Revealing Hug

"Never trust a hug. It's just a way to hide your face."

— The Doctor, Doctor Who, "Death in Heaven"

Two characters give each other a hug. Everything looks nice and friendly (or loving), but then Alice drops the act and allows her real feelings to show through in their expression, behind Bob's back where he can't see. But the audience can see, and so this allows them to be clued in on two things:

• Alice has some sort of secret
• Bob has no idea, and Alice is deliberately trying to keep it that way

The face Alice makes is important in determining just what the secret might mean since the audience can't tell from context or anything.

And once the hug is complete, Alice schools her face back to normality so Bob continues not suspecting a thing; she's taken what may be her only chance to let her real feelings out.

Subtrope of Meaningful Look. See also Traitor Shot, Two-Faced Aside.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Arachnid:
  • At the end of Arachnid, Alice and Gokiburi survive the Carnival of Killers but... things happened, leaving Alice a depressed wreck. Goki assures Alice she's a fundamentally kind person who did her best and Alice hugs her in return, calling her irreplaceable. We then see Gokiburi looking comically nefarious, thinking to herself she'll take the chance to have Sex for Solace with Alice, even if she must "forcefully rape" her.
  • In Blattodea, Karina talks Alice into accepting the role of Shadow Dictator by granting back her signature Razor Floss weapon and claiming that she'll protect Alice in place of her late mother. She does this while holding Alice's shoulders from behind with a most Obviously Evil look on her face, on top of the narrator remarking on how the spider wasps she represents are aggressive predators of spiders like our clueless anti-heroine.
• Huey from Baccano! shows his true colors when hugging his young daughter Chane, who just offered to become voiceless so she could keep his secrets. Not that we didn't know Huey was a bad customer anyway...
• Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School: After the audience learns that Chisa Yukizome is Brainwashed and Crazy, practically every hug they have with Munakata includes a shot of their spirally Mind-Control Eyes.
• When Light embraces Misa in Death Note, his face is utterly diabolic. As his thoughts make clear, his "feelings" for her are simply the next step in using her as an Unwitting Pawn. This is an interesting example, as Misa had told him it's OK to just use her for his own advantage, regardless of his feelings, not a few moments before. Not that it would have stopped Light even if she hadn't.
• In the second episode of Darker than Black, Hei has this when comforting Chiaki in his Li persona. While he speaks in a loving, idealistic manner, the audience can see the actual expression on his face is cold, as are his eyes. This is close to being an example of the "evil" version, as Hei is on assignment to kill Chiaki, but it's never clear whether he planned to go through with it (which is moot, as she was a Doll programmed with the memories of the real Chiaki to trap him) or would have looked for a way to save her.
• From Fairy Tail, Jellal (the evil version) gives one to Erza when he convinces her she broke through Zeref's control on him with The Power of Love. Naturally, he's still brainwashed and he just did it to drop her guard.
• Towards the climax of Himenospia, Serena has Himeno at her mercy, accusing the titular city to have been a trap for her from the beginning. Himeno did no such thing and realizes that if somebody is pulling her strings from the shadows, it must be this person who happens to be kneeling behind her with hands on her shoulders at the moment — the one who suggested her to be a "Queen" in the first place. Sure enough, Himeno turns around and sees Nagisa giving a look of Tranquil Fury at Serena.
• A Teddiursa does this in an episode of Pokémon: The Series, putting on a Moe façade while hugging Misty while hiding its true evil nature.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V has a moment where Yugo gives Rin a hug towards the end of an episode, only for Rin to give a Slasher Smile, indicating that she's Brainwashed and Crazy.

Fan Works

• Heirverse: When Gin first admits that he loves Aizen, the two embrace, which Aizen uses to conceal the fact that he's shedding Tears of Joy. This happens again in Stand By Me.
• Moxxie Morningstar: Lucifer proposes that Moxxie give the Prince life a "trial run", having him live in a Gilded Cage for two months and resume all his princely duties while claiming that if Moxxie still wants to return to his commoner lifestyle afterwards, he'll let him go. When Moxxie pulls her father and brother into a Group Hug, however, Lucifer smiles evilly, his inner thoughts revealing that he has no intentions of honoring his son's wishes whatsover.
• Played for Laughs in this Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach fancomic. Glamrock Freddy scolds Montgomery Gator for scaring Gregory (who is making Puppy-Dog Eyes), to which Monty answers, "Then tell the brat ta' stop blastin' me in the eyes with that stupid Fazer Blaster." As Glamrock Freddy picks up Gregory and carries him away, Gregory peeks at Monty, blows a raspberry at him and whispers, "Eat my shorts, tin-can."

Films — Animation

• Oliver & Company: Jenny tells Georgette that Oliver has been kidnapped, and Georgette lays her head on Jenny's shoulder, seemingly sobbing. As Jenny consoles her, we see that Georgette is actually snickering, because she was the one who helped with the "kidnapping". It turns into an Oh, Crap! face when Jenny says they're going to go get him back.
• In Turning Red, the only scene of the Jade Palace Diaries that is seen is a Traitor Shot via this.

Films — Live-Action

• A humorous one in Charade, when Audrey Hepburn has just learned that Cary Grant has been lying to her about who he is and why he's hanging out with her. Not knowing she knows, he gives her what's intended as a comforting hug while telling her he's moved into the room adjoining hers. The way her eyes suddenly get very wide is hilarious.
• Eastern Promises:
  • A less dramatic, subtler example with the Cooldown Hug Nikolai gives Kirill. It's not as if Nikolai's oblivious to his feelings, though.
  • A better example might be the hug in the basement after Nikolai has been offered his stars. It lingers just long enough for Kirill to start looking like he half-ways expects a kiss; then Nikolai pats his cheek and moves away.
• Happens at the end of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter when Tommy is embracing his sister Trish, and he gives a disturbed look at the camera.
• In The Godfather Part II, during the funeral of Mother Corleone, Michael and Fredo reconcile with a hug. However, as they embrace each other, Mike signals his hitman Al to kill Fredo.
• In The Teaser of Goldfinger, James Bond is making out with a belly dancer in his room just as a hidden assassin emerges with a truncheon and sneaks up on him. We (and Bond) then see her oddly calm reaction to the assassin's appearance (as well as the reflection of the assassin in her eyes) revealing that they are working together. Fortunately, Bond catches on, and it does not end well for either of them.
• Holocaust 2000: While Sara is staying at Angel's apartment, there's a moment where he embraces her in a hug and rather sinisterly looks away.
• Horror of Dracula: At the beginning Johnathan runs into Dracula's bride who begs him for help, claiming the count is keeping her prisoner there. After Johnathan assures her of his aid, they hug... but then the camera focuses on her as her eyes suddenly linger on his neck before she suddenly sprouts fangs and bites him.
• In Juice, during Raheem's funeral, Bishop talks to his dead friend's mother and lets her cry on his shoulders. While this is happening, Bishop gives a cold and arrogant stare to Q, because Q knows that Bishop killed Raheem and threatened to kill him and his friends if he told. Q stares back, realizing what a monster Bishop is.
• In the Stanley Kubrick adaptation of Lolita, Humbert eyes a bedside picture of Charlotte's underage daughter while smooching Charlotte on their marriage bed. Charlotte chooses that moment to reveal her plan to send Lolita away to a strict boarding school, so she doesn't see Humbert's shocked (and then contemplative) expression either.
• No One Would Tell, a 1996 made-for-TV movie starring Fred Savage and Candace Cameron (the future Bure) based on the true story of a teenage boy who kills his girlfriend after she tries to break up with him after months of physical and emotional abuse. Here, the ill-fated couple is Bobby Tennison (Savage) and Stacy Collins (Cameron). In the scene where the murder occurs, Bobby lures Stacy to a remote lake, where he pretends to concede defeat and allow for an amicable breakup, and the two embrace. The look on Bobby's eyes turns crazed as he pulls out a knife to slit her throat and kill her.
• North By Northwest: Roger is on the lam, meets Eve on a train, they get on very well... as he holds her we see her cool, calculating face, having slipped a note to his pursuers in the next compartment.
• At the very end of Oldboy (2003), when Dae-Su hugs Mi-Do, we see his smile slowly change into a mask of grief. It is up to the viewer what this means, though it seems to imply that the hypnosis may not have worked.
• In the 2001 TV movie version of Othello, Christopher Eccleston's character gets a really good one while hugging (John) Othello after the latter's promotion. That look makes it clear to anyone in the audience who wasn't already aware of the plot that Ben Jago is NOT the man Othello should be depending on.
• In Sleeping with the Enemy, Laura doesn't want to have sex with her abusive husband. But to avoid further violence, she pretends to be aroused as he makes advances to her, right before we see her upset face over his shoulder.
• The Usual Suspects. Dean Keaton hugs his lawyer girlfriend after she encourages him to not be discouraged by the police harassment from his attempt to reform. As he does so, he eyes the fellow cons he'd been thrown into the lockup with, who are standing across the road watching them. This presages Keaton's decision to go back to a life of crime.
• Westworld. The protagonist gets into bed with a Sex Bot but doesn't find any difference between the robot and a human girl. As they embrace, however, the audience gets a close-up of her emotionless eyes staring over his shoulder.

Literature

• In the Harry Potter series, Dudley Dursley pretends to be very upset, wailing and carrying on. Then, when hugged by Petunia and slipped a few pounds by Uncle Vernon, Dudley nastily grins at Harry while his parents' backs are turned.

Live-Action TV

• In later seasons of 'Allo 'Allo!, a Running Gag was that Michelle of the Resistance - apparently the only woman in the town not attracted to Kavorka Man Rene — would pretend she was in order to get him on board with her plans. During their embraces, the camera would close in on her rolling her eyes and looking exasperated.
• Used frequently with Laura Moon in American Gods — often during sex scenes, which makes it even more unsettling. She always appears lifeless and unfulfilled, whether she's with her husband, Shadow, or her lover, Robbie. (Although after her death and resurrection she gets much more emotional about Shadow.)
• Babylon 5: In an episode where a Beautiful Slave Girl is trying to get close to Londo to gain access to some Blackmail files at the behest of her master, they embrace at one point and the facade she's put on for his benefit slips for a moment.
• Being Human had Owen hugging his fiancée, trying to reassure her that their house isn't haunted. He is, of course, staring straight at Annie, complete with Psychotic Smirk, while he tells the woman he's hugging he "can't see anything".
  • The U.S. remake has Danny hugging his girlfriend after convincing her that his ex-fiancée Sally's death was accidental. In actuality, Danny killed her intentionally.
• Batwoman (2019). In "Tell Me The Truth", Sophie Moore reveals to her husband Tyler that she had a lesbian affair with Kate Kane while they were in the military academy. At the end of the episode, Sophie assures Tyler that he's the one she loves and whatever feeling she had for Kate ended long ago. From their expressions when they embrace, it's clear that both of them have their doubts.
• On The Big Bang Theory, Raj is threatened with being financially cut off by his parents because he's spending excessive amounts of money on the girl he's dating. He tells her that he chose love over money (and that they would have to return the more expensive gifts he bought her), leading to a hug with her looking disappointed. The next scene shows him depressed over their breakup.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  • "Doppelgangland", Willow hugs her vampire counterpart before sending her back to her own reality. As they hug, VampWillow grins mischievously. Two seconds later, Willow jumps away:
    Willow: Hands! Hands!
  • In "The Dark Age", Jenny is temporarily knocked out when a demon-possessed man breaks out of his cell. As a guilt-stricken Giles later holds her, her eyes flash in an "uh-oh" moment.
  • Angel loses his soul after sleeping with Buffy. When they meet up the next day, he grimaces in distaste when Buffy hugs him. The same thing happens when Faith steals Buffy's body, then gets hugged by Buffy's mother.
  • "Becoming, Part 2". Buffy realises that Angel has got his soul back and hugs him. As Buffy does so her eyes widen in horror because she can see a vortex to the hell dimension opening behind Angel; she tells Angel to close his eyes and does what she must.
  • When Buffy is brought Back from the Dead at the beginning of Season Six, her Dull Eyes of Unhappiness whenever she hugs her friends shows she's not grateful because they actually pulled her out of Heaven.
• In the season six finale of Criminal Minds, "Lauren", the team are informed of Emily Prentiss' apparent death at the hands of Ian Doyle (In reality a cover-up by J.J and Hotch to protect her). J.J and Reid hug to comfort one another and whereas only grief can be seen on Reid's face, J.J looks at Hotch over his shoulder with an expression showing that there is more going on.
• Dawson's Creek: Jack assures Joey that he's not gay and they hug; Joey looks relieved, and Jack's face is pained.
• Doctor Who:
  • In "Death in Heaven", which provides the page quote, the Doctor and Clara are both doing this: they're both lying about having a happier life, so the other won't leave their happy life for the sake of their friendship.
  • The page quote is repeated when the Doctor later hugs Clara again in "The Magician's Apprentice", though the context is different.
  • In "Twice Upon a Time", Bill hugs the First Doctor, only to reveal her eyes and hands behind the Doctor's back have shapeshifted into those of the Glass Woman.
• Drake on Drake & Josh hugs his Girl of the Week while making the "Call me" gesture to another girl.
• In The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will proposes to Lisa after he's discharged from the hospital (he had been shot in the previous episode). When Lisa is surprised, Will hugs her — and we see the look of worry on her face, letting the audience know that she isn't comfortable with the sudden turn this has taken.
• In Friends, Rachel stops short of confessing her feelings to Ross when she sees him and Emily (his bride-to-be) kissing and instead wishes him a great marriage with a "congratulations" hug while looking utterly miserable when she hugs him.
  • Additionally, in the first season episode "The One With the Dozen Lasagnes", Rachel breaks it off with the Romantic False Lead, Paolo, after discovering he hit on Phoebe. When Ross swoops in to reassure (and hopefully woo) her, Rachel disgustedly swears off all men romantically before gratefully hugging Ross for his support. His face drops from friendly acceptance prior to hug to an expression akin to disheartened defeat.
• In the Full House episode "You Pet It, You Bought It", this is Played for Laughs. Late in the episode, Michelle meets an exhausted Jesse, who has just spent an entire night trying to serenade Shorty the donkey in an attempt to prevent him from getting too loose, in the morning. While Jesse and Michelle embrace each other over the (seeming) success of keeping Shorty on the leash for the night, Jesse comments that he probably smells bad due to his staying all night next to a donkey. Michelle assures him that's not the case... only to give a facial expression that is visible to the audience but not to Jesse that serves to indicate her words of assurance were Blatant Lies.
• Game of Thrones:
  • Two in "First of His Name". First, Lysa graciously welcomes her niece Sansa to her castle but Lysa's smile slides right off her face when she hugs Sansa. Then, Littlefinger lets his loving mask toward Lysa slip into a very telling look of disgust when she starts cuddling him after revealing that she's brought a septon to wed them immediately.
  • And a few episodes later after delivering the tearful story of her aunt's "suicide" (actually she was murdered by Littlefinger in front of Sansa's eyes) Sansa is hugged by Anya Waynwood and levels a perfectly sober and Meaningful Look at Littlefinger behind Anya's back. This seals her change from The Ingenue of the first three seasons to an active player in the game of thrones.
  • In a Deleted Scene, Queen Margaery Tyrell stares thoughtfully at King Renly's armor while comforting her brother Loras after Renly's assassination. Loras is mourning the death of a lover; the more pragmatic Margaery (who served as The Beard to her gay husband) is contemplating what their next step to the Iron Throne might be after this setback.
• Glee had Will's wife Terri discover that she wasn't actually pregnant with their longed-for baby. She plans to break the news to Will gently, but after he starts by giving a little speech about how important family is to him and how much he's looking forward to being a father, she lies and tells him that she's discovered she's having a boy. Her expression of utter panic over his shoulder as he hugs her in joy is tragically hilarious.
• This trope gets significant usage on Heroes. HRG (Noah Bennet) has done it to members of his family more than once, and it happens with the Petrellis fairly often too. Even Sylar has done it at least once.
• Lost: Sun tells Jin, "I have never been with another man," and hugs him. As soon as she's in the hug, her face changes, and we later learn that this was a lie.
• Happens on MythQuest. During Alex and Yuki's first hug, she reveals Supernatural Gold Eyes and her true identity as a snow demon named Yuki Onna.
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide: As part of their plan to trick Missy into believing that he and Moze are dating, Moze hugs Ned... and holds on after Missy leaves.
  Ned: Um, you can... let go now.
  Moze: Huh? Oh, right. I know...
• In Noah's Arc, Guy gives one to Trey, taunting Alex in the process.
• One Life to Live: After Luna expresses anxiety about her impending wedding (due to being widowed very soon into her first marriage), her fiancé Max reassures her. She laughs, insists that she's fine, and they hug. Of course, we see her secretly upset face over his shoulder ... but the trope is then played twice when we see HIS equally worried face. As it turns out, he is fully aware that she's only pretending to be okay.
• ¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.? features the cheek kiss-cheek kiss variety. Grandmother Adela goes to greet Nosy Neighbor Marta with a hug and big smile to Marta's face, but a "yuck" expression behind the woman's back.
• On Revenge, this is practically Emily Thorne's Signature Move. Her hated enemy Victoria Grayson also sometimes gets into the act.
• Occurs in the second season of the HBO series Rome. Atia is reconciled with her son Octavian, but as they embrace, you see a look on Atea's face that implies she's just doing it for the power. Additionally, when Octavian and Mark Antony embrace when they join forces. The looks on both their faces make it clear that neither of them would be doing this if it wasn't absolutely necessary.
  • And again with Atia and Cleopatra.
    Atia: Die screaming, you pig-spawned trollop.
  • There are plenty of lesser examples, but it's notable that most of the time both sides are completely aware of the other's intentions.
• Smallville:
  • Done in an episode where Clark hugs Lana. A close-up of his face reveals a distortion and an evil smile revealing him as Bizarro to the audience.
  • A lighthearted example in "Noir". Jimmy and Chloe confront someone who shoves Chloe into the stairwell. After Clark catches her and retreats to the shadows, Jimmy rushes in, worried and not understanding what happened, but Chloe plants a "Shut Up" Kiss on him. When they hug, Chloe faces Clark and silently says something that looks suspiciously like "I love you too".
• In The Sopranos, Chris and Tony — whose relation is falling over — seem to cordially embrace during a baptism, but without any words, their chilling stares powerfully convey a primal fear and a bitter disappointment.
• Sorry, I've Got No Head had a skit about EastEnders employing this. In the midst of a Revealing Hug, the famous theme starts playing when another character interrupts the two hugging, pointing out this trope and that one of them was lying to the other. The woman of the duo runs off crying, and the man, feeling sad, asks for a hug. Cue the same music and the same look.
• Supernatural
  • When Dean finds Cas in Purgatory, he gives him an overjoyed and relieved hug. Dean's close to Manly Tears— but he's got his face tucked into Cas' neck to the point where he can't see the latter's clenched fist and shattered expression—Cas can't bring himself to hug Dean back because Leviathans are after him, and he has to leave Dean to keep him safe.
  • A subtle version when Dean hugs Sam at the start of Season 6, Sam just smiles patiently as if it's no big deal, despite not having met his brother for over a year. The difference is only apparent when Sam gets his soul back halfway through the season and they hug a second time.
• On V (2009): Ryan is seen over his fiancée's shoulder as he hugs her. The audience knows he's troubled because Valerie just found out she's pregnant, and Ryan is a Visitor, but she doesn't know that. To complicate matters, he genuinely loves her.
• Used in Xena: Warrior Princess, in the episode "The Rheingold". Xena "confesses" her love for Odin while weeping, he embraces her, and we see her shifty eyes and suspiciously calm expression as she continues to make weepy sounds.

Pro Wrestling

• Eddie Guerrero vs. Chyna (defending champion) vs. Kurt Angle for the Intercontinental Championship in 2000. Angle knocked Chyna down with the belt, Eddie suplexed Angle out of the ring and then went to check on Chyna to make sure she was alright. In the process, he accidentally pinned her, winning the Intercontinental Championship from her. After the match, he explained himself and was as shocked as she was. Chyna apparently forgave him, and they hugged... except the camera revealed an excellent smirk on Eddie's face behind Chyna's back. Seems he wasn't so upset about winning the championship after all.
• Layla gave one to Kaitlyn before the latter's Divas Championship opportunity against A.J. Lee in 2013. She praised Kaitlyn as a deserving champion and hugged her, while also showing a Traitor Shot, suggesting that Layla had villainous plans against Kaitlyn. Sure enough, Layla did betray Kaitlyn during the match and cost her the title against AJ.
• Then there was the entire Bully Ray-Brooke Hogan thing during the Aces And Eights storyline, during which Bully was fighting against the Aces & Eights alongside Sting while courting/dating Brooke at the same time — and Brooke's dad, General Manager Hulk Hogan, did not trust Bully at first. Eventually, Bully proposed marriage to Brooke and she said yes…and during their hug, Bully looked at the camera with a blank expression as though he was the Only Sane Man in the ring. Sure enough, he earned Hulk's trust…then turned out to be the Aces' President.

Video Games

• Done late in Dragon Age: Inquisition when the Inquisitor helps Leliana investigate a cryptic message from the late Divine. Upon reaching the location the message leads them to, they meet a priest who greets and is greeted by Leliana warmly; but when they hug, Leliana gives the slightest of frowns and a shake of her head to the Inquisitor, telling them something isn't right. It turns out the priest is a spy for someone higher up in the Chantry who wants to find what the Divine left behind to blackmail Leliana.
• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon: During the finale, as Rex embraces Dr. Darling, they turn to the audience as their eyes start glowing purple, the same as Rex and Sloan's Electronic Eyes.
• Impossible Creatures: As Lucy and Rex embrace, the audience sees his eyes begin to glow in the same fashion as the combined creatures, implying that his Sigma mutation is reaching another stage.
• In Mortal Kombat 11's DLC, "Aftermath", Kitana meets up with a resurrected Sindel, thinking her the good mother she remembered her as before being controlled by Shang Tsung and Shao Khan. However in this timeline, Sindel truly is evil and when they embrace, Sindel has a look of disdain on her face.

Webcomics

• Near the end of Avalon, Ceilidh breaks up with Joe and goes to Phoebe for comfort. Cut to her smiling serenely, probably either out of relief that she wasn't staying in the doomed relationship, or, going by later events, relief that he was out of her way.
• One arc of Dominic Deegan involved one of Luna's coworkers attempting to break up her and Dominic in secret, giving a nasty glance when hugging her in consolation. Dominic happened to catch it, only fueling his suspicions that he was up to something.
• In a possible parody in Homestuck, an extended hug of significant, hidden facial expressions occurs between Vriska and her ancestor Aranea, which starts with Vriska praising Aranea's (by her standards) rambling story, which she seems to takes at face value as she answers with some kind words about her piratical attitude, they give each other a big hug... and, successively, Vriska makes a gagging face for her friend in the background, who answers with a "wanking" hand gesture, they high-five each other, while on the other side of the embrace, Aranea narrows her eyes...
• When Emily tells Ash in Misfile that she's agreed to go on a date with a guy she's just met, Ash says that she's happy for her. She looks like she's about to break down into tears when they hug because she wishes that she (actually a "he" deep down inside) could be the person Emily's going out with.
• Subverted in this strip of Sluggy Freelance. It's not Torg's face that reveals his emotions (we don't even see his face), but rather his inability to return Zoe's hug. The subversion comes in when Zoe notices it (caught up in the moment, she could have easily not realized Torg never hugged her back).
• TwoKinds: Eric threatened to molest a 13-year-old girl! Or did he?

Web Original

• Oddly subverted in Ruby Quest. At the end of the first day, Ruby and Tom are united for the first time and give each other a badly needed hug. Then Tom opens his eyes... and, well, he opens his eyes. He has to open them sometime, right?
  • After reading the story to its very conclusion, and re-reading to this point, there are three probable reasons for this seemingly out-of-place dramatic moment: Perhaps he is feeling the first effects of the arsenic-laden fish. Perhaps he is vaguely aware, despite the amnesia, that he is hugging the person who once killed him. Perhaps he never had amnesia, is acutely aware that she has amnesia, and is biding his time until he gets out of his cell and the Metal Glen, and away from that maniac Red. Admittedly, his later reactions seem genuine enough to preclude that last option, but the penultimate panel remains ambiguous...
• The Suspiciously Evil Sloth meme is based on this trope, adding humorous captions to a picture where a man is hugging/holding a sloth, and behind his back, the sloth seems to be making a Psychotic Smirk.

Western Animation

• Toyed with in Avatar: The Last Airbender when Aang and Iroh rescue Katara and Zuko, who had been Locked in a Room. While both pairs are genuinely happy to be reunited, Aang and Zuko aren't thrilled to be working together, and shoot each other Death Glares across the shoulders of their hug-partners.
• A Lampshade of this occurs in Danny Phantom when Jazz adds an unnecessary commentary as she hugs her "Uncle Vlad". ("Keep hugging, we'll see who hugs last.")
• Parodied in a Cutaway Gag from Family Guy, where Lois is confronted by two Peters and has to decide which is really him and which is a robotic duplicate. She makes her choice and shoots one, then drops her gun and hugs the other - and his face immediately falls away to reveal circuitry.
• The short animated film Red, where Little Red Riding Hood refuses the advances of the wolf (who looks like a slightly feral child wearing a wolf costume) after spilling the cakes she was going to bring to her grandmother. After leaving brokenhearted, Red encounters a unicorn-horned rabbit, which she hugs (not noticing the evil-toothed grin it makes before mutating into a bear-sized horned monster that was ready to devour Red before the wolf comes back in time to save the day).
• In The Simpsons episode "Lisa Simpson, This Isn't Your Life", Lisa withdraws from the Cool School of her dreams when she learns that Marge pays for it by working overnight as the school's laundress. Lisa makes light of it, but when Marge hugs her in relief, Lisa's face sinks in dejection.
• Total Drama:
  • Following a lengthy rant about his shortcomings, Courtney hugs Duncan tight in "I See London..." and admits that she truly missed him ever since he left the show. At that moment, Gwen steps out of the bathroom, out of view of Courtney, but into view of Duncan. Duncan makes eye contact with Gwen and says that every time he ran from the cops, he thought of her, which for the time being he lets Courtney believe is an admission that he also missed her.
  • Scott begins his manipulation of Zoey in "Runaway Model" by fake-crying over Lindsay's potentially lethal ordeal. For extra sympathy points, he gets her to hug him while he continues crying on her shoulder. As she gently tells him not to worry and that it'll all work out, he flashes a grin at his success behind her back.

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