History Main / BrownEyes

* ElementalEyeColors, for when they match the character's elemental affinity. Usually associated with earth-based powers.

[[quoteright:250:[[Manga/{{Bleach}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Chad_Brown_Eyes.gif]]]]

->''"It's no surprise that I got lost''\\
''In your brown eyes"''
-->-- '''Music/LadyGaga''', "Brown Eyes"

Brown eyes are a sign of a trustworthy and stable character. A character who's "[[OnlySaneMan down-to-earth]]". It can even mean that they have [[DishingOutDirt earth-based powers]]. Its very rare in both Eastern and Western animation, and even film, for a Caucasian of either gender to have brown eyes. This is due to their apparent plainness and association with the generic, as most fiction is focused around characters with special traits. However, brown eyes can be used to emphasize a character's charming or seductive nature.

Brown eyes make the best PuppyDogEyes. Light brown or hazel eyes are seen as very striking, with honey brown or gold being a particularly extreme example of how stunning brown eyes can be. These colors are often used to show a character's uniqueness in Eastern Animation or as an indicator of a nationality other than Caucasian.

The majority of humans have brown eyes. They are seen as the norm and don't often symbolize anything significant. In fact, they may be used to symbolize that a character is ''not'' naturally special. As such, brown-eyed characters are only notable when their personalities are particularly matching.

It should be noted that these eye color tropes are not just for characters who have eyes of this color, but when the color actually stands for something significant to that character, like blue for water, green for earth, red for evil, etc.

[[noreallife]]
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Ken Hidaka from ''Anime/WeissKreuz'', at least in the original manga. After that, [[AdaptationDyeJob all bets are off]].
* In both the original ''Anime/SailorMoon'' anime and ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal,'' cat familiar Luna is the sole brown-eyed protagonist among the main cast, serving as a grounded mentor, advisor and BeleagueredAssistant to the plucky-but-flaky MagicalGirlWarrior Usagi. Inexplicably, in the movie Luna's eyes turn blue [[spoiler:when she turns human]].
* [[Anime/YuGiOh Ryou Bakura]] (in the anime, at least) has big, brown puppy-dog eyes. They're blue [[AdaptationDyeJob in the manga]]. StreetSmart and intensely loyal Jonouchi Katsuya/Joey Wheeler has golden-brown eyes and he's been known to pull out the PuppyDogEyes on occasion.
* Misato Katsuragi, Kozo Fuyutsuki and Toji Suzuhara from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Shinji Ikari is also given brown eyes in the manga adaptation.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'''s Ash Ketchum has HUGE brown eyes (usually, they appear to be black as a reference to the original game character design for Red) and he has the best puppy-dog eyes an anime character can have. As of ''Best Wishes''/''Black and White'', they're brown all the time.
* The wise, calm and caring healer Tanda from ''Literature/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit''.
* Seiya in ''Manga/SaintSeiya''.
* Rocket from ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed'' has rather striking light-brown eyes.
* ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'':
** Tsuna in the anime, at least. (He has gold eyes in the manga instead, inherited from Vongola Primo). He happens to be the OnlySaneMan in the main cast and is also unfortunately the series's main ButtMonkey.
** Yamamoto Takeshi has brown eyes, but he's not exactly down-to-earth like Tsuna, who is most likely the only sane man in his group. He also has brown eyes when not in dying will mode. Tsuna's mother also has brown eyes (sadly, she does not fit this trope)...eyes must really run in the family.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Sado and Ichigo are both down-to-earth and trustworthy and they have the brown eyes to go with it (slightly different shades of brown to each other).
* Fujioka Haruhi from ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' has moderately dark brown eyes. Honey has lighter brown eyes and blond (or very light brown) hair.
* Misao Kusakabe from ''Anime/LuckyStar'' has big brown eyes.
* Lucy Heartphilia of ''Manga/FairyTail'' has brown eyes, which lampshades her tendency to play the OnlySaneWoman of her team.
* Nami and Robin from ''Manga/OnePiece'' are also, in individually different ways, the {{Only Sane Wom|an}}en of their group, Robin being the stoic one with no exaggerated facial expressions nor LargeHam tendencies, while Nami is probably the one with most common sense - and both of them have brown eyes. Throughout most of the series, Nami's irises are drawn completely black and only shining with brown colors in moments of strong emotions, but recently she is drawn with obvious brown eyes most of the time thanks to ArtEvolution. However, in the anime, Robin has blue eyes. Also, very few male characters has anything beyond simple black eyes shown, a notable exception being the swordsman Mihawk who has golden eyes.
* Saya Otonashi from ''Anime/BloodPlus'' has brown eyes. [[RedEyesTakeWarning Usually]].
* Rock from ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' has these, and is the closest thing to a "good guy" in the series.
* [[NationsAsPeople Italy]] from ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' is, more often than not, the ''only'' European nation with brown eyes. They're usually [[EyesAlwaysShut closed]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In the ''ComicBook/XWingSeries'' comics, [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Isplourrdacartha_Estillo Plourr Illo]] is brown-eyed and a rare female BoisterousBruiser. She's a pilot, a brawler, a mechanic, and secretly a princess with a dark, Anastasia-inspired past. Rather awesome.
* [[ComicBook/{{Spider-Man}} Peter Parker]]'s brown eyes are frequently mentioned in the comics. He's a notable exception to the rule, since white superheroes tend to be pictured with blue eyes or GreenEyes.
** Note that his eyes were originally blue until changed by a coloring error. These days, they are officially hazel.
* Midnighter of ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'', the only brown-eyed Caucasian on his team.
* Essentially, every main character in ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic''. However, Knuckles has blue eyes, Sonic was eventually retconned into having GreenEyes once he turned Blue, Tekno has GreenEyes and Tails was eventually retconned into having blue eyes.
* ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'': Gambit has been shown to have brown eyes when his mutation is switched off.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Literature/HarryPotter: Hermione Granger and Ginny and Molly Weasley have brown eyes. Mad-Eye Moody has one brown eye. It even becomes a minor plot point in the [[Literature/HarryPotterandtheDeathlyHallows seventh book]].
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s Tiffany Aching and Agnes Nitt are both sensible and reluctantly brown-eyed.
** Something of a subversion in that sensible, down-to-earth people often make for talented witches such as Agnes and Tiffany.
** In one of the early books, Pratchett states that Lancrastrians, emigres often becoming very successful witches and wizards among other things, are very down to earth, saying that only those who are firmly grounded can build castles in the sky. One could say this reflects magical power, until you realize that Granny Weatherwax has blue eyes. Though this could have something to do with the fact that she tends to ignore expectations.
*** Granny's IcyBlueEyes work well with her public (and private, most of the time) persona, though.
** Mort in ''Discworld/{{Mort}}'' also has brown eyes, partly to show how down-to-earth he is, but mostly to show the effect being Death's apprentice is having on him when they turn into IcyBlueEyes.
* Please remember that Phedre no Delauny of ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' has eyes that are, not brown as you plebes would describe it, but [[PurpleProse bistre]].
** But it is not their colour that marks them as important, no, they might be passed over entirely but for the scarlet mote that has stricken one of them.
* [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Bella Swan]] is insecure about her [[SuetifulAllAlong big, beautiful, chocolate brown eyes]], though Edward finds them fascinating. [[spoiler:She loses them when she becomes a vampire, but not before she passes them on to baby Nessie.]]
* Elene from ''Literature/TheNightAngelTrilogy'' has brown eyes, in accordance to her calming and patient role in the story.
* Gregory Maguire subverts this in ''Literature/{{Wicked}}'', giving dark brown eyes flecked with gold to, of all people, the Wicked Witch of the West.
* In the ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'' series, Anne and Gilbert's son and daughter, Shirley and Nan, both have [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow brown hair and brown eyes]]. It's ironic, as their mother had always wanted this combination in her youth. Shirley, especially, is nicknamed "Little Brown Boy" by the familiy's hired help, Susan, for his brown hair, eyes and dark complexion.
* Samwise Gamegee is the ''only'' character in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' who isn't described as gray-eyed (other than maybe a few minor bad guys). He's pretty much the designated closer-to-Earth character.
* In Creator/DevonMonk's Literature/AllieBeckstrom novel ''Magic to the Bone'', Zayvion has brown eyes with flecks of gold -- until [[KaleidoscopeEyes he leaves the magic grid]], whereupon they are brown. When he drives back, his eyes turn pure gold with only flecks of brown.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Djaq from the BBC's ''Series/RobinHood'' had large brown eyes, was a wise and stabilising force in the outlaw camp, and had a [[PuppyDogEyes wounded puppy-dog]] look that could tear your heart out. Notable mainly because almost everyone else in the cast had blue eyes.
* Emily from ''Series/{{Skins}}'' has huge brown eyes and {{puppy dog| eyes}}s the hell out of them on [[TheWoobie several occasions]].
* With the exception of JJ's [[InnocentBlueEyes baby blues]], ''Series/CriminalMinds'''s whole BAU team, even Garcia, have brown eyes, but Spencer Reid truly has PuppyDogEyes. How many times have you looked into the Boy Genius' caramel brown orbs and went "Awww"?
* Glitch of [[Series/TinMan SyFy's Tin Man]] has big brown eyes. They're a sign of his trustworthiness and bravery, [[BunnyEarsLawyer since]] [[TheMadHatter he's]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} anything]] [[MeaningfulName but]] [[GeniusDitz stable]].
* Neil and Mike of ''TheYoungOnes'' both have brown eyes. Out of the four flatmates, their personalities are the most low-key and down-to-earth -- well, as down-to-earth as you can get on the show -- and contrast wildly with those of the noticeably younger, HotBlooded Rick and Vyvyan (who both have blue eyes).
* Niles Crane on ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', in contrast to his brother's blue eyes — while he is more rigid, neurotic and fussy than Frasier, he is also more down-to-earth and practical (not to mention {{Woobie}}ish) and often plays the StraightMan to his brother's overblown, self-deluding shenanigans.
* Hurley of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' has brown eyes and is one of the most stable of the Losties. Jack, the physician and leader, also has brown eyes.
* Cameron of ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' (played by Creator/SummerGlau, the same actress who portrayed River above) also has brown eyes, which ''do'' fit with the notion of stability and trustworthiness; since she's a [[RobotGirl machine]] whose primary purpose is protecting John, she is pretty much incapable of not being trustworthy. [[spoiler:Until her processor gets damaged.]]
* Jim Moriarty from BBC's ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' has large brown eyes that can be haunting, (the flashback scenes of [[spoiler:him being tortured by Mycroft Holmes's men in Reichenbach Fall]] are a good indicator of this), threatening, [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3zujzUQxf1qirhm0o3_1280.jpg really, really cute]], and even [[http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxk3zz2Yfv1qhotnko1_500.jpg dead-looking]].
** The eyes being so dark brown you can't see his pupils adds a sense of creepiness to the character. They tend to have an empty look which reflects his lack of empathy or emotion.
* Leonard from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' has big, brown PuppyDogEyes.
* The Tenth Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho'' has brown eyes with extreme heart-melting abilities, only adding to his [[TheWoobie woobie]] skills. This physical trait also suits the more human nature of this incarnation of the Doctor.
** Lampshaded in ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' when Clyde meets the [[GreenEyes hazel-eyed]] Eleventh Doctor and is shocked that his eyes have changed with [[TheNthDoctor regeneration]]. "For some reason I thought [[WindowsToTheSoul your eyes]] would stay the same..."
* PunkyBrewster has brown eyes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/LadyGaga has a song "Brown Eyes" on her debut album, allegedly dedicated to [[{{Queen}} Freddie Mercury]].
* "Brown Eyes", a song by ''Destiny's Child'' on the album Survivor.
* Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl".
* Music/ThePogues, "A Pair of Brown Eyes".
* Music/ChuckBerry's "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man".
* "Beautiful Brown Eyes", the signature song of Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, has become a bluegrass standard.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* In the "Another Day" number from ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'', Roger mentions Mimi's brown eyes as another attribute of hers that he's trying in vain to ignore. Mimi, meanwhile, is trying to encourage him to enjoy what time he has on earth.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In a setting that is filled to the brim with blue eyes, green eyes and yellow eyes, the only two {{original| generation}} characters that have brown eyes in the ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' series are Hayner and Pence, who are, fittingly, a pair of {{Ordinary High School Student}}s.
* Most characters in ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}''.
* Cream the Rabbit from ''SonicTheHedgehog'' has brown eyes.
* A few ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' protagonists, all others have blue eyes or gray eyes. [[MemeticBadass Red, Leaf]], [[{{Moe}} Lyra]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Brendan]] and Hilbert, specifically.
* There's also Prince Fluff from ''Videogame/KirbysEpicYarn''.
%% * Kasumi and Mila from ''DeadOrAlive''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Ship Leesoo, resident male TeamMom and TheSmartGuy from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', who sometimes has more maturity than a 300 year old action girl, and sometimes is a [[ButtMonkey complete doofus]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Five of the official Frnachise/{{Disney Princess}}es, e.g., Disney/SnowWhite, [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Jasmine]], Disney/{{Pocahontas}}, Disney/{{Mulan}} and [[Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Tiana]]. This is due to four of them being of different races, which all have brown eyes. Pocahontas's and Mulan's eyes are slightly darker and not very obvious. However, the majority of animated female human Disney characters (official or otherwise) actually have blue eyes.
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%%Do Not add Belle from Beauty and the Beast to this page, due to Edit Wars over whether her eyes are Brown or Hazel. Anyone who does so will be banned. This is an admin decision.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', [[ElementalEyeColors each group of people has a certain eye colour associated with them]]: {{gray| eyes}} for Airbenders, {{green| eyes}} ''and'' brown for Earthbenders, blue for Waterbenders and brown[=/=]amber for Firebenders. In the latter case, the ''personality'' associated with brown eyes is [[InvertedTrope turned on its head]], because of the AlwaysChaoticEvil way the firebenders use their powers.
** In SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' the rise of mixed marriages and burgeoning multicultural centers sees certain characters [[AvertedTrope avert]] ElementalEyeColors. of the 3 children of a mixed Air Nomad, and Earth Kingdom {{Muggle}} marriage have their father Tenzin's Airbending talent, but the eldest Jinora is the only one in the family with brown eyes, being the sensible one of her siblings. Their mother Pema herself is very down-to-earth, and makes reference to being harried by her quite literally [[NotQuiteFlight flighty]] children when her mother-in-law predicts her fourth child will be ''another'' Airbender, but averts the trope by haveing green eyes.
-->'''Pema:''' All I want is ''one'' child like ''me'', a nice ''non''-bender who doesn't blast wind in my face every five seconds.\\
'''[[{{Keet}} Meelo]]:''' Mommy look, I'm a ''snowbender''! *Blows snow in Pema's face*
* Monolo Sanchez from ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'', has brown eyes showing his down-to-earth attitude.
* {{Deconstructed}} and {{Inverted}} in ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}}'', where two {{Catfolk}} characters with this eye color in common are both noted for being neither fully trustworthy nor down-to-Earth. TheDragon, Grune, is a {{Turncoat}} former general who always had {{ambition| is evil}}s of becoming King of Thundera through a military coup. Tygra, who, as a boy, admired and was tutored by Grune, is a HappilyAdopted member of Thundera's royal family, who struggles with [[TheResenter resentment]] and jealousy that his younger brother Lion-O's RoyalBlood guarantees him the throne and a sword that OnlyTheChosenMayWield. Both Tygra and Grune are driven to succeed and dislike that the throne is a special privilege [[KingOfBeasts reserved for Lions]] (all of whom have {{Occult Blue| Eyes}}-{{Green Eyes}}), instead of more ''typical'' hardworking Cats, like themselves.
* Dib from ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' has brown eyes; somewhat fitting, since he is possibly the sanest character in the show.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': Gretchen has brown eyes, according to "The Pest". Spinelli is said to have brown eyes according to WordOfGod. Though this is only mentioned- in the show, they're drawn with black eyes.
* In ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'', [[spoiler:Jack Frost used to have light brown eyes before he died saving his sister, becoming an immortal winter spirit - they transformed along with his hair (brunette to silvery-white), turning [[IcyBlueEyes blue]].]]
** Jamie Bennett also has brown eyes, along with [[spoiler:Jack's sister]].
[[/folder]]

* Cameron of ''Series/TheSarahConnorChronicles'' (played by Creator/SummerGlau, the same actress who portrayed River above) also has brown eyes, which ''do'' fit with the notion of stability and trustworthiness; since she's a [[RobotGirl machine]] whose primary purpose is protecting John, she is pretty much incapable of not being trustworthy. [[spoiler:Until her processor gets damaged.]]

* In both the original ''Anime/SailorMoon'' anime and ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal,'' cat familiar Luna is the sole brown-eyed protagonist among the main cast, serving as a grounded mentor, advisor and BeleagueredAssistant to the plucky-but-flaky MagicalGirlWarrior Usagi.

* Cameron of ''Series/TheSarahConnorChronicles'' (played by SummerGlau, the same actress who portrayed River above) also has brown eyes, which ''do'' fit with the notion of stability and trustworthiness; since she's a [[RobotGirl machine]] whose primary purpose is protecting John, she is pretty much incapable of not being trustworthy. [[spoiler:Until her processor gets damaged.]]