Since eyes are the windows of the soul, many authors mark these characters' uniqueness visually by giving them an eye color that is unusual and distinctive. This trope is when eye color is a giveaway for the special, magical nature of a character or group of characters.
What these powers and traits are may vary. Perhaps they have The Gift with some inherent magic, perhaps they underwent some transformative ritual or training, or maybe they are a Half-Human Hybrid or favored by The Fair Folk. Regardless of flavor they have a supernatural power that is special or unique within their world, and closely tied to their identity.
What this means depends on the world. In a world where magical abilities are commonplace, this trope wouldn't come into play unless a character has an unusual skill or special role. Similarly, in a world where all characters have different eye colors for visual distinctiveness, this trope is unlikely to come into play. Please note that the relationship between eye color and magic must be made explicit In-Universe. Here a few ways this can happen:
- Everyone in a group with the same type of magic has the same, unusual eye color.
- A character has Technicolor Eyes, in a work where most people have mundane eye colors.
- Their eye color is the result of an Eye Color Change triggered by the event that gives them powers.
- Color-Coded Wizardry: their eyes are the same color as their aura or powers.
- The narrator or other characters remark on the connection between their eyes and powers.
Some colors are more common than others:
- Green Eyes, due to Emerald Power
- Occult Blue Eyes
- Prophet Eyes
- Supernatural Gold Eyes
Expect these characters to keep their eye color if their power includes shapeshifting.
A subtrope of Meaningful Appearance, Color-Coded Eyes, Technicolor Eyes, and Mark of the Supernatural. Sister trope to Magical Eye. Compare Elemental Eye Colors, when eye color signifies the type of (elemental) power, rather than the distinctiveness of it.
Examples
Anime and Manga
- Macross Zero: Sara's green eyes show both her connection to the earth and her Psychic Powers, which allow her to empathically communicate with the island's wildlife. It turns out this is due to the Protoculture tampering with her ancestor's DNA. Most other characters have brown or otherwise dull-colored eyes.
- Words Worth: Maria has lime green eyes, and is a powerful mage from the Tribe of Light. She can even sense disturbances from afar, though she can't actually see them. Her daughter, Mew, has the same eyes and is also a mage, though she has yet to attain her mother's level of proficiency.
Live-Action TV
- In the Charmed (1998) episode "The Eyes Have It", a magical gypsy has green eyes that connect to her ability to use green-colored magic, and shoot green beams out of the same eyes. When another character kills her and takes her eyes, he is able to use the same powers.
Literature
- In The Camp Half-Blood Series, all wood nymphs, supernatural nature spirits responsible for protecting natural landmarks, have green eyes.
- In The Children of Man, the color of a person's eyes indicates their magical talent. Blue mages have blue eyes, yellow mages golden eyes, etc. Brown eyes indicate someone who can use several magic talents, while Grays have reflective silver eyes.
- In The Girl with the Silver Eyes, there a number of kids with unusual/impossible eye colors that are associated with unusual powers, a result of being exposed to an experimental drug in pregnancy. Notably, Katie, the main character, has silver eyes that cause her to be teased because they are unusual, but her silver eyes also indicate her telekinetic ablilites.
- In Septimus Heap, all people with at least a little training in wizardry have green eyes.
- Jojen Reed in A Song of Ice and Fire is a "greenseer" (i.e. he has prophetic abilities) and has eyes of an odd shade of moss green as a physical sign of this.
- The Wolf Chronicles: Kaala visits the spirit world in the second book and meets Indru himself, noting that he has strange silver eyes. He shows her a memory of him first making the Promise, and he has yellow eyes in the memory; therefore, silver eyes represents the spirit world.
Theme Parks
- Lost Island Theme Park: Members of the Mura Clan's Shaman order gain "the green eyes of Sight" after taking their oath, though this comes with the price of the "Shaman's Curse" of continuous nightmares of Volkanu's destruction that has plagued the order since Volkanu was sealed away the first time.
Video Games
- Beyond Good & Evil: Jade's eyes are vividly green, unlike other characters, and she definitely meets the mystical, magical connotations with the eye color given her DomZ powers such as the ability to bring people back to life. The DomZ, an alien race with the power to manipulate life force, are green-coded, and Jade is code-named after their chief god.
- Total War: Warhammer: As a result of his Warpstone (a type of Magitek Applied Phlebotinum) use, Ikit has green eyes. This is in contrast to every other Skaven in existence, who are all red-eyed.
Webcomics
- Vampire Phantasm: Topaz's eyes turned green after he was turned into a vampire.
Western Animation
- Danny Phantom: The protagonist's green eyes and green blood reflect the fact that his body was shot through with ectoplasmic energy that gives him special ghost powers. His attacks are also the same color.
- In the Johnny Test episode Fangs a Lot Johnny, Susan and Mary's eyes turn green after they are turned into vampires.
