Title doesn't match the trope: Evil Eye

I thought it meant eyes that show that somebody's evil, not eyes that have special powers.

The popular meaning of the term Evil Eye is eye that has magical powers. It's the definition of the term that has been in use for thousands of years. It's in the dictionary even. The Other Wiki has an article on it. I'm sorry that you got it wrong, but I'm not sure what to tell you. This trope is what the phrase means...

edited 9th Sep '11 2:35:36 PM by shimaspawn

Yeah, this is a preexisting term that's been used to refer to "an eye with supernatural powers" since ancient times. I see no reason to change it now.

Agree with and , but as I look at our trope, I'm not sure it's an exact match for the real-world concept. It's close though, so I'm not sure, but the definition might benefit from a little tweaking.

Ours is a tad bit broader, but not so much that all of it isn't covered by some definition of the term.

I think the first sentence is probably what bothers me the most. "An eye that is the source of a character's power." (Emphasis mine.) I don't think that's exactly right, though that's certainly one type. But I'm not sure. If others are happy with that, I can deal.

I think the concepts are similar enough. I think "character's eye has a magic power" vs. "character's eye is the source of their magic power" is really just a matter of semantics. The core of the trope is "character's eye is magic somehow", and the trope name reflects that.

I would think that's just a more specific version of the general "magical eye" trope.

edited 9th Sep '11 5:26:29 PM by JapaneseTeeth

Absolutely agree on the core of the trope. I'm more wondering if anyone minds if I change that first sentence to make it seem a little more general.

Other than that question, though, as far as I'm concerned, we're done here.

edited 9th Sep '11 6:05:07 PM by Xtifr

No, it's a fairly minor change. Otherwise, I really do think we're done here.

We might need some sort of Eyes Of Evil or something where the eyes are a form of Red Right Hand (I think that was the trope?), as it's a phenomenally popular way to do it. Hellish Pupils in particular.

Wouldn't that be covered by one of the myriad eye tropes we have? Like Red Eyes, Take Warning?

EDIT: Yep, that's it. Red Eyes, Take Warning is that trope.

As for this trope, yeah, change that first sentence, but otherwise, this is fine.

edited 10th Sep '11 9:22:42 AM by OmegaKross

Intro fixed. Feel free to adjust it if you don't like my wording, but otherwise, I think this can be closed.

Red Eyes, Take Warning is exclusively about red eyes, unless it changed since I read it last. Red Right Hand is just a trope named after an example, being red isn't necessary.

Red Eyes, Take Warning also does not always mean evil. Frequently it's simply a sign that someone is not of human origin. A trope about evil eyes would probably be useful.

Actually, it does say red eyes make you evil. It notes that due to eye colour in anime this isnt true 100% of the time, but the trope is specifically about red eyes being a way to show a character is evil.

A trope about evil eyes is just going to be a mashup of Red Eyes, Take Warning, Hellish Pupils, Glowing Eyes of Doom, and Glowing Eyelights of Undeath. Anyway, red eyes are by far the most common visual cue for evil, so that trope has it mostly covered.

I believe the TRS has concluded before that it's not exclusively villainy but rather a sign that certain characters are dangerous and inhuman. That doesn't mean evil.

The Other Wiki Says: The evil eye is a look that is believed by many cultures to be able to cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike. The term also refers to the power attributed to certain persons of inflicting injury or bad luck by such an envious or ill-wishing look.

Dictionary.com Says: noun 1. a look thought capable of inflicting injury or bad luck on the person at whom it is directed. 2. the power, superstitiously attributed to certain persons, of inflicting injury or bad luck by such a look.

The opening sentence:

An easy way to tell a villainous (or sinister) character apart from the protagonists, other than giving him/her a Red Right Hand, seems to be making their eyes red.

Yes, I know. I'm saying that's wrong. I can think of several supernatural characters that have their red eyes commented upon that are dangerous or inhuman but not exactly evil. I would rather that sentence said something like 'dangerous' rather than sinister.

edited 10th Sep '11 5:45:54 PM by Arha

True, but red eyed characters usually are kinda sinister, or at the very least creepy. And it is the most obvious sign of evil characters outside of the Beard of Evil.

I don't disagree that it's a sign of villainy.

Anyway, topic at hand. Red Eyes, Take Warning is not the only way for eyes to be a sign of evil. Nor are Hellish Pupils. There are references to cold, inhuman eyes, or small black gimlet eyes. Eyes that show nothing. etc. There should be enough examples to be a valid subtrope of Red Right Hand, no?

edited 10th Sep '11 5:56:21 PM by Arha

Hmmm. Maybe a supertrope for generic Evil Eyes would be useful then. Though they usually are some variant of one of the existing eye tropes.

But as for the Evil Eye trope, I think we're done here. This thread can be locked and we can start a new one for 'Eyes that denote Evil'.

Where do we put proposition threads anyway?

I was the one proposing a new trope as a supertrope to things like Hellish Pupils. Eyes Of Villainy comes to mind.

So, do we start a new thread for it in TRS? The thread isnt about the Evil Eye trope anymore.

No, somebody needs to go take the proposed trope to YKTTW.