Perpetual Frowner - Television Tropes & Idioms

Staying all serious and scowling every minute of the day is impossible! How can anyone look so mad all the time?!

— Kon regarding Ichigo, Bleach

A character who can always be seen with a serious upside-down smile, even in the most pleasant of situations. Though it can be compared to The Stoic, Perpetual Frowner differs in the simple fact that rather than wearing a face of indifference, the character perpetually expresses the biggest, ugliest frown he or she can make on their face.

Usually comes in 3 varieties: mopey and listless, angry and angsty, focused and serious. In many cases, the look of extreme tension continues even when they're asleep. For series where character background and development is allotted, it may later be revealed that the person expresses the demeanor as a result of a living or having lived a harsh or tragic life.

Extra points if the character also displays a habit of keeping his arms crossed along with the constant frowning for that extra pouty look.

If the Perpetual Frowner actually does smile, it's either a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming that signifies that the character has found a reason to be happy and enjoy life again, or one of the most potent sources of Nightmare Fuel you will ever come across.

If the expression is not voluntary but the result of damage to nerves or the like, it falls under Frozen Face.

Compare Aloof Big Brother, Deadpan Snarker, The Eeyore. Contrast Perpetual Smiler. See also Death Glare.

Examples:

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Anime & Manga

Jotaro Kujo from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure hardly ever smiles even once throughout the series. And considering how long it's been going on, that's saying something.
Dr. Hell from Mazinger Z has mostly three default expressions: angry, worried and disappointed/frustrated. He seldom smiles (fortunately, since when he actually does so, it is a very creepy Slasher Smile).
Giichi from Blade of the Immortal. Admittedly, he has good reasons to never smile.
A well known anime frowner is Ichigo in Bleach, early on revealed to be a result of losing his mother at a young age and trying very hard to cultivate a badass image ever since. (In one episode when Kon runs amok in Ichigo's body, Ichigo bemoans Kon ruining his image that he'd worked so hard on.) The example is particularly interesting considering the fact that he is the main protagonist. Hitsugaya is also a major frowner, probably a result of frequently being the most professional among a group of wackier characters. Kenpachi is usually frowning whenever he's not in the middle of a fight, in which case he'll have a big Slasher Smile.
On Naruto, even after rising to become the first Chuunin in his class, achieving the place as team leader of the group, being subjected to considerable Character Development, and getting a potential girlfriend, Shikamaru still doesn't seem to find a reason to wipe that big ugly frown off his face.
- Sasuke also started out as a frowner due to his tragic past and fervent mission in life to kill his brother. However, following his Face Heel Turn and the series' timeskip, Sasuke gains a more impassive look, adding to his growing similarity with his Aloof Big Brother.
- Gaara, even after accepting his companions, has almost never smiled a non-murderous smile.
  - In the most recent, hot-off-the-presses manga chapters, the Sandman of Tsuna smiles once in awhile and generally shows far more emotion than he used to, but it's still pretty rare in comparison to other characters.
Among several others, Tien, Piccolo and Vegeta were the three biggest Perpetual Frowners in Dragon Ball Z. The only things they did with their arms were punching, lifting, push-ups and crossing over the chest. Though Vegeta does crack a smile every now and then in the form of an arrogant smirk (and the occasional evil grin during his scenes as a villain).
- Piccolo got the occasional grin as well, mainly when interacting with Gohan - even with the eyebrows up at least once (during his death in DBZ.) Vegeta, however, had somehow managed to master scowling even when asleep or unconscious.
Mugen on Samurai Champloo always has a nasty, twisted, "don't trust anybody/ya wanna mess with me?" look on his face. Unless presented with food.
- Jin, as well.
Kaiser Ryo of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Oddly enough, his Face Heel Turn to Hell Kaiser caused him to smile... evilly, with a touch of insanity.
- Kaiba from the original Yu-Gi-Oh!. This was commented on in Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series, with Yugi remarking "Every time Kaiba smiles, a puppy dies."
- Could we argue that Yami is one of these too? His face seems to be stuck that way. Even when he's happy he's frowning!
Sesshoumaru from InuYasha is characterized by his constant aloof, disdainful frown, though it is said that he is all the more dangerous when he actually does smile.
Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist has smiled a grand total of 3 times in the entire anime.
- He smiles once in the manga, in the Ishbalan refugee camp when he is told that there are many survivors of the genocide in camps all over the country. He has a nice smile...
Kasanoda from Ouran High School Host Club is an unfortunate example. He looks scary as hell, and his default expression is an angry frown... because he's been trained from childhood to take over the position of Yakuza boss of his family. Unfortunate, because he's not such a bad guy, but nearly everyone is too freaked out to notice.
Lucy from Elfen Lied combines this with Hidden Eyes.
Gwendal in Kyo Kara Maoh is an extreme example, even other characters comment on his perpetual frowning.
Let's see... constantly frowning? Check. Arms often crossed? Check. Tragic backstory? Check. Frowns even when he's sleeping? At least sometimes. Certainly does it when he's coming out of the shower. Yup, Fakir from Princess Tutu is definitely an example of this trope.
Tetsuma Jou, receiver for the Seibu Wild Gunmen from Eyeshield 21, has had a permanent serious frown on his face from (at least) the tender age of four. Although he did once adopt an expression of raging, unholy killing intent when Gaou broke Kid's arm, if that counts as a change.
Thorfinn from Vinland Saga, when he does smile, those smiles are rather....vicious.
Germany and Sweden from Axis Powers Hetalia rarely smile, though not because they're unhappy. Hong Kong may be a straighter example, and Belarus mixes this with Yandere. Germania so much so that he couldn't smile when he tried to.
- Of the few blood-related siblings in Hetalia, Norway and Iceland both tend to frown and have never been shown smiling.
- Japan too. While it's more of a blank expression than a frown and he has smiled once or twice, it's noticeable enough that one manga strip revolved around Italy trying to get Japan to smile and failing.
- Netherlands has also never been shown smiling yet, always having either a disinterested expression or scowl on his face whenever he appears.
Try to find canonical pictures of Zoro from One Piece where he's just smiling happy and friendly-like as opposed to scowling or just smirking. It's very hard.
- Especially recently, though. He used to smile and laugh quite frequently in early appearances. It gets rarer after he loses to Mihawk. In the Arlong Arc, Sanji notes that Zoro developed a bad temper after he lost to Mihawk, so this change is very, very intentional on Oda's part.
- Similar case with Tashigi. She smiled a lot early on, but after some bad experiences in Alabasta, likely disillusioning her in many important ways, she generally looks either impassive or rather miserable.
She smiles again after taking care of the giant children at the end of the punk hazard arc.
Nove in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, whose expression is always in some form of angry, and maybe some bits of embarassed. In fact, fans reacted with shock when the artwork for an audio drama showed her with a slight smile on her face.
Exedore/Exsedol's redesigned version, when seen in Macross 7. The only time he ever smiles is during his Crowning Moment of Awesome.
Kurogane from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. The only times you see him smiling are when he's fighting... And it's more of a Slasher Smile than everything. He only really smiled in the flashbacks from his childhood... And in chapter 167.
Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star used to be a happy camper but after his best friend kidnapped his fiancee and left him for dead in the desert, it's understandable that he doesn't smile much.
The title character of Golgo 13 fame is one of the trope's fathers.
Sagara Sousuke from Full Metal Panic. He is described numerous times to be a very attractive boy... except for the problem that he looks perpetually angry, with his eyebrows slanting down and lips pressed firmly in a grim straight line, giving him a very unapproachable appearance. He's actually pretty well known for never smiling in the story. Here's his attempt at trying to, for the sake of his photo ID◊. Though more unnervingly, one of the few times he's shown to smile naturally can be seen here. Yikes, Sousuke, you Sociopathic Hero, you.
Cowboy Bebop's Vicious is also not a happy camper. The only smiles that he actually gives are Slasher Smiles that live up to his name.
Shinobu from Junjou Romantica, when he's not crying. He's even frowning in the opening theme while glomping Miyagi.
Xanxus from Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is in a permenantly bad mood and nearly always scowling, but his smile is even more frightening.
- Tsuna in Dying Will form has been described several times as having "his brows always furrowed".
Saionji from Revolutionary Girl Utena fits this trope to a t, given that his life has been a bit... complicated.
Gunnm: Gally, in addition to her Perpetual Frown, usually has a Perpetual Pout as well, amply lampshaded. She even got nicknamed "Octopus Lips" in-story, and when Zwoelf has to pose as her she loudly complained that Gally's constantly sullen expression is very boring. Though, given her backstory, it's somewhat justified.
Paul in the Pok�mon anime, which is probably fitting of his nature as "Stop Having Fun" Guys incarnate.
Hitomi Mizumura from the Hentai manga Boys Empire is like this at first. Makoto even lampshades it for us:
Makoto: Mizumura looks like she's always angry or something.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Along with a certain pose, Gendo Ikari is a reliable owner of one of these.
The number of times L had smiled in Death Note can most likely be counted in less than fifteen panels. Near? Not really.
Does Black Butler's William T. Spears ever smile?
- He laughs once, in the Ciel in Wonderland OVA. And no, you don't want to see it.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Homura Akemi almost never smiles. It's not like she's got a lot of reason to.
Berserk: Guts during his days as the Black Swordsman after the Eclipse. Again, he doesn't have much reason to smile after watching his entire team get slaughtered and eaten by demons, and the love of his life get raped to insanity by his former commander turned demonic god. In fact, when he does smile, it's either a sneer (usually directed toward Puck) or a murderous and bloodthirsty grin (which he reserves for his demonic enemies).
Buso Renkin: Tokiko Tsumura's default expression is "I'm about 5 seconds away from disemboweling someone."
As mentioned above, Athrun Zala from Gundam SEED.
Tomoe from Kamisama Kiss. He actually has a lot to be pissed about; like the fact that his master and best friend Mikage abandoned him twenty years before the start of the story or the fact that he was made an indentured servant to an Ordinary High School Student. However, he also manages to be pissed at anything and everything.
In Oregairu, the anime version of Hachiman Hikigaya nearly always has his eyebrows in a knit. He does smile but usually it's a wry smile.

Comic Books

Any modern version of Batman. When he actually laughed at Harley Quinn in an episode of Batman The Animated Series, it scared her.
- He wasn't always like that in Batman The Animated Series, just when he was mad. He didn't really become a Perpetual Frowner until The New Batman Adventures.
  - It must be genetic, because Batman's son, Damian Wayne (the current Robin) is this as well.
  - Was... as of Batman Incorporated #8
The Saint of Killers from Preacher, alive or undead. One character describes his permanent facial expression as someone who's "treadin' through dogshit".
In Judge Dredd, the titular character has two facial expressions: "Frowning Angrily" and "Shouting".
- There was one time, when he returned to Mega City 1 from Luna-1 and hadn't been reinstated as a judge yet. He spent the couple of minutes walking around, waving at anyone, and ignoring crimes because he was technically a civilian.
Happy Hogan of Iron Man started out like this, simply because that was how he always looked. At one point, he informed the reader that he WAS smiling. He got better before The Sixties were through.
About the only time The Punisher doesn't wear this expression is in flashbacks with his family.
- To quote the 2005 Punisher videogame:
(After blasting Bushwacker through a wall) "I don't smile much. Don't smile ever. But if I did, this would be one."
Almost everyone in Sin City. If they smile, you should expect it to be a Slasher Smile.
Just take a look at Hawk in Brightest Day.

Literature

"I snarled", "I glared", "I scowled"....Harry Dresden of The Dresden Files is very much this. This is notable, given the fact that he spends most of his time cracking bad jokes.
- Morgan from the same series is practically carved out of granite. He smiles maybe once in all of the books.
Karkaroff's caricature-esque grimacing in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie.
- Kreacher the house elf makes emo kids look optimistic and happy from his introduction in the fifth book until the seventh, when he finally sees the light and starts to become cheerful.
- When he's not smirking, Snape spends his time either scowling or frowning.
  - Or sneering. He likes sneering a lot too.
Edmund Pevensie in the movie version of The Chronicles of Narnia seems to do this a lot, even after his Heel Face Turn.
Bukama from The Wheel of Time prequel novel is one of these. "The older man brightened. Well, his scowl lessened a little. For him, that was as good as a grin from anyone else."
Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights starts out like this, at any rate.
The titular character in the Eisenhorn trilogy, though not by choice. You see, early in the first book, he gets tortured so horribly (an this is set in Warhammer 40000, so feel free to imagine just how) that the muscles in his face are irreparably damaged. He can't smile, even if he wanted to.
The Death Gate Cycle: The fact that Haplo tends to maintain a grim expression even while sleeping is remarked upon by other characters. He does smile occasionally, however.
Tahniya in The Path To War is actually described as having a permanent small frown, which always makes her look like something has irritated or troubled her.
Lord Droon, the villain of Dr. Seuss's early picture book The King's Stilts, is described as a "scowler," mutters that "the lines at the corners of the mouth should go down," and loathes smiles, fun, and anything that seems unserious or undignified - so much that he endangers the entire kingdom by stealing the titular stilts, pushing the king toward the Despair Event Horizon.
Tywin Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire has never smiled since he lost his wife.

Live Action TV

Live action/puppetry: The grouchy Oscar and Bert on Sesame Street. All the more remarkable in that their faces aren't articulated enough to make it obvious that they're frowning — Carroll Spinney and Frank Oz rely on their ability to create character for that.
A more obviously-frowning Muppet is Beaker. The way his mouth is cut into his cylindrical head gives him an exceedingly-obvious frown. Nevertheless, the way he talks (itself difficult given he's one of two The Unintelligibles from The Muppet Show) helps to alter the meaning of his perpetual frown: sadness, worry, fright, frustration, whatever.
Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family, any version. (Not counting Addams Family Reunion) When she smiled after being brainwashed in Addams Family Values, it deeply unnerved all onlookers.
- "She's scaring me!"
- Not so much in the original TV series. She was quite cheerful there.
- However, she was in the ORIGINAL newspaper comics, which preceded the live action show
Stargate SG-1's Teal'c as played by Christopher Judge. Seriously. How many examples are named here and nobody mentions the frowniest face in Showbiz?
- You try smiling after your forehead is cut with an Orak knife and molten gold is poured into the wound. Makes a kick-ass tattoo, though.
- Compare with Christopher Judge himself, who always seems cheerful.
Bart Bass in Gossip Girl. Lampshaded by Eric: "He only has one facial expression. He scares me." Whenever he does try to act in a friendly or romantic manner, it's very disturbing and clearly fake.
In Stargate Atlantis Rodney Mckay personifies the D: face, when he isn't scowling/whining/complaining. Does that count, even though he isn't a stoic?
- Ronon Dex scowls half the time, usually to intimidate someone (he's 6'4"), although he has been shown to smile occasionally.
  - This becomes hilarious in a crossover episode where Teal'c and Ronon are trying to out-scowl each other before they beat the crap out of each other.
Angel smiles so rarely that when he does it's enough of an event that one of the other characters may feel called upon to remark on it.
Stefan Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries, in more episodes than not. You can tell that if he's smiling things must be going really, really well.
- This was lampshaded by Caroline in Season 2.
Debbie Downer, played by Rachel Dratch in a recuring SNL skit. She always says depressing things and brings down the mood of any gathering.
Aaron Hotchner from Criminal Minds. Also a male When She Smiles.
In Game of Thrones, royal executioner Ser Ilyn Payne is never seen without a belligerent scowl.
Karl Pilkington from An Idiot Abroad. If he is smiling, you can guarantee it won't last for long, as Ricky Gervais has a seemingly endless list of things planned to annoy Karl.
Will Graham from Hannibal, due to his anxiety and inner demons. He's seen relaxing around his numerous dogs though.

Music

Rivers Cuomo of Weezer is notorious for always looking somewhat dismayed. Which makes his obvious happiness in the music video for "Keep Fishin'" a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
The Backstreet Boys demonstrated this trope in any opportunity they could, mainly on posters/CD covers. In fact, the one way you could tell the difference between them and N Sync was that N Sync smiled - the Backstreet Boys didn't.
In the song "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath, people think there is something wrong with the narrator because of this.
Henry Rollins always looks angry - and he probably is at something
Lampshaded in a 2000 installment of Much Music's Hard Rock Music Video program Loud, which had a black-marker-on-white-paper emoticon-style diagram of the Motely Crue's personnel shifts up to that point. The final picture showed every band memeber with a happy face, "except for Nick, 'cause he never smiles". Which is mostly true; in live performances and videos he is a Perpetual Frowner who shies away from the rest of the band's enthusiastic "rock faces". However, he was quite visibly happy to discuss the band's screwed up history on Behind The Music.
A lyric from "Burning My Soul" by Dream Theater, written by drummer Mike Portnoy: "And you wonder why I can't smile."

Video Games

The Ice-Shroom. The cause was an unfortunate childhood injury that left his face paralyzed.
Besides her creepy little smiles directed towards Becket, Alma is always frowning.
Akuma/Gouki from the Street Fighter series is a famous and extreme example, as he never smiles at all.
- When he becomes Shin Akuma in Capcom Vs SNK 2 Mark Of The Millennium, he does smile... a Slasher Smile.
- He did have one in Street Fighter Alpha 2 in Ryu's ending.
- Series mainstay M. Bison was originally a Perpetual Frowner, but now he's better known for his Slasher Smile. From what can be seen, those are the only two facial expressions he's capable of.
  - Well, these two, plus his Oh Crap expression during the endings of Alpha 3.
- Sagat and Guile are also constantly frowning, though Guile occasionally smiles in the presence of his family. Main character Ryu is halfway there, though it's more of an impassive look that leans toward frowning than a proper Perpetual Frown.
- Guy from Final Fight/SFA? Guy has a trademark scowl that matches his aloof and serious personality. The only instance in which Guy smiles is in an official art depicting Ryu, Ken, and Guy in casual clothes (Hell in Cody's Ending in SFA 3, his face is scowling, even though the dialogue implies he is glad Cody is back on his side)
  - As of Super Street IV, Makoto was not seen showing so much as a smirk in any official art. She makes up for it with plenty of yelling.
- Remy from Street Fighter. You wouldn't expect someone whose win quote translates to "I hate everything that I see!" to smile much, would you?
Soren from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
- Sothe displays this trait in Radiant Dawn as well, which is remarked upon by Naesala in the following exchange:
  Naesala: Where's that stone-faced sidekick of yours?
  Micaiah: He's just hesitant to show his emotions.
- I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Ike. He even scares Sothe when they first meet in Path of Radiance. Sanaki also Lampshades this in Radiant Dawn:
  Ike: I'm here. What do you want?
  Sanaki: Hmph. Don't look so sour.
  Ike: I always look like this, Apostle Sanaki.
  Sanaki: Ah, yes. That's true. Well, I didn't summon you to talk about your grumpy expressions.
- Raven from Blazing Sword also qualifies. As noted by a comrade in arms, Wil, during one of their hilarious support conversations:
  Wil: Fine, fine. If it'll get you to stop scowling, I'll talk normal.
  Raven: What scowl?
  Wil: That! What you're doing right now!
  Raven: ...This is my normal face.
The Tales RPG series has a few.
- Kratos from Tales Of Symphonia, as befits his role as The Stoic. Same goes for Regal, who wears an even larger frown than Kratos (especially in his official art), but is slightly more likely to lighten up.
- Leon from Tales Of Destiny.
- Veigue from Tales Of Rebirth, who smiles once in the entire game, near the end.
- Keele from Tales Of Eternia — his expression is generally either "angry", "disdainful" or "sullen", whereas his "smile" is more of an arrogant smirk.
- Asch from Tales Of The Abyss, whose grumpiness is commented on and made fun of by the other characters; Luke tells him at one point that if he keeps frowning, his face will get stuck that way. Again, his "smile" is usually more like a smirk.
  Jade: What's the matter, [Asch?] You look as if you've swallowed a bug. Oh wait, you always look like that.
  - What's weird is that his status picture in the menu represents him with a full-on happy face...maybe because we'd never get to see him smile in-game.
  - This is even referenced in Tales Of Vesperia. There's a note scratched into a signboard identifying all the main characters in Tales Of The Abyss. Asch's entry is just "always looks angry."
- Kunzite of Tales Of Hearts rarely smiles, his only "happy" portrait is but a tiny turning of the lips, and the first time a character gets him to smile, he seems to frighten everyone by the mere act. Mysterious Waif Lycia says straight out that she can't smile as long as she's atoning for the plot of the game, but is eventually persuaded to (along with Kunzite, properly this time) when the final dungeon rolls around.
Elite Beat Agents Derek and Chieftain almost never smile.
- Arguably, Mona from the "I Was Born To Love You" stage. The entire goal for that stage is to help Leo to get her to smile, so he can paint her portrait. And no, taking her to a concert, taking her for a flight in a flying machine, and saving her from a stampede of bulls isn't quite enough to do it. The "special tunnel" does the trick, though.
- Jake, who only starts smiling if you fail his stage and he turns into a giggling zombie.
Mega Man in Mega Man 7.
- Zero from the Mega Man X series deserves a special mention, seeing how he applies to this trope in more ways than one:
  - After Iris dies, he not only stops smiling, practically at all, but loses essentially all of his Badass Boasting personality and becomes The Stoic.
  - After X4, he no longer throws a thumbs up at the player after beating a boss either. He just turns away.
  - Even his theme music has noticeable changes. Where his theme is X4 may have been the peak of giving the feeling that Zero is about to cut down everyone in the level, in X5 and onward, Zero's music becomes a lot more calm and serious sounding.
- Then there's Geo Stelar of Mega Man Star Force, who spends much of the first game on a massive angst-trip and is shown frowning both in human and wave forms. He lightens up later, though.
There are those who doubt that Agent 47 from Hitman can even smile.
If you had a name like Max Payne....
God Of War: Kratos isn't this so much as "perpetual enraged-snarler".
- For the record, he can smile. He did it in the European version of God of War 1. That said, if he does smile, run for your life.
Riku in the Kingdom Hearts games.
Mana Khemia Alchemists Of Alrevis has Moritz of the Athanor room. Lampshaded many times during the party's first visit. First and foremost:
Nikki: Whoah! Scary face alert!
Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII almost never smiles. He's smiled all of... 5 times. Twice in Crisis Core, once in Advent Children, once in Dirge of Cerberus and once in Dissidia: Final Fantasy The original game can be sort of forgiven, though, because the characters don't even have mouths.
- Word Of God says he laughed only once in Final Fantasy VII as well, during the scene with Aeris where they are escaping from the Turks.
- Somewhat lampshaded by the name of the collection of FF 7 Compilation short stories being On The Way to a Smile.
Throughout the Legacy of Kain series, Kain very rarely smiles. In the event that he does, it's usually a good indication that his enemies have found themselves on the receiving end of his plan or he's about to do something horrible to somebody.
Sten of Dragon Age: Origins. Nonetheless he's occasionally shown that he's got a Gentle Giant side going on.
- Hawke is show doing nothing but scowling in any Dragon Age II promotional material, though thankfully, this is averted in the game itself.
Curt Schilling in Backyard Baseball.
Huang Lee of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Comes from being a Deadpan Snarker Only Sane Man.
Kazuma Kiryuu of the Yakuza games has a forbidding scowl permanently etched onto his face. He does smile a few times, usually when he's around Haruka, and it's adorable.
The Boss/The Joy from Metal Gear Solid 3. Meanwhile, The Sorrow never frowns.
Goemon started out like this.
Pokemon has Red in his remake design. He's always shown frowning, except for his victory animations in Super Smash Bros Brawl and once when he gives a haughty smirk in said game. Ironic since his original design is nearly always drawn happy and smiling.
- Subway Master Ingo, twin brother of Emmet .
- Shroomish◊, the Mushroom Pokemon.
Marcus Fenix from Gears of War never smiles. Dom is this as well, especially after Maria's death.
Trauma Center has Victor Niguel. His only two sprites are his normal one (frowning) and really pissed off. You know that it's gone From Bad to Worse when he's really pissed.
- Also CR-S01, whose reason for his Perpetual Frowner-ness is revealed in his bonus scene. He also smiled later on in the game, prompting a lot of squeeing from fans.
Mitsunari from Sengoku Basara has an unflinching Death Glare, replaced by a slight smile only once; in his best friend's imagination.
This is Shadow the Hedgehog's default expression. He'll smirk on rare occasions. About the only time he genuinely smiles is in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, where he'll sometimes smile if he does well at an event.
- Knuckles is also subject to this, particularly in some portrayals as the tough and serious loner or when his hot-headed attitude becomes more apparent later on the series. Also, most of the artwork (with the exception of him grinning in some games like Sonic Adventure) has him either frowning or clenching his teeth when he's fighting someone.
- It is unusual to see Silver crack a smile when he first appeared in Sonic The Hedgehog 2006, but this has to do him taking his duty in protecting the future very seriously. He does show a smile in some games like Sonic Generations where he shows excitement in facing Sonic in a rematch.
- Blaze is also one due to her being cold, detached loner (much like Knuckles) in the Sonic Rush Series. Even if she came out of her shell, she will still remain an perpetual frowner.
- Robotnik was one for a while in the U.S.
This is Mario's default expression in Super Smash Bros Brawl, which is jarring; considering that Mario is a pretty cheerful guy in his home series.

Visual Novels

While Saber's default expression in Fate/stay night can be described as 'neutral with a dash of stiffness', Saber Alter's scowl practically bores into your soul.
Natsuhi from Umineko No Naku Koro Ni is a Rare Female Example.
- Kanon's a male, albeit effeminate one.

Webcomics

Girl Genius: Baron Klaus Wulfenbach looks perpetually unhappy. Then again, given how much he likes his job...
- A good adventuring fight seems to perk him up a little, though, if this page is anything to go by.
Earthsong's Gwen.
Homestuck: Karkat is the angriest troll. He is just so angry, you don't even know.
- Karkat smiled once. Eridan smiled never.
VG Cats: Aeris has such a short temper that she's almost always at least annoyed. When she does smile, it's generally not a good sign.
Sabrina Online: Sabrina's mother and father are a pair of frowners, too.
Lowroad Comics: Butler insists that he has more than one expression, but apparently doesn't look into mirrors often.
Ctrl+Alt+Del — Scowl 3: The Scowling.
Rocky rarely shows happiness in Our Little Adventure, possibly because he's Surrounded by Idiots.
Dave of The Anime Club. Since Mort and Mark are always yelling at each other, they might count, too.
Walkyverse: Mike Warner has smiled about ten times over a ten year period of existence. These smiles only appear when he's completely hammered. The comment section following this comic and Amber's reaction kind of says it all.
- He has smiled twice while not drunk (warning: both links are disturbing) and only looked truly upset once.
Manly Guys Doing Manly Things seems to collect Perpetual Frowners, as seen here.◊
Tyler in Damaged Tape hasn't smiled once in the entire run of the comic. He's only had two other expressions: yelling, and a typical Nut Shot reaction face.
Mist from Waterworks, most likely due to having a bodily condition that, by the standards of her civilization, makes her hideous.

Web Original

Strong Bad, from Homestar Runner, has a luchadore mask for a face, giving him a perpetual scowl.
- Strong Bad has smiled on a few occasions... Including one time in which he believed that being flushed down the toilet would turn him into a monster.
- Strong Sad, who is the emo member of the group, almost never smiles, except for a few occasions (Usually when he gets his revenge on Strong Bad... or when he's had too much caffeine).
- All of the Brothers Strong (Strong Bad, Strong Sad, and Strong Mad) are often seen with frowns on their faces.
- The Homestar Runner Wiki has pages for cataloging instances of smiling for all three Brothers Strong.
Doreen, from Doreen and Maureen
Black puffles from Club Penguin.

Western Animation

In Justice League, Batman. Martian Manhunter too.
In Kim Possible, Shego.
- Who becomes a Perpetual Smiler in Stop Team Go.
Squidward from Sponge Bob Square Pants is a well-known frowner. Can't really blame him, what with living between Spongebob and Patrick.
- Despite his position as the page image, he is capable of smiling. Quite often, even. But only at his own jokes. Furthermore, his smile is usually an indicator that he has just tempted fate, and as such doesn't have a long life span.
The complex but bitter and sometimes just downright angsty Prince Zuko on Avatar The Last Airbender always has a big angry look on his face and has a strong tendency to stand around with his arms crossed. At the culmination of his character progression within the second season, he recovers from a spiritual illness and spends an episode at peace, smiling, and gaining a more optimistic look on life... Cue the Wham Episode. He sums it up in one line:
...are you happy now?
I'm never happy.
- Not surprisingly, Zuko's emotionless girlfriend, Mai, also fits. Interestingly enough, the only times they seem genuinely happy are when they're together. This is likely a result of Mai's listlessness and Zuko's angst canceling each other out.
Raven in Teen Titans.
Mandy in The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy. In one episode, a shape-shifter turns into Mandy, and Billy remarks "No, wait... Mandy never smiles." She has smiled exactly three times in the entire series. The first time was at the end of the pilot episode. Next, she made an evil smirk after she realized she'd accidentally wished every other human off the planet, and had the whole world to herself. Finally, she smiled during a beauty pageant in "My Fair Mandy", it warped reality. On one occasion she's made a look of genuine sadness—even rarer than a smile.
Eva the "Female Bully" from Total Drama Island rarely smiles.
The adorable but angsty Buttercup of The Powerpuff Girls.
Craig Tucker from South Park. If he's not stoical, he's this.
- Shelly frowns in most of her apperances.
Droopy and later on his son Dripple.
Hank from King of the Hill was said by Peggy to sleep with a look of extreme disgruntlement. And his father, Cotton, is always frowning.
Chuckles the Clown of Toy Story 3 is always seen with a frown on his face, as a result of going through exactly what Lotso and Big Baby went through and seeing them corrupted by their experiences. He does crack a smile at the end though.
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride: Nearly all the living people.
Huey Freeman from The Boondocks. An Adult Swim bump once featured a fan asking the question, "Does Huey ever smile?" The AS team, apparently stumped, claim to have called up Aaron McGruder to ask. The answer? Apparently, the animators are contractually obligated never to depict Huey smiling or laughing, ever.
- Huey actually does smile a few times in the series. Once when he fights Riley in "Let's Nab Oprah" and twice at Riley's basketball game. There are a few other instances of Huey smiling, but they're harder to notice. But he does fit this trope perfectly.
Popeye, at least in the earlier shorts.
Lemongrab of Adventure Time, (except for when he's confused or enjoying a good meal.)
Agent Six from Generator Rex has never changed his perpetual frown. Even when knocked out in a nanite induced coma, he has the exact same expression on his face.
Vice Coach Horace Ferret from My Gym Partner's a Monkey.
Schleprock from The Pebbles And Bamm Bamm Show (a Spin-Off of The Flintstones) was always depressed. His catch phrase was the miserable "Wowzee wowzee woo woo". He even had a perpetual storm cloud over his head.
Bleak from Lite Sprites
Meadow: I've never been so happy to see your frowning face!
Scruffy never smiles in Futurama.
Skyquake in Transformers Prime. The one time we see him smile was...unsettling.
Lance for the first few episodes of Sym-Bionic Titan. He grows out of it if fairly quickly.
Edward Platypus from Camp Lazlo.
Gordon from Thomas The Tank Engine can fall into this in most of the episodes due to being too focused on his own importance in The Fat Controller's railway.
Tina from Bobs Burgers.
Connie from Brickleberry.
Nester and Momma from Scaredy Squirrel. Momma heavily lampshade the trope.

Real Life

As an actor, Ice Cube utilizes the angry scowl so often that when he does smile, it looks downright freaky.
Many politicians!
- Especially notable in Dick Cheney◊. It doesn't matter whether he's at the Republican National Convention, the campaign trail, having tea at the White house, apologizing for shooting another guy in the face, getting an apology from the guy that he shot in the face, or even making the official announcement that Bush has won re-election — he always has this look on his face like someone just ran over his pet dog a few hours ago.
  - Or just ran over your pet dog and is daring you to do something about it.
- During his bid for president in 2000 Al Gore was known to be very dry in public and attempts to make him seem more approachable would backfire (such as kissing his wife a little too long as she joined him on stage for a rally). Since losing the election a well received stint on Saturday Night Live and poking fun at himself in Futurama a couple of times has helped reverse that opinion of being a very serious individual.
Silent era comedian Buster Keaton, also known as The Great Stone Face. In his entire film career he has only smiled once...and he had to push up the corners of his mouth with his fingers to do it.
Queen Elizabeth was once famous for this one, almost never smiling in public if she could help it. Nowadays she's rarely seen without a big smile on her face however. This role has since been taken by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose memorable attempts to smile for cameras resembled Wednesday Addams (and provoked similar reactions).
German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Although it is not that apparent on press pictures, she seems to have developed some new facial muscles since she has been voted chancellor.
Ned Sparks ("I never go anywhere, I never do anything and I never have any fun!).
Despite his rather jokey nature, Eminem rarely smiles in covers, interviews or anywhere else really.
- It's rumored that he made a vow to not smile in front of a camera after Proof died.
What about Steven Seagal◊?
Till Lindemann of Rammstein.
- Which makes the video for "Mein Teil" creepier than it would be otherwise, as he as a rather impressive rictus throughout.
Jason Statham. It's mentioned on his page that all of his good movies could alternatively be titled Jason Statham Drives A Car And Kills People (While Scowling A Lot).
- Pick any movie he's in, he has exactly two expressions: frowning, and frowning with his shirt off.
Formula One World Driving Champion Fernando Alonso. His smile practically involves a frown.
Supposedly there does exist a photo of Henrik Ibsen smiling. One portrait.
Gilmour Dobie (Gloomy Gil) was inducted into the College Football Hall Of Fame with an amazing coaching record of 182-45-15. Somehow, he never let his success affect his negative demeaner. One of his famous quotes is, "There are only two ways you can finish in life. Dead or a loser".
Charlie Sheen always looks as though he's scowling, even if he's smiling or telling a joke. His eyebrows seem to be the main factor.
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown always looked miserable (although that was probably justified). Sadly his spin-doctors noticed this and told him to smile more, it didn't really work.
Trent Reznor.
Most birds of prey such as eagles, vultures, and hawks, constantly looked pissed off all the time, although this is more due to their facial muscles being more limited in expression that in humans.
- Also with snakes, especially rattlesnakes, who might as well be considered the most angriest looking animal in the entire animal kingdom, looking like they're constantly pissed off.
- In the league of animals Boxer dogs and other large jowled breeds look like frowning is their basic look.
Long time WWE commentator Jim Ross is one of these, due to him suffering from Bell's Palsy.
Grumpy Cat aka Tardar Sauce, a snowshoe cat who became rapidly famous. Her frown is caused by feline dwarfism; by all accounts she's very sweet and affectionate.