History Main / AlertnessBlink

* ''WebVideo/TierZoo'': True to the channel's style of applying video game tropes and lingo to nature documentaries, the '"!"' effect from ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' will sometimes be used whenever a predator relying on stealth to hunt is noticed by its prey.

* ''Manga/{{Mitsudomoe}}'' uses it occasionally when Yabe-sensei notices some new {{hilarity ensu|es}}ing or in general use.

* Franchise/SpiderMan does this all the time when his SpiderSense activates. It's most frequently depicted as jagged bolts around his head, with half of his mask symbolically appearing if he's not in costume.

* In ''Paquerette Down the Bunburrows'', the bunnies make chirp sound with '''!''' overhead when they spot the player and can escape.

* ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'' makes comedic use of it.
* Used several times in the ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' anime.
* ''Manga/BlueExorcist'' from time to time.

** ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' features a Newtype Flash in the episode parodying ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}''.
* ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke'' uses this every so often as well.

* Common occurrence in the ''Manga/MaidSama'' anime. Once by a cat!

* ''Anime/ReCutieHoney'' has it too.
* Omnipresent in ''Manga/SeitokaiYakuindomo''.

* ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' has it in the first episode of the anime.

* Happens all the time in ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}''.

* Happens in the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series with yet another '''!'''.

* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' games give the '''!''' in a small speech bubble over enemies upon them spotting you and characters also get this during cutscenes and special events. From ''[[VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash Color Splash]]'' onward, the '''!''' has a different appearance, appearing more jagged and having a pinkish coloration and it doesn't play in cutscenes unless it involves an enemy spotting Mario.

* ''VideoGame/StealthBastard'' have enemies going '''!''' when fully alterted.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse commonly invokes [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mickeymousesurprised_3257.png this trope.]]

* Common occurrence in the ''Manga/MaidSama'' anime. Once by a cat!
* Omnipresent in ''Manga/SeitokaiYakuindomo''.
* ''Manga/{{Mitsudomoe}}'' uses it occasionally when Yabe-sensei notices some new {{hilarity ensu|es}}ing or in general use.
* The second Manga/MinamiKe season has the "!" version.
* ''Literature/OkamiSan to Shichinin no Nakamatachi'' has an example in the first episode.
* ''[[Anime/AllPurposeCulturalCatgirlNukuNuku Nuku Nuku TV]]'', episode 9, as seen above, right before {{Sweat Drop}}s and AmusingInjuries ensue.
* ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' has it in the first episode of the anime.

* ''Anime/ReCutieHoney'' has it too.

* A couple in the opening of the ''Manga.YozakuraQuartet'' OVA, as well as a few in the first episode proper.
* ''Manga/SquidGirl'' features it in the OP and occasionally in episodes.

* ''Manga/LuckyStar'': This happens a few times consecutively when Konata realizes the chocolate is oozing out of her cornet.

* The original ''Manga/DragonBall'' manga is big on this, using it one, twice every page for when a character reacts to most anything.
* ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', standard use (such as the main character realizing he just swore to find an invisible girl in less than an hour).

* Happens all the time in ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}''.
* In ''Manga/AChannel'', for example when Run tells the other girls that [[BatterUp Tooru]] is actually an honors student.
* ''Manga/BlueExorcist'' from time to time.
* ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'' makes comedic use of it.
* ''Manga/CaseClosed'' Sometimes, when Conan figures out the crime, the background goes black and a lightning-esque thing flashes behind him.

* Artist Stuart Immonen uses this (with simple short lines radiating from the head) in ''Comicbook/{{Nextwave}}''. Good examples include the H.A.T.E recruit in [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M_dapy36XZ0/TQKib8pYZHI/AAAAAAAAASI/I5O8DIcib_c/s1600/nextwave.meat.big.jpg this image]] and Tabby in [[http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m55/Qyzex/Other%20Artists/Thisiswhy.jpg this image.]]

* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' also uses '''!''' whenever you click on a puzzle location. If you're just talking to someone, or examining an object that's important enough to get more than just the usual comment boxes but doesn't have a puzzle, it just results in a "\|/" series of lines.
* Sleeping gooballs in ''VideoGame/WorldOfGoo'' chirp and get an '''!''' over their heads when they're woken up.
* Happens in the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series with yet another '''!'''.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' uses the musical note, "!", ''and'' screen flashing variations.
* The shadows in ''VideoGame/Persona3'' and ''VideoGame/Persona4'' get a '''!''' above them when they spot the main character's party. Many of the characters themselves get these in drama scenes outside of combat.
* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII'', you can [[PowerCopying try to learn some monster's powers]]; if the skill is learned, you get a '''!''' over the character's head; if you get a '''?''' instead it means the skill can't be learned. In the game's OverworldNotToScale if you get a '''!''' over your head it means you found a random combat area; a '''?''' indicates a secret location.

* In ''VideoGame/PacManChampionshipEdition DX'' and ''Championship Edition 2'', sleeping ghosts go '''!''' with chirping sound when Pac-Man goes past them to notify they're alerted.

* Both guards and civilians in ''VideoGame/Payday2'' do this with a "!" symbol over their heads during stealth mode, to indicate that they've spotted something that has alerted them (dead bodies, loot bags, a player). Players only get a sound effect for it if they're the one who caused the alert state. They will also show a "?" over their heads if something is within their field of view but has not yet alerted them.
* In ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'', an exclamation mark accompanied by a chime appears over Shovel Knight's head when he manages to catch something from a pit with a fishing rod.
* ''VideoGame/HonkaiImpact3rd'' has multiple ways in which enemies' alertness of your presence influences gameplay:
** In the Sakura Samsara quest in Open World mode, while you're in stealth mode you can sneak up on enemies and perform a OneHitKill on them. However, this requires you to get into a round zone directly behind the enemy, and if you get too close from anywhere else, the enemy will react to your presence with a red exclamation point over its head. This cancels stealth mode and the enemy will attack you.
** Certain stages are populated with enemies that you either have to evade entirely or sneak up on to kill, and cannot be completed unless they're all either evaded or dispatched, respectively. These enemies have a red awareness zone in front of them representing their field of vision, and if you get into this zone, a red gauge will fill showing the enemy becoming more aware of you. If it fills all the way, you're considered to have been seen and will be reset to either the beginning of the stage or the last checkpoint in the stage.
** Post-Honkai Odyssey features a combination of these. Several enemies have an awareness zone and will attack you if you spend too long in this zone. Also, while there's no stealth mode, you can sneak up to some enemies and perform a OneHitKill on them, but it requires avoiding their awareness zone.
* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact:'' A "!" will appear on enemies if you get close enough to them, if you're spotted by them from a distance, or if you attack them from far away.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' uses the three line variation often, the first time being [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=21 here.]]

* Oddly enough, this appears at one point in the non-cartoony ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. The alertness lines are thin and almost unnoticeable, which may suggest that that episode's animators misinterpreted their appearance on the storyboard.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSiegeOfTheNorthPart1 Siege of the North part 1]]" Aang is surprised by a soldier, causing two white flashes next to him and a clear blinking sound.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', this occurs frequently right when a Titan notices they're about to be attacked by a villain.

* In ''VideoGame/PacMan Championship Edition DX'', sleeping ghosts go '''!''' with chirping sound when Pac-Man goes past them to notify they're alerted.

* ''LightNovel/OkamiSan to Shichinin no Nakamatachi'' has an example in the first episode.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex 2'' has two in a row from Mikoto in the very first episode.

* The shadows in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' get a '''!''' above them when they spot the main character's party. Many of the characters themselves get these in drama scenes outside of combat.

** Post-Impact Odyssey features a combination of these. Several enemies have an awareness zone and will attack you if you spend too long in this zone. Also, while there's no stealth mode, you can sneak up to some enemies and perform a OneHitKill on them, but it requires avoiding their awareness zone.

* One of Chuck Jones' WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry shorts plays with the "!" form of this, when Jerry runs off the edge of a building. After realizing there's nothing under his feet, he makes a "?" with surprise, then grabs onto it as the dot part falls away. When he falls, the question mark hooks onto a flagpole, saving him in the nick of time. When Tom runs off the same ledge, he makes an "!" in shock and grabs it, then falls past the flagpole. After noticing it, he bends the "!" into a hook shape, much too late for it to be any help.

* ''LightNovel/TheTriskelionInTheDesertedCityOfTokyo'': An illustration showing Kasuga Koyama and Tokiko Yodoyabashi has the former display an exclamation mark behind his head when Setsuna Karasuma grabs them both from behind ala conga line.

* ''Videogame/GenshinImpact:'' A "!" will appear on enemies if you get close enough to them, if you're spotted by them from a distance, or if you attack them from far away.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', this occurs frequently right when a Titan notices they're about to be attacked by a villain.

* ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'' has it in the first episode.

* Franchise/SpiderMan does this all the time when his SpiderSense activates. It's most frequently depicted as jagged bolts around his head, with half of his mask symbolically appearing.

* ''Anime/LuckyStar'': This happens a few times consecutively when Konata realizes the chocolate is oozing out of her cornet.

More often than not, associated with the realization of something that leads to CrossPoppingVeins, LuminescentBlush, BlankWhiteEyes, ColorFailure, or the like. BeamOfEnlightenment is a similar idea, but used differently. IdeaBulb is also similar. Compare VisibilityMeter.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' share the same '''!''' sprite and sound effect. In ''Undertale'', it plays over the PlayerCharacter whenever you're about to enter a RandomEncounter. In ''Deltarune'' it plays over [[PreexistingEncounter the enemies]] when they've spotted you. Some cutscenes in both games use the alert, but in the latter, only the '''!''' is used without the sound in the majority of the cutscenes with few exceptions.