Discussion Main / GogglesDoNothing

Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Split, started by Rhatahema on Nov 14th 2010 at 9:25:31 PM

Previous Trope Repair Shop thread: Misused, started by Twentington on Jun 8th 2014 at 5:11:05 AM

Previous Trope Repair Shop thread: Not Tropeworthy, started by BreadBull on May 15th 2017 at 10:58:48 AM

Making some major cuts to this entry, particularly to combat some of the wrong ideas about this, mostly that this is just "wearing goggles"...

'changed:' Obito wore what appear to be orange ski-goggles, which he actually wore on his face (probably be he was also wearing a headband), but they didn't apparently do anything. 'to:' Averted with Obito who wears goggles properly over his eyes. It's even commented that this is to keep dirt, dust, and other minutia from obscuring his vision, when he tries to blame dust for why he was crying. 'reason:' It only counts if there's clearly no practical purpose for it, but since Obito's goggles are worn around his eyes, they obviously do something in this case.

'Removed:' One Piece's Zoro lampshades this with a Double Subversion when, after wearing goggles for an entire arc without explanation, he's fighting someone who generates blinding flashes of light — "Of course! My goggles!" — only for his enemy to find out that they do, indeed, do nothing, because they're clear plain glass. Honorable mention for Zoro still, as it's the first time he tried bluffing. However, they do become useful when Zoro uses them to see clearly underwater. 'Reason:' While it's true that Zorro's goggles were clear and didn't help him against the bright light, they do serve a purpose in letting him see underwater, which is probably why he was wearing them in the first place. This is more of an example of not thinking things through.

'Removed:' Idiot Hero Kamina in Gurren Lagann frequently wears a pair of orange sunglasses, both at night, and underground. 'Reason:' This is Sunglasses at Night, a similar trope, but not this actual trope, since 'to look cool' is considered a valid reason for wearing sunglasses.

'Changed:' "subverted" to "averted" in Simon's example under Gerren Lagann 'Reason:' Using goggles or other equipment properly is just averting this trope.

'Removed:' The title character of Hellboy has horns, which he files down to look more human-like. The horns are about six inches in diameter, take up most of his forehead, and when filed down looks like he's wearing forehead goggles. 'Reason:' This trope isn't "wearing goggles on your forehead." Also, Hellboy's horns (and the fact that he cuts them down) is rather significant symbology to the plotline.

'Removed:' The 10th Doctor (and also, so the 10th Doctor claimed, the 5th Doctor) has his "brainy specs" - glasses that he puts on when he wants to look clever, but which aren't actually necessary for his eyesight. 'Reason:' Since he wears them to look more clever, the glasses officially 'do' something.

'Removed:' Toward the beginning of Serenity, River puts on a pair of oversized goggles during the crew's ride on the mule, but these are pretty quickly abandoned and obviously not that necessary later on when they are chased out of town. 'Reason:' This doesn't qualify as the trope, as her reasoning for wearing the goggles was rather obvious, even for River. The fact that she took them off since they weren't needed, doesn't change the fact that she was clearly wearing them because she thought she would.

'Removed:' (from Team Fortress II) And the Engineer wears, well, goggles that do nothing—he doesn't even have eyes beneath the goggles! 'Reason:' Just because there's no gameplay reason (or that the designers didn't bother creating a body part nobody would see) doesn't make it this trope. The Engineer works with a lot of sparking machinery, so it's perfectly logical for him to wear goggles.

'Removed:' Gadget of Chip And Dale Rescue Rangers slightly averts this. While the goggles she constantly wears mostly Do Nothing, as both a mechanic and a pilot they're reasonable headgear - and on very, very rare occasions she'll actually pull them down over her eyes while building or flying. 'Reason:' Again, this isn't wearing goggles on your head. S Ince Gadget does use her goggles on occasion it counts. More specifically than this mentioned, she wears them whenever flying fast or dangerous, and whenever working with anything that sparks.

'Removed:' Truth in Television. Try using a pair of goggles for swimming pool use - you'll find that they do absolutely NOTHING. 'Reason:' as was mentioned in the conversation that followed, it protects your eyes from chlorine and improves vision slightly (not distance but clarity)

Would anyone object to removing the Simpsons entry? Trope Namer as it is, it's not an example (it's a character being shocked that wearing safety goggles doesn't protect him from a gigantic flood wave of acid).

This is a wee bit nattery and needs rewriting so that it fits the trope:

• In almost every science class, where safety goggles are actually required AND handed out, most students either wear them on their forehead or else around their necks, doing nothing at all to protect the eyes from chemicals that might splash back into the face, which is what they're supposed to do.
  • Some science teachers require safety goggles for rather mundane experiments (in some extreme cases the greatest danger being a paperclip), making the already rarely used goggles very useless indeed.
    • It should be noted, however, that proper lab settings avert this trope hard. Failure to wear goggles properly can be considered grounds for being kicked out of the lab. This is because, when an accident occurs, you're either wearing your goggles or really, really wishing you were.

I removed an example where a work just had a Shout Out to the Simpsons gag. Please read the description!

What if the goggles were meant to conceal the character's eyes? I guess they'd be doing something unusual then...