Eyes Always Shut - Television Tropes & Idioms

alt title(s): Kitsune No Me; Eyes Wide Shut

In about ten seconds, he's gonna walk into a door.

Sally: You could never handle my job.
Harry: I could do it with my eyes closed!
Tommy: You do everything with your eyes closed.
- 3rd Rock From The Sun

This describes a character who appears to have their eyes shut constantly, except, perhaps, for a few instances of surprise or shock. Nevertheless, they still give every indication of being able to see - which implies that this characteristic is actually more of a pronounced squint.

This is an old device to imply wisdom; more recently, it's been subverted as a device to show "wise guys." This device, when used to show a "wise guy," is called "Kitsune No Me" in Japanese ("fox's eyes" or "shifty eyes" in English).

A common variation of this trope is to make the character close his or her eyes into an arc rather than a simple horizontal line. Characters with whose eyes are fixed in that position are generally optimistic and almost always unconditionally happy, but more often down-to-earth instead of ditzy. These characters may be prone to comic obliviousness, but outright stupidity is rare.

Where Eyes Always Shut and Beware The Nice Ones overlap, the character's eyes may open when it's time to get dangerous, usually right before unleashing that Limit Break or entering a state of Unstoppable Rage. This is not uncommon among Affably Evil villains; if the villain always puts up a happy facade, expect those eyes to open when the Berserk Button is activated, just before that final transformation or ultimate attack is unleashed. Either way, the character's now-visible eyes may follow other various Eye Tropes as well. When this trope occurs as a result of the art style, it becomes Youngblood's Disease.

Examples

Anime and Manga

The flame dragon Setsuna in Flameof Recca literally keeps his single closed. If he opens it, anyone who sees it is instantly annihilated.
Karin, Bulma's mother and the 'fat' version of Majin Buu from Dragonball.
Takeshi/Brock in Pokémon. As well as practically everyone in his family, except for his mother. There is one scene in the series' long, long history where we finally see them open, but it's not near as dramatic as one could think.
- Two scenes (well, the second one is a single frame). This troper can't remember the exact episode but you see his eyes open as he gets beaned in the back of the head by... something. Might have been a Poke Ball or the Pokémon-of-the-week.
- One of the few women to actually enjoy his constant flirting is the Frontier Brain Lucy/Azami. Upon returning home at the end of the episode, it is revealed that she keeps a group of Pokémon as pets, all with the same squinty eyes implying that her attraction to Brock was due to this feature.
- These days, his eyelids are likely to balloon in those situations you'd expect other characters' eyes to do so. A few times when he's being shocked and his body starts flashing, his skull shows the slits instead of circular eye sockets. Make of that what you will.
- His eyes also open when he's being bishounen.
Bunta Fujiwara in Initial D
Xelloss in The Slayers. Also present in Rezo, the blind priest in the original series. However, that's not because he's a trickster so much as because if he opens his blinded eyes, he'll release the fragment of the supreme demon god, Shabranigdo, imprisoned within, a fact he remains unaware of until he heals his eyesight and does so. Another example is the appropriately-named Inspector Wizer.
- Rezo's copy too. Why he doesn't open his eyes considering that the story says his eyes were healed is another question. He doesn't have a demon sealed in him like Rezo.
  - The reason he kept his eyes shut in the anime is simply because Eris tried to fool the Slayers gang to think he's the real Rezo. In the original novel, however, he had a damn good reason to keep them shut even after the gig was up: he had been fused with a mazoku and it caused him to have extra mouths where his eyes should have been. Yikes.
Chichiri in Fushigi Yuugi — he opens his eyes only when speaking seriously.
- This is justified. He's just wearing an Eyes-Shut mask because he has a disfiguring facial scar. He takes the mask off to speak seriously. (On the other hand, how he makes vivid facial expressions with the mask on the rest of the time is never explained...)
Koizumi Itsuki (seen above, although he opens his eyes much more frequently than most Eyes Always Shut characters) and a few cases the narrator Kyon in Suzumiya Haruhi.
Yakumo Fujii in 3x3 Eyes.
- Only in the first season, afterwards he has them open much of the time. Symbolic, perhaps?
- Yukumo, by default, has his eyes shut. Only rarely does he opens them. This is shown throughout the entire manga series, which is the entire series.
Cho Hakkai in the first Saiyuki Gensomaden anime.
- Moreso, Shien (part of the Homura Trio) in the non-manga anime arc.
Vato Falman, an officer in Roy Mustang's circle, in Fullmetal Alchemist. In the manga, there's Ling Yao, who chooses to do this voluntarily, along with always trying to smile, due to the fact that, although he's a pretty nice guy at heart, he happens to have "shifty eyes."
- Also in Fullmetal Alchemist, Fuhrer King Bradley keeps his eyes (though one is hidden behind an eye patch) closed the vast majority of the time.
  - Also Fritz Lang, Bradley's Alternate Universe Double from The Movie.
Richard Wong/Mr. Utsumi, Patlabor's sneaky recurring antagonist.
- Captain Goto exhibits this trope frequently as well. He fits the trope quite well as he is both wise and cunning, being on top of a situation well before others clue into it.
Ichimaru Gin in Bleach. He has only been seen opening his eyes on two occasions, once when attacked and once when attacking.
- Coincidently, Gin and the below mentioned Vincent Law both share the same voice actor.
Vincent Law in Ergo Proxy. Here, the closed eyes seem to indicate passivity and/or weakness, with the rare instances when he opens them being a prelude to aggressive engagement with a problem.
Yu-Gi-Oh GX makes special use out of this trope; Professor Daitokouji/Professor Banner usually has his eyes shut. He eventually reveals himself to be one of the villains in disguise, whereupon he opens his eyes. They remain open until his defeat, whereupon they close again for the last few minutes before his death. His spirit, when manifest as himself and not a ball of light, still has him with his eyes shut in later seasons.
Both Mitsune Konno (appropriately nicknamed "Kitsune") and Kaede Nagase (from Love Hina and Mahou Sensei Negima, respectively) do this; the latter is legitimately wise (although Book Dumb) while the former is more of a "wise guy".
Mokona used to have its eyes always closed in Magic Knight Rayearth, so it came as a bit of a shock when one of the Mokona Modokis suddenly opened them in Tsubasa Chronicle after sensing one of Sakura's feathers.
Ohno from Genshiken is another passive example - except when she's in otaku mode. Then you get the scary Blank White Eyes. She has normal eyes in the manga.
- However, Ohno's fellow cosplayer and later boyfriend Tanaka plays this trope straight, both in the anime and manga. His face is constantly drawn with very little expression except for the closed eyes and slight smile.
Hap from Eureka Seven
Subverted somewhat in the first episode of Romeo x Juliet. A wealthy socialite with Eyes Always Shut appears to have them LITERALLY shut - he sweeps in unannounced in a scene, plucks the wrong lady from the dressing room amidst declarations of love for "my honey", and proceeds to take her to a ball...all without being aware that he's dating the wrong girl.
The eponymous Zatoichi (both old version and new) is a blind swordsman who walks around with his eyes closed all the time. At the end of the new version, he does open his eyes briefly for an interesting exchange with a mob boss.
Shusuke Fuji and Renji Yanagi from The Prince Of Tennis. They only open their eyes when they're really serious about something. Yanagi's case is even more extreme than Fuji's; when he fully opens his eyes during a match in the manga, his teammates say they had never seen him like that, unlike Fuji who opens his own eyes more or less often.
Heihachi in Samurai 7.
Digimon's Neemon frequently has his eyes closed. The Japanese card game suggests that he is lazy or frequently sleepy, but in the show he is perfectly energetic. Previous seasons had Gennai for the wise variation.
- No, Neemon's fallen asleep at times in Frontier. He's also not very smart, in contrast to Bokomon.
Inuyashas Soul Piper's eyes are usually closed. You do not want to be the cause of his opening them.
Watari from Death Note. Also simultaneously inverted with L who never closes his eyes. He only closes them for his death scene.
Takashi Yamazaki from Card Captor Sakura, although he does open them when someone steps on his foot.
- Also from CCS, the anime version of Clow Reed, though he had them open in the manga.
The kindly old scientist and inventor Dr. Mayzel from the Spriggan OVA anime movie (Japan 1998). Although you can clearly see his eyes behind his glasses, they're constantly closed and drawn as upturned curves. In contrast, the character looks rather different in the print manga where he wears Scary Shiny Glasses.
Subverted in Saint Seiya: Virgo Shaka, one of the most powerful Golden Saints, maintains his eyes shut to actually keep his power under control. When Phoenix Ikki finds out, after sorta recuperating from Mind Rape inflicted by Shaka himself, he tricks him into cutting off all of his senses and overpowers him, winning their fight and earning Shaka's respect for outsmarting him.
- Shaka's Lost Canvas counterpart Asmita, however, is blind.
Saemon Kisaragi, the Master Of Disguise from Basilisk. He's only seen with his eyes open after killing his foes, and even then...
- Another big example is Saemon's friend and superior, Hyouma Muroga. Similarly to Shaka, he's not blind per se, but his special powers (reversing people's murdering instincts on themselves, making them commit suicide instead) are so strong that he can't turn them off, therefore he'd rather keep his eyes closed to avoid hurting his allies and loved ones too. His nephew and pupil Gennosuke also has the same power, but is able to keep it at bay so he doesn't need to close his eyes.
  - Also, there's a small variation in the original novel. Hyoma is able to control his powers, but can't open his eyes unless it's at night because they're light-sensitive to the point of pain.
- Another variation, in both manga and anime: the Igas possess a special cream named "Seven Days Ointment" that seals the user's eyelids completely for at least seven days, forcing them to keep their eyes closed. Both Gennosuke and Oboro are affected by it: Gennosuke has a dose of it thrown at him by Hotarubi, whereas Oboro rubbed some on her own eyes to not use her abilities on her own clansmen.
Naruto usually closes his eyes when he's concentrating his chakra or thinking (for some reason, he has them closed for nearly all of the second episode!). It also adds to his fox-like appearance.
Fujita Goro/Hajime Saitou of Rurouni Kenshin.
Ezra from Vandread has these, obviously to emphasize her wise, motherly persona.
Taro from the first Hanaukyo Maid Tai.
Serpico from the Berserk manga. On the few occasions you see his eyes, almost always during a fight, it marks his Lets Get Dangerous moment where he drops the foppish persona. Though in somwhat subversion, his motives are always clear and he sometimes goes out of his way to state them.
Kuroudou Akabane from GetBackers, usually accompanied by a small smile, though he will open them when he's in a ''truly'' good mood.
Media from Pani Poni Dash.
From Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny, the incarnation of Zhao Yun, Chou'un Shiryuu, is practically like this. Apparently, while almost every characters always had their clothes torn one way or another, she manages to keep her clothes clean and never torn from attacks, all when she's fighting with eyes closed. She rarely opens them, if she did, it's probably for a brief of time and in a non-combat situation.
Howdy from the TV show Hamtaro.
Lee Linho in R.O.D the TV.
Kabapu's assistant, Ms. Momochi, in Excel Saga.
Higsby/Higure from Megaman NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE.
Maiza from Baccano! always has his eyes closed, even while being shot.
- Additionally, there's Tick, Elmer and Nick (not to be confused Nicholas). Goose looks like his eyes are always shut, but closer inspection shows that they're just really, really narrow.
Benitora of Samurai Deeper Kyo has his eyes shut most of the time, except when he's shocked by something. The English translation of the manga hangs a lampshade on it, but in the Japanese, he's talking about getting laid.
Yasaburo, retainer to House Saotome in Macross Frontier.
Mokona in xxxHOLiC almost always has its eyes shut, as noted above. Also Mugetsu.
Ranger in Transformers Super God Masterforce
Wolfgang Grimmer in Monster.
Italy in Axis Powers Hetalia is usually drawn with eyes that resemble equals signs.
Minoru Shiraishi in Lucky Star. That is, until Akira abuses him one time too many...
Fujisawa from El Hazard The Magnificent World
Kinko from Binbou Shimai Monogatari has these, probably to emphasize that she is the older and thus more mature one of the Echigoya sisters.
Ramenman. Opens his eyes occasionally, but they're usually closed.
Shouka from Saiunkoku Monogatari. His perpetually closed eyes seem to indicate his wise and easygoing personality. On the rare occasions he's seen with his eyes open, it typically means very bad things for someone, since it indicates that Shouka is appearing in his role as the deadly assassin known as the Black Wolf.
Haruka's and Akane's mom in Kimi Ga Nozomi Eien. She would probably be considered a Hot Shounen Mom if not for this.
In Darker Than Black, Hei has closed eyes and a broad smile in his Li Shengshun persona, but when being his actual self, has wide Mind Control Eyes and a stoic personality.
Umineko No Naku Koro Ni has Virgilia. Trust us, you REALLY don't want her to open her eyes.
Lau in Kuroshitsuji.
Mocked in Eyeshield 21 with the sumo wrestler Sadakome, who everyone knows has Eyes Always Shut, because he's literally too lazy to open them. They also look nothing like the usual versions, being extremely swollen.
- There's also Yamabushi from the Shinryuuji Nagas, whose eyes aren't even slightly cracked when he cries.
One recurring villain from AIKI, a poison user, has her eyes perpetually half-lidded at best. Until Chapter 39 - when Kageyusu knocks her syringe out of her hand, her eyes pop open and remain open.
Saburo Watanuki in Penguin Revolution, another instance of the trope being used to indicate a wise and good-natured character.
In the Area 88 TV series, Roundell not only has an eyepatch but his one good eye is always shut...until he suffers a flashback at in inopportune time and it snaps wide open. Watch out for that cliff!
Angel chara Eru from Shugo Chara
Kamui from Gintama is shown with his eyes closed more often than not.
Saku, the drummer in "Beck always has his his eyes shut to the point where they are even joked about in the dub (A life guard refers to him as the one with the "squinty eyes").
Shino from Kannagi. In the karaoke episode, when asked why Shino didn't sing, Takako replies, "Her eyes will fly open."
Neko-san, from Shinobi Life, is Beni's minor-character-Meido. She never opens her eyes, regardless of when the situation obviously calls for it.
IGPX: Team Black Egg's frontman Ricardo Montazio. One can wonder how he can pilot one of those mechs without having his eyes visibly open.
Toyama Sachi from Jubei-chan.
Tamami from Chocotto Sister.
Koma from Hyakko—not surprising, since she can be seen as an expy of Tamami.
Code Geass: Nunnally ends up being one, as she's not blind, but Geass-induced trauma. She 'wakes' up just in time for Lelouch.

Comic Books

The Western ur-example is Captain Marvel (the one who is not Shazam). He's been drawn with normal eyes lately, but for the great majority of his history they were always closed.
- The early Joe Shuster illustrations of Superman were also very squinty, which predate Captain Marvel.
Jughead, of the Archie comic books and television show typically has his eyes closed. It's referred to on-panel by other characters often, even down to the fact that this should render him blind. (A case of either Lampshade Hanging or Genre Savvy.)
- Let's not forget the time when the gang convinced Jughead to open his eyes, upon which he couldn't see a thing due to bright light...
- In some stories, though, he has his eyes partially open, like◊ so◊. As is often the case, it's not as dramatic as you'd think.
Both Grandma Ben and Lucius Down from Bone.
Before the time-travel flashback thing, Lynn Johnston of For Better Or For Worse started drawing Japanese character Dawn Enjo with permanently squinted eyes, which she hadn't done before. No one is entirely sure why.
V in V For Vendetta. Justified in that his "face" is a mask and the tiny eye slits serve to prevent anyone getting so much as a glimpse of his face.
Rob Liefeld's poor artwork depicts characters so they look like they're always squinting. It is referred to by reviewer Linkara as "Youngblood's Disease".

Film

Every movie, every picture and every interview Clint Eastwood has ever done is a dictionary definition of this trope.

Literature

The Warcraft novels wrote by Richard A. Knaak feature the green dragons doing this, both in drakanoid and humanoid form. in this case it not only symbolizes their wisdom, but also their ability to see through the Emerald Dream. Specifically, they view their presence in the world of Azeroth as them dreaming. Ysera, queen of the Green flight, has opened her eyes three times in recorded history. She can apparently still see though.

Live Action TV

Rare Live Action version: Harry from Third Rock From The Sun. French Stewart, the actor who plays him, is naturally "squinty" and rarely has his eyes open more than slightly. This is particularly pronounced when he smiles, and he plays it up for comic effect. Parodied in the first episode:
Harry: I can't see through my eyelids!
Dick: Open them!
Harry: Oh, they're manual!
- French Stewart recently appeared on an episode of Pushing Daisies, and this troper remarked, "My gosh, I've never seen him with his eyes open so much!"
Gilbert Gottfried is also "squinty" in most of his live-action performances.
Ditto the late Dennis Wolfberg.
And Jimmy Kimmel.
And Renée Zellweger.
"Sparky" Mortimer, then-10-year-old sports reporter seen on The Late Show With David Letterman, would squeeze his eyes closed for the first few words of anything he said.
Napoleon Dynamite.
David Puddy of Seinfeld.
Janice from The Muppet Show.

Music

Milo from the animated musical group Prozzäk.
Noodle from the animated musical group Gorillaz.

Video Games

Kliff Undersn in Guilty Gear.
Moogles, frequently, in the Final Fantasy series. One exception is in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
- This makes perfect sense though since Moogles are supposed to be winged moles, an animal known for having its eyes closed.
Juno in Megaman Legends.
Dr. Noel Chandler in Star Ocean: The Second Story. He is shown as being an animal researcher which is appropriate to the wisdom stereotype.
- Dorne Murtough from the original Star Ocean also has his Eyes Always Shut.
Online game example: the "Aisha" and the "Chia" species in Neopets.
- Interestingly, in the Aishas' profile, they are clearly shown blinking, implying that the "shut" look is what their eyes actually look like.
Ini Miney from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney always has her eyes shut. Even in her driver's license photo. The Ini we see, however, is actually Mimi Miney, who's impersonating her sister and keeping her eyes shut to fit the role (hers have a very distinctive look). When her facade cracks later in the case, she opens her eyes.
- Shelly DeKiller is also another Eyes Always Shut.
  - Frank Sahwit, Marvin Grossberg, and Winfred "Big Wins" Kitaki (whose Big Ol Eyebrows look like Scary Shiny Glasses because of it) also follow this trope.
Natsume in the four first four Dot Hack games also displayed this characteristic, in addition to referring to herself in third person at seemingly random points.
- Natsume also appears as an after game character in the third .Hack//G.U. game. In this game, there is one way to get her to open her eyes. Not that you want to do that...
Oscar in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn.
Captain Olimar in Pikmin.
Redd the Fox in Animal Crossing. He fits the Japanese view of "fox eyes" perfectly—he operates a black market that sells goods for an outrageous price, although you can occasionally find treasures only available in his shop.
- In addition to high markup, Wild World makes him the only outlet for paintings... which are frequently counterfeit.
The Happy Mask Salesman from The Legend Of Zelda. He also opens his on occasion, but only when he's not happy. This, combined with his general creepiness and un-movements (everyone else in Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time moves normally. He shifts from one position to another instantaneously.) make him the source of much Nightmare Fuel, but he's not presented as being very wise or very mischievous. However, he is well-traveled and a normal guy doesn't carry around quite that many magical masks (then again, Link winds up with a large collection of them throughout Majora's Mask, so maybe he just goes through Termina often and keeps his eyes open... well, figuratively, anyway.) In the end, we don't know much about him.
The Miis on the Wii can also have these.
Then entire cast of Metal Gear Solid, due to the limits of PS 1 graphics.
Wang Koh-San from Art Of Fighting 3
Kelvena from Xenogears
There are typically a couple for every game in the Harvest Moon franchise. The trope usually sticks upon those of characters at old age, or apparently girls who are meant to be represented of beauty.
- Then there's Toby/Tao from Tree of Tranquility that is neither.
- Lyla only opened her eyes once,for like 6 seconds. Go figure,she has Purple Eyes.
Umineko No Naku Koro Ni's Virgilia has this tendency. Her eyes do open a few times, but the smile that always accompanies it is so creepy, it might just be better if she always kept them closed.
The Pokémon Wobbuffet, introduced in the second generation of games, has its Eyes Always Shut, though it has a second pair of eyes on its tail that are always open. The third generation of games introduced Wynaut, which is a baby form of Wobbuffet that also has this trait. Some human characters have their Eyes Always Shut as well, such as the Gym Leader Brock in the first two generations of games (and, as previously mentioned, the anime) and most Hiker characters.
- Don't forget about Skitty, who was also introduced in the third generation.
  - Seriously, a whole bunch of Pokemon have this, as noted in the anime example above. Snorlax, Makuhita, Cyndaquil, Abra, Swinub...
In the '09 PSP remake of Star Ocean II, Noel Chandler's portraits are all drawn this way. No explanation is given. (I mean, he's not even the one who has "Sleeping" as his hobby.)
It's amazing that Kenshin, one of the backup dancers in Osu Tatakae Ouendan, can dance so well considering that he always has his eyes closed. A Let's Play of the game jokes that he accidentally glued his eyelids shut.
Just about everyone in Full Throttle, though they do open their eyes wide in surprise now and then.

Webcomics

Anja Donlan from Gunnerkrigg Court. Her eyes appear white when she's seen in silhouette; apparently her usual appearance is just a stylized way to show she has small, dark eyes.
- Zimmy has her eyes closed 99% of the time as well, and the dark circles around them make it even worse by giving the appearance that she has no eyes. It's up to you to decide if she's creepier with them closed or open.
Dante from Angst Technology has permanently screwed-up eyes.
Grant Kyokasho from Angel Moxie, until his Heroic Sacrifice.
Rocko Sasquatch from ''The Inexplicable Adventures Of Bob" has enormous bushy eyebrows but no visible eyes.
Harvoc from Emergency Exit wears a monocle, but his other eye is almost always closed, and "whenever he opens his eyes it usually means death."
For a long time Munchie Bear from CharbytheVampirate was like this though in his case it was because someone had stiched his eye lids shut. Currently he has one eye always open and one eye always closed.
- There is a good reason someone sewed them shut.
Freddie of Ghastly's Ghastly Comic.
- Those are more Genki Eyes though.
Mistress in Oglaf. Her eyes are occasionally open just a slit, but never more than that.
Parodied in this Super Effective strip.

Western Animation

Gaz in Invader Zim. She actually does open one eye occasionally, but this is generally a sign that she's finally snapped and is about to commit some particularly horrifying (yet justified) act of sociopathy.
The Nearsighted Mister Magoo.
Captain Fanzone in Transformers Animated. He's been in a couple of episodes where he wasn't consistently drawn this way.
- It's apparently from the two different animation studios that make the show interpretting his character model differently.
The King of Town from Homestar Runner.
Chef's mom and several Chinese people on South Park have their eyes shut most of the time.
Gus Duncz from Mission Hill is drawn exactly like an aging Captain Marvel, so much so that I'm tempted to think it's intentional.