed that he was using this method.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
71	* In ''WesternAnimation/ShrekFourD'' (the Platform/ThreeDMovie that plays at Ride/UniversalStudios), newlywed Fiona is crying because her carriage is an onion. It's also referenced in the original ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' movie during the "ogres are like onions" scene -- Donkey suggests, "They make you cry!", as one of the possible connections.
72	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', Stromboli takes a bite of an onion and talks close to Pinocchio giving him tears.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
76	* This happens in the movie ''Film/LastHoliday'' with Queen Latifah. Chef Didier discovers Georgia (Latifah) is dying and uses the fact that he is chopping onions to pretend to conceal his sorrow when she asks him not to be sad.
77	* Averted in ''Film/{{Diva}}'' with hipster-outlaw Gorodish, who uses a diving mask and snorkel when he chops onions in his kitchen.
78	* Gargamel subjects Papa Smurf to this with this Smurf essence extractor in ''Film/TheSmurfs''.
79	* Used for a gag in ''Film/ShowPeople''. Peggy has to play a dramatic crying scene in the film she's starring in, but she can't cry on command. Onion slicing is one of several attempts to get her to produce tears.
80	* In ''Film/JulieAndJulia'', Julia Child is practicing cutting onions. Her husband Paul walks into their kitchen and immediately tears up, starts wiping his eyes, and hurries out of the room.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Jokes]]
84	* A [[BlackComedy dead baby joke]] runs thus: What's the difference between a baby and an onion? [[spoiler:You don't cry when you cut up a baby.]] Also applies to bagpipes, accordions, and violas.
85	* An unrelated joke actually inverts this trope: ''You are so ugly you made an onion cry.''
86	* A mother and daughter are making dinner, the former carving chicken and the latter peeling several onions... and getting teary-eyed all over. \
87	"Why don't you try peeling them in water? You won't get the fumes in your eyes." the mother suggests. The daughter seems to get it and start filling a wash basin with water, but just then the phone in the hall started ringing. \
88	The mother leaves the kitchen, had a lengthy conversation, comes back fifteen minutes later... and finds the daughter soaking wet in the face, hair, and totally out of breath. \
89	"You're right, mom, it works!..." the daughter said. "But the problem is, it's so ''hard'' peeling them [[ComicallyMissingThePoint when your head's underwater]]!"
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Literature]]
93	* Exploited in ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfHershelOfOstropol'', when Hershel is getting his wife to [[FakingTheDead pretend to be dead]] so their family will get food and money for the funeral. The only food they have left in the house is a small onion, which he cuts open and rubs on his eyes to make them cry before telling the village what's happened.
94	* In the ''Literature/AntAndBee'' book ''More and more Ant and Bee'', a child's nurse cries from cutting onions, to the astonishment of Ant and Bee, that a "big person" should cry. She has to be cheered up.
95	* OlderThanRadio: In Mme [=LePrince=] de Beaumont's "Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast", Beauty's sisters use onion tears to emotionally blackmail her into staying home.
96	* In Creator/DanAbnett's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''Blood Pact'', Criid blames her tearfulness on the onions. Given that she had just commented that grief lasts a long time.
97	* In the picture book ''WesternAnimation/FiremanSam and the Missing Key'', Fireman Cridlington's eyes get teary as he's cutting onions for shepherd's pie. Sam reassures him that [[LethalChef the pie won't be that bad]].
98	* In ''Literature/TheKiteRunner'', the narrator (Amir) writes a story about a man whose tears turn into pearls when he sheds them into a magic cup--when the man discovers this power of his, he kills his wife so that he can cry over her death and become rich with pearls. When Amir's friend Hassan reads the story, he asks Amir, "Why did he have to kill his wife? Why couldn't he have just smelled an onion?"
99	* Mentioned in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'', where the LemonyNarrator uses peeling an onion as a metaphor for reading his tragic books-- as you peel off more and more papery layers, tears flow from your eyes. In TheFilmOfTheBook, Count Olaf does something akin to the anime fake-crying mentioned -- he turns around and squirts eyedrops into his eyes, which the audience sees but the person being fooled apparently doesn't.
100	* Remember Oliver North (American politics, 1980s)? Creator/DaveBarry joked of him that "his eyes moist, he gestured patriotically with his hand and knocked over his bottle of Revlon Eye Moistener."
101	* Used in "Overture To Death" by Creator/NgaioMarsh. [[spoiler:The murderer's plan depends on everyone thinking she's in a great deal of pain. She uses a hidden onion to provide the tears as she "sobs".]]
102	* In ''Literature/BoredOfTheRings'', the [[PlantAliens Vee-Ates]] launch a gas attack on Serutanland by catapulting in suicide scallions:
103	-->When the trip was released, the eight-foot onions soared in a high arc over the walls and set up a huge cloud of acrid fog upon impact. Through the glass the party saw the narcs feverishly wiping their streaming eyes with dirty black handkerchiefs.
104	* In ''The Last Safe Place On Earth'' by Richard Peck, the narrator (who's on his high school swim team) always wears his swimming goggles when cutting onions, saying, "Call me crazy, but it's better than crying in your onions."
105	* In ''[[Literature/{{Lyra}} Caught in Crystal]]'', RetiredBadass innkeeper Kayl grabs a knife and some onions to mask her tears over a painful memory. Later, her young son is telling the inn patrons not to get the stew, because [[BrickJoke he saw how many onions his mother was cutting for it]].
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
109	* An episode of ''Series/SaluteYourShorts'' had several camp members crying, bemoaning their apparent fate in a dark room, only for it to reveal that they were cutting onions the whole time.
110	* There was an episode of ''Series/ThreesCompany'' where Janet used the fact that Jack was chopping onions to make Larry think Jack was crying over a fight they'd had.
111	* On ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', Rowlf sings a song about cutting up onions and ends up bawling.
112	* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Out Of Time," Kryten is a bit sad and teary at an event he wanted to keep secret. Realising this didn't make any sense, due to being an android, he tries to cover it up by saying how sad depriving an onion of its skin makes him.
113	** He had to say that, as when he claimed onions get him every time, Lister points out there were no onions present. He promptly retrieved some from a cupboard and explained he meant the onions he was about to peel get him every time.
114	* ''Series/{{House}}'': "It's a very sad thing, an uncalibrated centrifuge."
115	* The episode "Night of the Watery Death" of ''Series/TheWildWildWest'' has the antagonist's henchwoman use an onion wrapped in a handkerchief to simulate crying as she lies that James West was busy battling danger but sent her with a message.
116	* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''. In the "British Showbiz Awards" sketch, when the master of ceremonies wants to cry, he pulls out an onion and holds it up to his eyes. Later on he has a bunch of onions around his neck in case he needs more. He then moves on to a pair of highly visible rubber tubes attached to a squeeze bulb.
117	* An episode of ''Series/AreYouBeingServed Again!'' has Mr. Humphries and Mavis cutting onions together. The scene is played out for laughs as the two converse about how happy and great their lives are while also bawling their eyes out from the onions.
118	* In one episode of ''Series/{{Wings}}'', Joe sees Helen crying and asks what's wrong. She claims it's from the onions she's peeling. Except he doesn't fall for it, because she's actually peeling potatoes.
119	* In one episode of ''Series/TheBradyBunch,'' it first appears that Alice is genuinely crying out of emotion, but then it turns out that she was only "crying" because she was cutting an onion.
120	* A recurring joke on ''Series/Chef1993''. In one episode, Gareth has just learned that Deborah is having trouble in her private life, and walks in on her crying in the kitchen. He tries to comfort her, but she matter-of-factly informs him that it's just the onions. Another episode has Gareth and Everton tearfully discussing their problematic love lives.
121	-->'''Everton:''' Is that you or the onions?\
122	'''Gareth:''' No, it's me.
123	* In Series/{{Solitary}}, Val once assigned the guests in Season 2.0 to do this as a challenge. However, since merely peeling onions wouldn't have had the desired effect, Val had them ''grate'' several onions into pulp, releasing all the fumes. The effect was so severe that the guests experienced watering eyes, dripping noses, burning throats, and even ''stomach pains''. There was a good deal of curses of anger and expressions of pain, but no weeping. Several of them compared the experience to standing in tear gas, or having someone put a handful of chili powder in their eyes.
124	* A ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch had Kevin Nealon playing a TV interview show host whose sole purpose was to make the interviewee cry over an emotional admission - at one point he's interviewing Burt Reynolds (Norm [=MacDonald=]) who remains stoic and straight-faced until Nealon waves an onion under his nose.
125	* Elliot Stabler from ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' sometimes brings pieces of onion into the interrogation room to feign sympathy with the perpetrators.
126	* On an early episode of ''Series/ThePaperChase1978,'' a scene opens with a close-up of Hart weeping as he describes how mean Prof. Kingsfield is; camera pulls back to show him chopping up a bunch of onions.
127	* ''Series/ILoveLucy'' has Ricky crying while calculating the losses from Lucy's failed salad dressing business. At least it appears that way until he sobs, "Oh, get these onions out of here!" A plate of chopped onions right under his nose is what was making him "cry".
128	* The 1980s run of ''Series/LetsMakeADeal'' often had the "World's Largest Crying Towel" as one of the {{Zonk}}s, which usually featured the announcer or model sitting at it cutting a bucket of onions.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Magazines]]
132	* ''Magazine/PrivateEye'' uses the device "''[Takes out onion]''" to indicate/allege that a character (real or fictional) in its satires is insincere in his/her sorrow.
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Music]]
136	* Referenced by way of a {{pun}} in "Vidalia" by Music/SammyKershaw. The title female in the song gains her [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude unusual name]] as a {{portmanteau}} of her parents Violet and Dale. As Vidalia is also a type of onion, this then sets up the title lyric "Sweet Vidalia, you always gotta make me cry".
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Podcasts]]
140	* In ''Podcast/TheHiddenAlmanac'', one of the history moments concerns an art work titled "Eleven Hundred Small Bits of Onion". Reverend Mord recalls that it was "reported to be a success, as no one could view it without bursting into tears, although some art critics suggested that this method was probably cheating."
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Radio]]
144	* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In the episode "Tears for Mr. Boynton," Mrs. Davis advises Miss Brooks that she has to appear more vulnerable to attract Mr. Boynton. Davis hides onions in Miss Brooks' purse. In fact, the sobbing Miss Brooks is very successful in getting sympathy from Mr. Conklin and Walter Denton. She even gets Mr. Boynton [[SeriesGoal to propose]] . . . [[FailureistheOnlyOption almost.]]
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:Toys]]
148	* ''Toys/TheTrashPack'', ''Toys/{{Shopkins}}'', and ''Toys/TheGrosseryGang'', three toylines from Moose Toys that share connected universes, all have a crying onion character (Smelly Onion, Boo-Hoo Onion, and Onion Scum and Smelly Onion, respectively).
149	[[/folder]]
150
151	[[folder:Video Games]]
152	* ''VideoGame/BeyondTwoSouls'': Jodie will shed a few in "The Dinner" when making either the chicken curry or the Asian beef.
153	* In ''[[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam and Max: Situation Comedy]]'', the Freelance Police pay a hefty sum for a "Tear gas gun" that turns out to be a salad shooter full of onions. But it works!
154	* In ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial 2'', one of the Drama clips of [[{{Tsundere}} Mei Ijuin]] 's ''Blooming Stories'' CD has her cooking a meal for the main protagonist she has begun to fall in love with. As she's cutting an onion ([[PickyEater her]] ''[[PickyEater most hated]]'' [[PickyEater food]], which speaks for how much she cares for him), she reminisce about their childhood and how his selfless attitude towards her hasn't changed since then. Moved to tears by these thoughts, but [[{{Pride}} prideful]] as ever, [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial she claims the onions]] [[SandInMyEyes are making her cry]].
155	* In ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'', the Sad Onion is a passive item that increases Isaac's fire rate. It gives him two cartoony OcularGushers on either side of his face as well.
156	* In ''Jack the Nipper in Coconut Capers'', naughty points are achieved by using an onion to make hyenas cry.
157	* A recurring character in the ''VideoGame/CookieRun'' games is Onion Cookie, a young girl cookie who cries when she's scared... and because her tears are made of onion juice, once she starts crying, she can't stop.
158	* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' features a boss fight against a trio of giant vegetables known as the Root Pack, one of them being an onion named Ollie Bulb who attacks the player [[OcularGushers with his tears]].
159	* This happens twice in the ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' series, both instances being caused by the onion-headed Onion Pixie.
160	** In Sig's [=WakuWaku=] course in ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoFever2'', Sig will remark that "That onion made me cry" after defeating him.
161	** In ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoChronicle'', as the party makes their way through the Color Tower, they all get assaulted by an oniony stench making their eyes tear up. Surely enough, Onion Pixie is also nearby.
162	[[/folder]]
163
164	[[folder:Web Animation]]
165	* ''WebAnimation/ChallengeToWin'' had a character in its second season named Onion, who is ProneToTears and cries about ''anything''.
166	[[/folder]]
167
168	[[folder:Web Comics]]
169	* ''Webcomic/AmazingSuperPowers'': Subverted in [[http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/2008/07/onions/ this]] comic.
170	* In Megan Kearney's ''Beauty and the Beast'', Beauty's sister Temperance chops onions to [[SandInMyEyes hide her tears]] as she [[spoiler: says goodbye to Beauty when the latter decides to go back to the Beast after her LoveEpiphany.]] A clever inversion of the similar scene in the original tale (see above under "Literature"), in keeping with the sisters' AdaptationalHeroism in this retelling.
171	* ''Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness'': [[http://www.explosm.net/comics/2235/ This]] comic either subverts the trope or plays it straight in an unusual way... with C&H you can never be too sure.
172	* ''Webcomic/GourmetHound'': The heroine invokes this trope on the very first page, chopping a comically large pile of onions in a deeply unconvincing attempt to [[SandInMyEyes pretend she isn't crying]] over the recent changes at her favorite restaurant.
173	* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004674 This]] page has Dave being pelted with onions while being cooked by crocodiles, with expected results.
174	* ''Webcomic/RunawayToTheStars'': When Idrisah tries making koshari while the ship is in travel, [[https://jayeaton.site/Art/RttS/Comics/OilAndWater she discovers that]] 1. grating onions in microgravity is a bad idea, 2. avians are susceptible to onion fumes like humans, and 3. centaurs aren't due to their eyes using oil for lubrication instead of water. She convinces Talita to finish grating the onions in exchange for cleaning out her food printer.
175	* ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'':
176	** Defied in [[https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/this-is-incredible this]] strip. A man rubs a fresh onion over his eye to demonstrate how "not-sad" he is when his teenage daughter is distraught over her favorite band's favorite member leaving. [[spoiler:The last panel shows that the onion really did irritate his eye, and the father faked his reaction just to mess with his daughter.]]
177	--->'''Father:''' ''Such'' a good dad.
178	** In [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/onions another comic]], a scientist genetically modifies an onion so it can't make people cry. A woman cuts it up to test and finds that it works. She's so overcome by the wonders of science that [[{{Irony}} she starts crying]] TearsOfJoy.
179	* ''Webcomic/ThinkBeforeYouThink'':
180	** In [[http://thinkbeforeyouthink.net/?comic=20100507-onions this]] comic, Julia tries to explain her tears by saying she was cutting up onions, which leads to a complex chain of lies.
181	** It happens later with Brian [[http://thinkbeforeyouthink.net/?comic=20120113-invisible-onions here]].
182	[[/folder]]
183
184	[[folder:Web Videos]]
185	* ''WebVideo/LoadingReadyRun'' plays with this concept in [[http://loadingreadyrun.com/videos/view/276/man-cooking the first Man Cooking]].
186	* ''WebVideo/BingingWithBabish'': Andrew uses an onion (among other items) to make tears to salt [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsxBw6ls7Z0 his recreation]] of [[Recap/AdventureTimeS5E33TimeSandwich Jake's perfect sandwich]] from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''.
187	* [[https://youtu.be/lARePEQLsZo?si=_tqFFIbiJ7hj0p_6 Discussed in]] ''[[WebVideo/GameTheory Food Theory]]''.
188	[[/folder]]
189
190	[[folder:Western Animation]]
191	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'' as everyone is stuck on the side of the road, a truck carrying onions shows up to give them a lift, giving them tears while riding in the back.
192	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'', Spud finds a way to get girls by eating onions to make it look like he is crying and gain their sympathy.
193	* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': In "Harvest Dinner", while Bill is cutting onions at the beginning for the stew and is recapping his harvest, his eyes are full of water from cutting them, which Cricket points out. Bill dismisses this and claims he's not crying from the onions, but because he loves them.
194	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}'': Happens to Caillou's Daddy in the episode "Caillou's Thanksgiving" when Caillou's Mommy made him cut the onions while preparing for a Thanksgiving feast.
195	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
196	** Parodied in "My Pretty Seahorse". Squidward appears to be crying at [=SpongeBob=]'s story about his sea horse, but he's actually reacting to a bowl of onions that someone has left on the counter. This becomes a RunningGag, and on the [[RuleOfThree third time]], Squidward is loading off the onions to someone else.
197	** In another episode, "Something Smells", [=SpongeBob=] has Gary play sad violin music in anticipation of cutting onions.
198	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' episode "Crying Smurfs", Papa Smurf's intensifying formula accidentally spilled on an onion. When Greedy is about to cut an onion to slices for his salad, a strong smell comes up to his eyes -- causing him to start crying. Later, Smurfette and other Smurfs (except Hefty and Papa) started crying after having the salad, which caused the village to be [[CryingARiver flooded with tears]].
199	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' showed Captain Hero's poor emotional state by showing him crying in the shower, crying while being lost in a mall, and [[SubvertedTrope whistling cheerfully while chopping onions.]]
200	* There's a Harveytoon of ''WesternAnimation/LittleAudrey''. She sings a sad song to get people crying, and then she cuts up onions to encourage even the hardhearted to cry.
201	* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'': In "Two Peas in a Podcast" when Penny Ling thinks she's being banished from the petshop, this leads to EverybodyCries; then Mrs. Twombly enters, crying from a raw onion, causing everyone to cry harder.
202	* In ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', when Sid thinks his voodoo-doll he carved out of soap has actually succeeded in killing the principal, one of the contrived coincidences keeping him in that illusion is a man coming to the door crying quite copiously, which is immediately revealed to the audience to be caused by onion-chopping.
203	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'':
204	** The episode "Fairy Friends & Neighbors!" had Timmy's parents making friends with a (disguised) Cosmo and Wanda and running off on adventures every day, leaving him with his evil babysitter. Eventually, they decide that they can't keep neglecting Timmy, as proven by Timmy's tears... [[RevealShot which are from Vicky forcing him to peel onions.]]
205	** "Weirdos on a Train" makes use of the gag by establishing that Crocker wrote a cook book covering onion recipes called ''I'll Give You Something To Cry About'' and a featuring a bit where Cosmo, Wanda and Poof turn out to be teary-eyed because of onion tea being spilled into their fishbowl.
206	* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'' with Constance Koala and Mr. Thickley in the episode "Heartbreak Taz".
207	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'':
208	** "I Likes Babies and Infinks" has him and Bluto trying to cheer up a bawling Swee'Pea. Naturally it escalates into fighting, and while Bluto is pummeling Popeye like a speed bag, Popeye reaches for a can of spinach, and grabs a can of onions instead. Very soon, Popeye, Bluto, and Olive [[EverybodyCries are all wailing loudly]], which causes Swee'Pea to laugh uproariously. (Canned onions are cooked already and would be about as likely to make you cry as a Patton Oswalt routine.)
209	** Another later cartoon had Bluto in court accusing Popeye of assault, and giving [[UnreliableNarrator heavily one-sided examples.]] We then cut to Wimpy, the judge, who at first appears to be crying over Bluto's story, but it's quickly revealed that he's simply cutting an onion for his hamburger.
210	** In the 1960 short "Insultin' the Sultan", Popeye, as a new Foreign Legion recruit, cries onion tears after telling his commanding officer that he'd never cried in his life.
211	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys'', the family becomes stranded in the desert without any water. Marianne becomes so desperate with thirst that she attempts to make herself cry with onions so she can drink her tears.
212	* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'':
213	** In a ParodyEpisode of Franchise/StarWars, the characters try to find Plucky by inserting one of his feathers into their rocket's computer. However, it starts tickling the computer making their rocket go out of control, so the gang have to peel onions in order to make it cry and go back to normal.
214	** In "Grandma's Dead", Mac Duff, Elmyra's father, is trying to desalinize tears so he can turn them into drinking water. To collect his tears, he intentionally chops onions while listening to sad music on the radio.
215	* In "Crying". a post-[[UnCanceled UnCancelation]] episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'', Beavis cries from exposure to a slice of onion found in his chili dog, and Butt-Head makes fun of him for it, much to Beavis's frustration. Cut to 80 years later, and Butt-Head is ''still'' mocking Beavis for his Onion Tears before he finally dies.
216	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode, "The Biggest Trouble Ever", this happens to the [[EverybodyCries main six]] when they have to [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment chop onions as punishment]] for breaking the statue of Thaddeus T. Third III.
217	-->'''Mikey:''' It's hard to tell where the onion crying stops and the "loss of a carefree childhood" crying begins!
218	* The ''WesternAnimation/GravedaleHigh'' episode "Monster Gumbo" has Duzer and the snakes that make up her hair shedding tears as they chop onions to make Blanche's monster gumbo.
219	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Madeline}}'':
220	** The episode "Madeline at the Cooking School" shows all the girls sobbing the first time they chop onions in their cooking class.
221	** In "Madeline and the Soccer Star," when Madeline's CountryCousin Andre doesn't know how to play soccer and can't join the girls' game, he [[SandInMyEyes tries to hide his tears]] by blaming them on the onions he's growing in the garden.
222	* The ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' episode "Hear Some Evil See Some Evil" has the monks with tears in their eyes the night after they eavesdrop on each other's thoughts with the newest Shen Gong Wu, only for it to be [[BaitAndSwitch because they are chopping onions]].
223	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB'':
224	** In the episode "Portrait of a Happy", Bessie chops onions crying during the problem German photographer Fritz gave her about not accepting Happy's accidents or taking his pictures and after he unknowingly did it.
225	** In "Ben Appetit", Ben watches a show where a lady is crying because she's chopping onions.
226	* In the "Louse on 92nd Street" arc of ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'', Bullwinkle accidentally gets into the getaway car of gangster Fingers Scarnose after buying onions. Amidst the chaos, Bullwinkle's bag of onions gets shot at, causing Bullwinkle, Scarnose and everyone else in the car to get teary-eyed.
227	* The Creator/DiCEntertainment version of ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' had this happen in the episode "Cobra Land", where Cobra Commander makes the Joes look bad by lying that he's a changed man and wishes to make up for his previous crimes. As part of his sympathy act, Cobra Commander eats an onion to simulate tears.
228	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'': The episode "Snack Pact" has the Casagrande family (except Rosa) learn about a food truck whose tamales are the best they've ever tasted. Knowing that Rosa [[GreenEyedMonster is bitterly jealous over anyone whose food supposedly tastes better than hers]], they decide to distract her while they get the tamales. Bobby's method of distracting Rosa is by chopping the onions for her. This results in him crying so hard his onion tears overlap with InelegantBlubbering (OcularGushers, loud sobbing, red eyes, runny nose, the works!). His face is still stained with tears when he dials in his cousin Carlota.
229	* The ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPuppy''
230	** The episode "Snap Dad" has a bit where Dudley's mother is crying over the phone and turns out to be doing so because she's cutting onions.
231	** The gag of a character getting teary-eyed from cutting onions is used again by Keswick and Dudley in "Puppy Unplugged".
232	* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' episode "Recipe for Disaster" has Beetlejuice shed tears after a bunch of anthropomorphic vegetables explain their plight of being forced underground by Caesar Salad, then clarify that his eyes are watering because of the sentient onion among them.
233	* One of ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Bunnicula}} Bunnicula's]]'' many [[LovecraftianSuperpower powers]] from sucking the juice out of [[VegetarianVampire vegetables]] includes draining onions causes his eyes to [[OcularGushers spray tears]] with the force of a fire-hose.
234	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCupheadShow'', like in the video game the cartoon is based off of, Ollie the Onion cries a lot and when he does, he peels and causes everyone around him to cry as well.
235	* Alluded to in the ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' pilot, where one of the gorilla's insults directed at Big Fat Roy is that his face is ugly enough to make an onion cry.
236	* ''WesternAnimation/DennisTheMenace (1986)'': "Handy Dandy Dennis" begins with Dennis finding Alice crying in the kitchen. When she sees her doing this, he tells her he likes her hamburgers. She tells him that's not the case, as she's chopping onions. Dennis then asks Alice if Henry was chopping onions yesterday, because he was crying that day. When Alice tells him No, Dennis concludes that Henry's crying might have had something to do with [[BookDumb his report card]].
237	[[/folder]]
238
239	[[folder:Real Life]]
240	* When the onion's cell walls are breached by cutting, the chemicals inside combine to form [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syn-propanethial-S-oxide this gas]], which irritates the lacrimal glands. A sharp blade will crush fewer cells. Cutting your onions underwater (e.g. in a bowl) or wearing sufficient eye protection [[AvertedTrope prevents the gas from reaching your eyes]]. Rub stainless steel or wash your hands between cutting onions and touching your face, or this comes up in full force.
241	** Also, this trope can be averted by proper cutlery know-how. Most of the chemicals that cause irritation to the eyes are located in the area near the root of the onion, so by simply not cutting there, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwGBt3V0yvc using correct technique]], you can avoid watery eyes.
242	* An old cooking trick is to hold a piece of bread in your mouth (not a mouthful of bread, but a whole slice, so some of it is sticking out). Others say to chew the bread slowly. Or, freeze the onion, and/or cut it under your stove vent fan set on high.
243	* Fox News Channel commentator Glenn Beck spoofed his tendency to tear up on camera in a video showing an intern dabbing Vicks Vap-O-Rub under his eyes. Yes, the video ''is a joke''.
244	* Thinkgeek.com sells special onion goggles to avoid just this.[[note]]Otherwise known as ANY set of goggles.[[/note]]
245	* Buying frozen pre-chopped onions eliminates this problem altogether.
246	* Though onions in general can lead to tears, they can be lessened by choosing your onions wisely. More pungent onions, including most red onions, will trigger more than a few tears in most people, while sweet onions like Vidalia or candy onions probably won't cause as much crying.
247	* Referenced by the "onion-cutting ninjas" meme, those shadowy, even invisible cooks who are responsible for many a SandInMyEyes moment.
248	[[/folder]]

Context Main / OnionTears