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[[quoteright:168:[[Recap/TintinTheSecretOfTheUnicorn https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tintin_confused.jpg]]]]

The question mark is a common, handy visual representation of confusion, surprise, or just being plain weirded out. It can manifest as several question marks floating around the nonplussed character's head, a single such symbol hovering over the character, or pop up as the contents of a thought bubble (or a regular SpeechBubble, in which case it seems to represent the "huh?" sound). Compare VisibleSilence.

See also MyNameIsQuestionMarks, where it is used as a symbol of the unknown. Compare AlertnessBlink.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Animation]]
* In ''Animation/HappyHeroes'', occasionally, characters might have a question mark pop up next to them when they are puzzled about something.
* In ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'', when characters are confused or surprised, question marks might briefly appear over their heads.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/CapRevolutionBottleman'': In episode 22, Momo has a question mark when she asks what the name of a certain team is, as they hadn't come up with one yet.
* ''Manga/HanaukyoMaidTeam'':
** Episode 9. Konoe Tsurugi refuses to have her picture taken because she doesn't want the camera to steal her soul. When she hears this, Mariel has three question marks appear next to her head, one at a time.
** Episode 11. When Ryuuka asks Taro if he's interested in someone else, he looks at Mariel. Mariel then has question marks to each side of her head. Later, when Ryuuka appears before Taro in his bath a question mark appears over his head.
** Episode 12. Ryuuka has just given Taro a giant cake shaped like her for his birthday. When she sees him staring at it, a question mark appears over her head.
** Episode 15. Taro has a question mark appear above his head several times when he's puzzled.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': In various instances when some characters are bewildered by a particular situation, they have a brief question mark appear besides them.
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'': Josuke is surrounded by them when the self-styled alien Mikitaka and his mother both pretend that the other is wrong.
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJoJolion JoJolion]]'': Joshu develops a few questions marks when several shop owners directly ask him if he encountered [[PlagueOfGoodFortune The Milagro Man]].
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Used by the Gorgon sisters and [[IdiotHero Luffy]] when they find out the latter is immune to [[DefrostingIceQueen Hancock]]'s [[TakenForGranite petrification powers]].
* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' manga ''[[Recap/WarriorCatsWarriorsRefuge Warrior's Refuge]]'', when Millie starts speaking Dog, the two dogs look at each other and one has a question mark appear over its head.
* In the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' episode where Joey is [[WagerSlave forced to wear a dog suit]], he actually [[TalkingWithSigns holds a sign with a question mark on it]] when he's confused about Dungeon Dice Monster's rules.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Board Games]]
* TabletopGame/{{Chess}} notation marks bad moves with one question mark, blunders (very bad moves) with two.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
%%* Commonly used in French comics like ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' and ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke''.
* ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'': In one story, Batman catches the Riddler by pure luck when he tries a heist [[HeistClash at the same place and time]] as the Threatening Three. When the Riddler asks how Batman solved his riddle, he admits that he didn't (being preoccupied with the Threatening Three). A question mark over his head represents Batman's puzzlement as Riddler reacts with exuberant joy even as he's taken off to prison (as far as he's concerned, ''he won'').
%%* Very common in ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}''.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol. 1]]: When Diana lifts a car that was about to hit a child a large question mark appears by the driver's side of the windshield, as both Diana and the child had been in a blind spot.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey''. General Halftrack sometimes has a question mark appear over his head when he comes upon members of his staff acting in a bizarre manner.
* ''ComicStrip/MandrakeTheMagician'' and ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom'' uses a lot of question marks in individual speech bubbles. It's probably no coincidence that both strips were created and written by Lee Falk.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' uses the "'?' in speech bubble" variety.
* All ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' comic strip artists have used this, but none so more than Bud Sagendorf, who downright littered his strips with question marks. A panel with question marks in four or five individual speech bubbles were hardly unusual.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', the Genie's ponytail forms a question mark as he wonders what riding animal to turn Abu into.
* In ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'' one of the cat-like Butterfly Stompers has a tail that momentaily goes question mark.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Done in ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic'' to represent that the tourist Twoflower doesn't understand what the Ankh-Morporkeans are saying.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger'': In response to Yanma Gast's explanation of TimeDilation in #34, the other monarchs' confusion is expressed with question marks popping up above their heads.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Psychedelic band ''? and the Mysterians''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* On the ''Toys/{{Tamagotchi}}'' handhelds, giving a Tamagotchi certain toys can invoke this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The ''Franchise/AnimalCrossing'' games have this as one of the emotions/expressions/reactions (terminology depends on the game) that villagers can display and the player character can learn from ''[[VideoGame/AnimalCrossingWildWorld Wild World]]'' onward. It's only called "Confusion" in ''Wild World''; otherwise it's "Curiosity". Even renamed, villagers use it for this trope if the player enters a villager's house or an occupied campsite tent but leaves without interacting with the villager.
* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': In moments when someone becomes confused by a bemusing event or pondering something that's right in front of them, a question mark appears in a brief speech-bubble overhead.
* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheShiftedSpires'': A PictorialSpeechBubble of this is used by Catie in the opening, after which she says:
--> ...where am i?
* Item Crash with a ''key'' in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDraculaX'' and your character will flash a question mark. The same happens in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' if you use the Shield Rod's special ability with the [[JokeItem Alucart]] Shield equipped.
* In ''VideoGame/CaveStory'', trying to examine an object without something to examine will cause a question mark to pop up over your character's head. More humorously, transforming into a bat while your Bat familiar[s] are equipped will cause them to fall in love with Alucard (with a heart symbol appearing over their heads) and fly close to him in formation, and then a "'''?'''" appears over the head of each bat once he reverts back to human form.
* Nospikes from ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen 6'' like to charge at you, but if they run off a ledge, they stand in mid-air for a while and a question mark appears above their head before they fall.
* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'': In Chapter 2, Noelle's ACT-ready animation[[note]]which can't be seen normally because she's always the last member of the party[[/note]] shows her mimicking Kris's thinking pose with a confused expression and question marks over her head.
* ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' has no confusion status effect, but it uses question marks to represent amnesia (the "silence" {{Status Effect|s}}) instead.
* If the Elite bosses from ''VideoGame/HeroCore'' try to use an ability CastFromHitPoints with only one point left, a question mark will appear above their heads.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy'', these appear over an NPC's heads when you distract them with a coin or object, or do something unusual in their presence for a few seconds. In some cases, they'll do this when you offer them food or drink when disguised as a waiter or chef.
* ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' has three characters with confused ''titles'': Agitha the "Insect... Princess?" Tingle the "Reincarnated Fairy?" and Linkle "The Heroine?"
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfPenAndPaper2'': The "Confusion" {{Status Effect|s}} symbol is a purple question mark, and the afflicted character has three of them coming out of their head.
* When a soldier in ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' sees something unusual, a question mark appears above their head (followed by an exclamation mark if they see you).
* In ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'', since Chibiterasu relies on his [[ExpositionFairy partners for exposition]], any time you try to examine something without your partner, all you get is a whimper and a ? above Chibi's head.
* ''VideoGame/TheOtherAirisAdventure'': PictorialSpeechBubble of them are used when people get confused, like Airi, when she finds out that the Park has become an UnnaturallyLoopingLocation.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'': When a character gets confused or wondering about something, a red question mark pops up.
* The protagonists of ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' do a large question mark overhead to indicate confusion.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'', the confusion status effect was indicated by two question marks appearing above the Pokémon's head, each accompanied by a sound effect suggesting the "huh?" sound.
** From Generation 1 to this day, the appearance of question marks serves as the animation for the status move Amnesia, which grants a +2 to Special Defense.
** In the ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium'' games, question marks appeared above a confused Pokémon's head. In other games, it is usually portrayed by birds flying around its head.
** In the Pokemon Mini game, ''Togepi's Great Adventure'', after Togepi completes the Tower Of Origin, Togepi comes across a Donphan that accidentally collides with Togepi to send it flying (thus kicking off the Tower Of Adventure), prompting Donphan to stop and glance behind it in puzzlement, with a question mark appearing above it.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', the icon for the "confusion" power depicts a perplexed head surrounded by question marks, and the confusion projectile itself looks like a giant question mark that the protagonist throws at the enemy, after pulling off the dot like a grenade pin.
* ''VideoGame/RemnantsOfIsolation'': Multiple times of such a PictorialSpeechBubble from the Girl who would be named Celesta:
** In the opening cutscene, she has one after the door to her cell mysteriously disappears.
** When leaving her cage, she says one when looking back to where the barrier was, presumably confused even after confirming its disappearance.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** In ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters'', right after Dr. Eggman zaps your character with a cloning ray (which produces a grayscale doppelganger).
** In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', the Chao sometimes turn the floating balls atop their heads into question-marks.
* In ''VideoGame/StealthBastard'', a question mark appears over to robots and cameras if they detect the presence of the player but haven't gotten fully alert yet.
* The "Use" command in ''VideoGame/TombsAndTreasure'' depicts a man scratching his head with one of these floating next to him.
* ''VideoGame/AVeryLongRopeToTheTopOfTheSky'': A PictorialSpeechBubble of this is used by Gainer when sneaking into his house, and is confused, and then he says:
-->'''Gainer:''' Where are all the servants?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'': [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]] gets an increasing amount of these in [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/haunch-hunch this comic]] after seeing [[Franchise/StarFox Fox McCloud]] barefoot with a regular fox's haunches because she's used to seeing him straight-legged with his boots on.
* ''Webcomic/DaughterOfTheLilies'': OldMaster Wu gets [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/630 a small flock]] of these, followed by an IdeaBulb when he realizes that the person he's been told off for berating is actually a stranger and not one of his students.
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', multiple:
** The Goo has a single question mark over one of its heads [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-11-18 here,]] when confused by the actions of the person it is fighting.
** In the [[https://egscomics.com/comic/2002-11-30 2002-11-30 comic,]] it's said in a PictorialSpeechBubble by "Claire", a.k.a Grace, when she is confused by the form she transforms into.
* [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=1&p=000060 This]] ''Webcomic/{{Jailbreak}}'' page (and several others like it.)
* A single question mark [[http://www.ladiesinwaitingcomic.co.uk/comic/8116a/ has]] [[http://www.ladiesinwaitingcomic.co.uk/comic/171215/ been]] [[http://www.ladiesinwaitingcomic.co.uk/comic/301215/ spotted]] above some character's heads in ''Webcomic/LadiesInWaiting''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The standard emoticon for confusion is a colon and question mark, thustly: :?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* ''WebVideo/{{Doraman}}'': The thumbnail for "Who is Doraemon?" shows Doraemon with pink question marks surrounding his head. This indicates that the video is asking who the character is.
* The trademark of the perpetually confused Blitz on ''WebVideo/TheFundayPawpetShow''. A question mark was put on a stick and floated above him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Variation: ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles'' cartoon "Penny Lane" has an exclamation mark over Paul's head when he and the boys discover that the crime they were trying to thwart wasn't at Penny Lane in Liverpool but with heiress Penelope Lane, which secret agent James Blond had already thwarted. Earlier in the episode, the group had question marks over their heads when they see a panhandling trumpet player taking a lunch break.
* In the WesternAnimation/{{Classic Disney Short|s}} "A Gentleman's Gentleman", as WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup wonders how to get a gumball from a gumball machine, one of his ears forms a question mark.
* A question mark appears above DM's head at least once in ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse''.
* WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat would often pick up the question marks that form over his head and use them as tools. In at least one cartoon, his tail turns into a question mark.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In "Let's Play Teachers", several question marks appear next to Kaeloo when she asks Stumpy who Mr. Coolskin is.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', despite the generally serious tone, one of these appears for a split-second, maybe a frame, over Dr. Robotnik's head when he falls into a pit trap set by Antoine.
* In a nod to Felix the Cat as listed above, in the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoon "Ah, Sweet Mouse-Story of Life," Jerry ends up walking off a construction beam and a question mark appears above his head just before he falls. In a NinjaProp moment, he grabs the question mark and uses it as a hook to latch onto a ledge. Tom later attempts the same thing, but before falling he becomes ''shocked'' rather than ''surprised'', getting an uselessly straight exclamation mark instead.
* In ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner'' episode "WesternAnimation/SoupOrSonic", a question mark appears over Wile E. Coyote's head when he's uncertain if he ran off a cliff or not. When he gets conformation that he did, he grabs the question mark and shapes it into an exclamation point, and then he falls.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* If a Platform/AppleMacintosh computer cannot find a bootable hard drive on startup, it will display a flashing question mark.
* Can happen on any text-based messaging platform, from instant messaging to comment sections, where responding in nothing but question marks is perfectly possible. Sometimes people react to a particularly perplexing story or image with just [[StunnedSilence a string of dozen or more question marks.]]
* According to one story, Creator/ErnestHemingway, living in Paris and wondering how well one of his books was selling, sent the publisher in New York a telegram with just "?" to avoid the horrific expense of international telegraphy. As the book was doing quite well, the publisher sent back a telegram with just "!". However, this story has also been told about Creator/OscarWilde (in Paris on tour, publisher in London) and both Creator/VictorHugo and Creator/EmileZola (in England in exile, publisher in Paris), so its veracity is suspect.
[[/folder]]
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