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Unusual Eyebrows

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Hmm, maybe you used too much eyeliner.

Need a striking, original character design, but only know how to draw about six faces? Why, give them a pair of Unusual Eyebrows, of course!

Apart from hair, giving a character a pair of not-quite-standard looking eyebrows is an easy way to make them physically stand out without making them more difficult to draw. Best yet, there's an easy selection of potential eyebrow styles to choose from:

  • Kinked/Squiggly Eyebrows - a pair of thin eyebrows with one or two "kinks" near the end. Usually used to make the character just eye-catching enough without being overly jarring. More extreme examples might resemble scythes.
  • Fiery Eyebrows - usually found on Hot-Blooded characters, these eyebrows are thicker than normal (though not quite a big as the Big Ol' Eyebrows. Usually), and spiky or forked at the ends. They're often paired with Hot-Blooded Sideburns. Some examples may involve literally Flaming Hair.
  • Swooped Eyebrows - eyebrows that curve upwards rather than arch like normal eyebrows. Typically used for otherworldly or "alien" characters, though they do occasionally show up on normal (if often strange) humans. This is also the most likely example to appear on Live-Action TV characters.
  • Lightning Eyebrows - Eyebrows shaped like lightning bolts; Exactly What It Says on the Tin, in other words. Have similar connotations as Fiery Eyebrows, but are usually found on secondary/supporting characters instead.

Some styles have become so common that they've earned their own tropes:

Make the character's eyebrows odd enough, and you might find fans obsessing over them as much as the Iconic Outfit.

Not related to the Fascinating Eyebrow and only tangentially to Oddly Visible Eyebrows.


Examples

    open/close all folders 

    Anime and Manga 
  • Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple:
    • Shigure Kosaka has kinked eyebrows. Damn, are they squiggly.
    • Shio Sakaki has fiery eyebrows.
    • Akisame has lightning eyebrows.
  • One Piece:
    • Sanji's right eyebrow is not only swooped, but twirly. We do not ever see his left eyebrow — or eye, for that matter. As of the timeskip his other eye is revealed... it swirls on the end that is near his nose making a @_ @_ face. Zoro mocks his eyebrows frequently, and other strangers comment on Sanji’s weird facial feature. When Sanji becomes defacto captain of a part of the crew, they immediately call themselves the “Twirlyhats”.
      • Sanji’s brothers Ichiji, Niji and Yonji as well his sister Reiji all have twirly eyebrows though they swirl in different directions to their brother. Vinsmoke Sora whose the mother of Sanji doesn’t have twirly brows and his father Judge mysterious keeps his brows hidden at all times... Wild Mass Guessing away.
      • Whenever Sanji uses his Germa power, his eyebrows flip to the same direction as his siblings'. They flip back to normal when he's not using it. Chapter 1077 has a page of his eyebrow flipping from direction to the other.
    • Rob Lucci. Crosses over into a reverse of Swooped Eyebrows, and distinctly scythe-like. This is actually a rather common type of eyebrows in One Piece.
    • Canon Filler villain Foxy has particularly spikey eyebrows.
  • Roger Smith from The Big O. They're sort of...windshield wiper-shaped.
  • Shuda, the initial dragon from Rave Master. To show that his Dark Bring gave him a fire power not only did he get red hair that shot up like fire, he got eyebrows that did the same thing.
  • Eyeshield 21:
    • Kid has eyebrows that are squiggly at the ends. In fact Hiruma's nickname for him is "Fucking Eyebrows".
    • Daigo Ikari is probably the most hot-blooded character in a series full determinators and manly men. As if to prove how hot-blooded he is, he has flame brows drawn where his eye brow should be, apparently using black eye grease.
    • Raimon "Monta" Taro has your standard Big Ol' Eyebrows, except for the fact that they somehow go through over his hairline in Captain Crunch-like fashion.
  • While not as emphasized as most examples, Fangfang from Rosario + Vampire has kinked eyebrows.
  • In Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Domon Kasshu's fiery eyebrows are a relatively subtle example (or at least more subtle than the rest of him, anyway). The real winner, however, is Argo Gulskii, who looks like he set his eyelids on fire.
  • Kittan Bachika from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann — a show that overflows with Hot Blood and Rule of Cool — is easily recognizable by his Fiery Eyebrows and giant shock of two-toned hair.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam Wing's Dorothy Catalonia has a pair of the most prominent fiery eyebrows ever (just look up above again). Her possible idol was Victory Gundam's Katejina Loos, hers being not as weird but still kind of prominent.
    • Go For It, Domon W!, a non-canonical 4-koma that ran as a backup feature in the manga (featuring characters from G Gundam and Gundam Wing), showed that she can change their shape at will, to imitate the V-fins of various Gundams. In another strip, Dorothy took Allenby's Nobel Gundam and customized it for her own use; the modifications included new V-fins to match her eyebrows.
    • Her cousin Treize has the same kind of eyebrows, just not as prominent.
  • Mazinger Z: Kouji sports a pair of very prominent, very thick fiery eyebrows.
  • The majority of characters from Outlaw Star have fiery eyebrows — Gene, Jim and Aisha in particular.
  • Maiza Avaro and Szilard Quates from Baccano! has fiery eyebrows.
  • Ryoma Nagare in any incarnation of Getter Robo has fiery eyebrows.
  • The Raikage from Naruto has forked eyebrows which go with his forked mustache, dagger-like beard, and pointy slicked back hair. Given his fighting style and title they're probably meant to be more like lightning than fire, but not lightning eyebrows because that wouldn't really fit with the art-style.
    • Guy gains literal Fiery Eyebrows when using the Eighth Gate.
  • Inspector Lunge from Monster has swooped eyebrows.
  • Abarai Renji from Bleach, with whom it's hard to tell where the tattoos start and his eyebrows begin.
  • Hughes from Fairy Tail has arrows for eyebrows.
  • Hoover Kippenburg from the Area 88 manga has thin, violently arched eyebrows.
  • Some characters in Dragon Ball, such as Vegeta, or anyone gone Super Saiyan, seem to have their eyebrows directly attached to their eyes. As a result they often look serious or angry, although causality of this is up for debate.
  • A few characters from My Hero Academia, such as Tenya Iida and his brother Tensei, who both have eyebrows which are pointed at the ends.

    Comic Books 
  • Starfire and her people are sometimes drawn with the distal ends of their eyebrows connecting to their hair.
  • Jason Blood, host of Etrigan, has distinctive swooped eyebrows with pointy tufts on the arches, which makes him recogizable at a glance even in instances like his appearance as one of several individuals held in suspended animation by Morgan Le Fay in Wonder Woman (1987).
  • Wonder Woman Vol 1: Queen Atomia's eyebrows are drawn at least twice as long as those of human characters, which in addition to her long red hair, claw-like nails and—in early prints—fully green colored eyes makes her seem like a prototype Tamaranian.

    Films — Animation 

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Jareth from Labyrinth has swooped eyebrows (and swept up hair), no doubt to enhance his exotic nature.
  • The moon women in Missile to the Moon have Vulcan-like swooped eyebrows.

    Literature 
  • The Stormlight Archive: The Thaylen people have foot-long white eyebrows, whether male or female and whether they have any other hair on their head or not. Many Thaylens style the eyebrows, like starching them into spikes or fan-shapes, but others just keep them brushed behind their ears, giving the appearance of a skunk stripe.

    Live-Action TV 
  • The "Low" version of Cat in the Red Dwarf episode "Demons and Angels" has forked eyebrows that meet in the middle.
  • Turlough in Doctor Who was deliberately given combed-up, sharp, ginger eyebrows to look more alien.
    • From the same series, the Tenth Doctor has wild, spiky eyebrows that match his gravity-defying hair and Hot Blooded Sideburns.
    • Going back a lot further, the First Doctor story "The Space Museum" involved teenage aliens with two sets of eyebrows, one one top of the other. They somehow matched nicely with their very mod outfits (black turtle-neck jumpers, etc.).
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Pharazôn sports the kinked type that matches his Beard of Evil.
  • Spock and other Vulcans in Star Trek have swooped eyebrows. Also Romulans, and the proto-Vulcan Mintakan people in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Who Watches the Watchers".
  • Maya on Space: 1999 has straight line eyebrows set at an angle with the hair formed into beads.

    Theatre 
  • Most of the characters from Cats have various types of Unusual Eyebrows, made even stranger by the obvious fact that cats don't HAVE eyebrows.

    Video Games 

    Visual Novels 
  • In Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2, Kureha has diamond-shaped eyebrows, as shown here.
  • Shirou Emiya from Fate/stay night. They're actually a rather subtle hint as to the identity of Archer, the only other character drawn with such eyebrows.
    • Kirei Kotomine sports kinked variation.
  • One of the defining features of Our Life: Beginnings & Always's main love interest, Cove Holden. In particular, he sports a pair of wavy eyebrow, a feature that's harped upon by other characters in the game (potentially including the game's MC).
  • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney:
    • Phoenix Wright himself has kinked eyebrows.
    • Apollo Justice has fiery eyebrows. Not to mention he is fittingly red, young and passionate.

    Webcomics 

    Western Animation 
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender gives us Jet and his eyebrows; shaped like long, skinny tildes whose curves are slightly pointed. They're difficult to describe - you almost have to see them to believe them - and the completely unexplained contrast between him and every single other character on the show has led to his eyebrows becoming a Memetic Mutation within the fandom.
  • Mako and Lightning Bolt Zolt from The Legend of Korra have fiery eyebrows.
  • Samurai Jack gives us Aku, whose eyebrows aren't just flaming, they are literally fire. They're also apparently detachable; he keeps them in a drawer when he sleeps, and puts them on like little hats above his eyes upon awakening.
    Aku: Once upon a time, there was a little girl with an adorable red cape, and GREAT FLAAAAMING EYEBROWS who was beloved by all, and so, the people affectionately named her Little Red Hood.
  • ThunderCats (1985):
    • Lion-o and Panthro, as well as many other male Thunderians, have fiery eyebrows.
    • Tygra has extremely arched eyebrows. Latter Alluro shows up with even more dramatically arched brows (with blue eyeshadow, no less).
  • The Copper Kidd from SilverHawks.
  • Mekt from Legion of Super Heroes (2006) has lightning eyebrows.
  • Ice King from Adventure Time, and his Distaff Counterpart, both have lightning eyebrows.
  • Ruby Gloom:
    • Ruby has eyebrows that swirl at the top!
    • To a lesser extent, Frank — he has Big Ol' Eyebrows with smaller brows underneath. His brother, Len, has normal eyebrows, apart from the fact that one is pierced.
  • The Monarch from The Venture Bros. has long, thin eyebrows that jut out from his face by half a foot and curl at the end. They actually resemble a butterfly's antennae, to complement his villainous theme.
  • Everyone on Total Drama has a different set of Unusual Eyebrows, ranging from dots, to straight lines, to unibrows, to dashes, to barely visible curls to perfect arcs.
  • Starfire from Teen Titans (2003) has very strange ovals for eyebrows, as do other Tamaraneans.
  • Before there was Total Drama, there was The Pirates of Dark Water, with a similar array.

    Real Life 
  • Amanda Palmer paints them on in fancy patterns, and has joked that they're actually alien barcodes.
  • Lynn Gunn of PVRIS often has her left eyebrow partially shaved, making a distinct striped pattern. It also matches her shaved-sides hairstyle.
  • Will Poulter (known for The Maze Runner Series and We're the Millers) has unusually sharp, curved eyebrows. We're the Millers pokes fun at them:
    Scottie P: What are you gonna do about it, Eyebrows?


 
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Video Example(s):

Top

GREAT FLAMING EYEBROWS!

Aku tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood to a group of children by casting him as the main character, complete with his eyebrows.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (11 votes)

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Main / FlamingHair

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