History Main / EyesAreMental

* ''ComicBook/TheGirlFromTheSea'': People note that Keltie's eyes are very weird so it seems that Slekie can't change the seal eyes they're born with. [[spoiler: Earl, Keltie's predecessor as the Bay's Selkie has the same issue, and [[InhumanEyeConcealers his own solution.]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'': Combines this with ''nose'' resonance when Shrek takes the Happily Ever After potion; his nose and eye colour, if not the size, resonate in his new [[HumanityEnsues human]] form.

* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'': Combines this with ''nose'' resonance when Shrek takes the Happily Ever After potion; his nose and eye colour, if not the size, resonate in his new human form.

** And in WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse, [[spoiler: Bullfrag]] has to conceal his eyes to not give away he's really [[spoiler: Ben]]

* Issue 21 of the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' comic books features a double bodyswap, featuring Zim switching with Gaz, and GIR switching with Dib. All of them kept their own eyes, except Gaz, who kept a tuft of her hair.

* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'': Combines this with ''nose'' resonance when Shrek takes the Happily Ever After potion; hiss nose and eyes stay ythe same even as he turns human.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':

* In ''Literature/GoodOmens'', by Creator/TerryPratchett and Creator/NeilGaiman, angels and demons can more or less choose their size and shape, but there's a reason Crowley the serpent-demon doesn't like to take his sunglasses off.

* You can tell when someone is possessed in ''Manga/DreamEaterMerry'' by their eyes. Since people out of the loop react more to their friends' [[DemonicPossession bizarre behavior]] than anything else, it's probably for the audience's benefit.

* The dragons in ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' all keep their reptilian pupils when they take on human form, though the distribution of color on the iris changes (instead of a darker color outlining the pupil it becomes a gradient from top to bottom). Lucoa is an exception to the rule, though that's probably because she was originally a goddess.

* ''Manga/KaijuGirlCaramelise'': Whenever Kuroe Akaishi transforms into [[{{Kaiju}} Harugon]], her eyes retain the same pink color and heart-shaped pupils she has as a human.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this Franchise/MonsterVerse fanfiction, across all of [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonMonsterX Monster X]]'s forms from when the TwoBeingsOneBody Titan is originally formed, one thing that remains consistent is that both halves' respective eye colors (San's red eyes and Vivienne Graham's hazel eyes) are retained.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' plays with this in the sequel - Harry's picked out by Coulson when he changes almost all of his appearance by his eye color alone because he couldn't change it (though the fact that he changed his hair color to the striking deep red of his mother and Grey cousins was also a hint). However, this is suggested to be more due to limits on his skills at self-transfiguration, as he didn't want to risk blinding himself.

* ''Film/{{Scanners}}'': After their psychic WizardDuel, [[spoiler:[[BigBad Darryl Revok]]]]'s eyes change color to match [[spoiler:Cameron Vale]]'s, signifying that the latter has survived his apparent death by pulling a GrandTheftMe on the former. Doubles with VoicesAreMental.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Harry is disguised through a Polyjuice Potion for the wedding and looks nothing like himself. [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Luna Lovegood]] promptly greets him by his actual name, not realizing that he is disguised for a good reason. Harry wonders how she could tell, and she just shrugs and says it was something about his eyes.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': At the end of the first book [[spoiler:the monsters have the same eyes as the dead tributes, and their fur is the same color as the corresponding tribute's hair]].
* ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'': Although never explicitly stated, the mage Yoru Sulfur is a shapechanger with one blue eye and one green eye. No matter what he looks like, his mismatched eye colors always stay the same. This is invariably the way the reader is alerted to the fact that a particular character is actually Yoru in disguise.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', anything Mario captures will have his blue eyes along with his hat and mustache (assuming the captured thing ''has'' eyes, of course).

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'', [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2750 SCP-2750 ("Navajo Skinwalkers")]]. Regardless of what form SCP-2750 changes into, it will always have the eyes of its favorite animal shape.

* ''ComicBook/TheGirlFromTheSea'': People note that Keltie's eyes are very weird so it seems that Slekie can't change the seal eyes they're born with. [[spoiler: Earl, Keltie's predecessor as the Bay's Selkie has the same issue, and [[InhumanEyeConcealers his own solution.]]

* You can tell when someone is possessed in ''Manga/DreamEaterMerry'' by their eyes. Since people out of the loop react more to their friends' [[DemonicPossession bizarre behaviour]] than anything else, it's probably for the audience's benefit.

** Den Den Mushi get not only the voices but also the eyes of the person on the other side. When Doflamingo is the speaker, the snail imitates ''his sunglasses''.
* The dragons in ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' all keep their reptilian pupils when they take on human form, though the distribution of colour on the iris changes (instead of a darker colour outlining the pupil it becomes a gradient from top to bottom). Lucoa is an exception to the rule, though that's probably because she was originally a goddess.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' plays with this in the sequel - Harry's picked out by Coulson when he changes almost all of his appearance by his eye colour alone because he couldn't change it (though the fact that he changed his hair colour to the striking deep red of his mother and Grey cousins was also a hint). However, this is suggested to be more due to limits on his skills at self-transfiguration, as he didn't want to risk blinding himself.

* One of the ways the audience can tell who the prawn showed at the end of ''Film/District9'' is, is by its eyes. It has one blue eye and one yellow one, [[spoiler:just as Wikus did around the 72nd hour of his transformation into a prawn.]]

* ''Film/{{Scanners}}'': After their psychic WizardDuel, [[spoiler:[[BigBad Darryl Revok]]]]'s eyes change colour to match [[spoiler:Cameron Vale]]'s, signifying that the latter has survived his apparent death by pulling a GrandTheftMe on the former. Doubles with VoicesAreMental.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Harry is disguised through a Polyjuice Potion for the wedding and looks nothing like himself. [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Luna Lovegood]] promptly greets him by his actual name, not getting that he is disguised for a good reason. Harry wonders how she could tell, and she just shrugs and said it was something about his eyes.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', anything Mario captures will have his blue eyes along with his hat and moustache (assuming the captured thing ''has'' eyes, of course).

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'', [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2750 SCP-2750 ("Navajo Skinwalkers")]]. Regardless of what form SCP-2750 changes into, it will always have the eyes of its favourite animal shape.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this Franchise/MonsterVerse fanfiction, across all of [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonTitansAndOtherCreatures Monster X]]'s forms from when the TwoBeingsOneBody Titan is originally formed, one thing that remains consistent is that both halves' respective eye colors (San's red eyes and Vivienne Graham's hazel eyes) are retained.

** Earlier on, in the episode [[Recap/DarkwingDuckS1E13TradingPlaces "Trading Places"]], an accident switches minds between Darkwing and Gosalyn and between Launchpad and Honker. They not only [[VoicesAreMental switch their voices]], but also their eyes (Darkwing gets Gosalyn's green eyes, Gosalyn gets Darkwing's BlackDotPupils and Honker's near-sightedness moves to Launchpad)

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'':

* Issue 21 of the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' comic books features a double bodyswap, featuring Zim switching with Gaz, and GIR switching with Dib. All of them kept their own eyes, except Gaz, who kept a tuft of her hair.
* In ComicBook/TheSandman we occasionally view Dream of the Endless through the eyes of other creatures, who see him as a member of their own race or species, (whether their perception differs or he shapeshifts based on their expectations is never made clear). One way the reader always knows it's him is his eyes, which are black and seem to contain stars no matter what the rest of him looks like.

* One of the ways the audience can tell who the prawn showed at the end of ''Film/District9'' is, is by its eyes. It has one blue eye and one yellow one, [[spoiler:just as Wikus did around the 72nd hour of his transformation into a prawn.]]

* In Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'' it's not revealed to the audience that the Cheshire cat has [[spoiler: transformed into the Mad Hatter]] until he looks up and we see his cat eyes.
* ''Film/{{Scanners}}'': After their psychic WizardDuel, [[spoiler:[[BigBad Darryl Revok]]]]'s eyes change colour to match [[spoiler:Cameron Vale]]'s, signifying that the latter has survived his apparent death by pulling a GrandTheftMe on the former. Doubles with VoicesAreMental.
* ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'': The Ditto can't change its BlackBeadEyes when it [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifts]] into other Pokemon or {{humans|hifting}}. Overlaps with RedRightHand when it [[spoiler:impersonates Roger Clifford, necessitating some SinisterShades to hide them]]. Tim is [[LampshadeHanging extremely creeped out]] by the effect when the Ditto turns into [[spoiler:his love interest]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', when [[BigBad XANA]] possesses someone, the only visual clue is their eyes flickering and switching between normal and XANA's eye-like symbol. The same goes for [[{{Humanshifting}} polymorphic clones]] as well.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom,'' Danny has glowing green eyes in his ghost form, and anyone whom he overshadows gets them until he leaves.
* A one-off villain from ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' called Camille the Chameleon can turn into practically anything, but her unusual yellow sclera remains unchanged. Oddly enough, the characters never mention this and are only able to tell who she is by the hiss in her voice.

* Variation in ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'': when Buzz and Mira get mutated into a [[TwoBeingsOneBody single]] eye-stalked BlobMonster in one episode, the eye on Mira's side of the body is the same yellow-with-a-black-pupil as Buzz's (instead of her usual big blue PuppyDogEyes), but still has her pointy doe-eye lashes.
** PlayedStraight in the PilotMovie, where anyone controlled by Zurg's Zurgatronic Mega-Ray not only has Zurg's [[VoicesAreMental voice]], but also his [[RedEyesTakeWarning glowing red eyes.]]

It seems that by some law of Shapeshifting, {{shapeshift|ing}}ers are unable to change their eyes, no matter how skilled they are at changing form. [[LossOfIdentity Showing the eye changing or corrupting into that of a different species is an effective way of showing mental takeover or transformation-induced humanity loss thanks to this.]] See GlamourFailure for a similar trope and VoicesAreMental for the vocal version of this trope.

It seems that by some law of Shapeshifting, {{shapeshift|ing}}ers are unable to change their eyes, no matter how skilled they are at changing form. [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody Showing the eye changing or corrupting into that of a different species is an effective way of showing mental takeover or transformation-induced humanity loss thanks to this.]] See GlamourFailure for a similar trope and VoicesAreMental for the vocal version of this trope.

It seems that by some law of Shapeshifting, {{shapeshift|ing}}ers are unable to change their eyes, no matter how skilled they are at changing form. Showing the eye changing or corrupting into that of a different species is an effective way of showing mental takeover or transformation-induced humanity loss thanks to this. See GlamourFailure for a similar trope and VoicesAreMental for the vocal version of this trope.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Wolfwalkers}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robyn_eyes_4.png]]]]

* When Ghostfreak became a separate evil entity in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'', people who were possessed by him would have his eyes instead of theirs.

* In ''Literature/GoodOmens'', partly by the same author, angels and demons can more or less choose their size and shape, but there's a reason Crowley the serpent-demon doesn't like to take his sunglasses off.

** In the same vein, Teatime's eyes in ''Fanfic/ResurrectionMen'' are a fanfic example.

* Borderline example in ''Film/{{Hook}}''. In this case, the "monster" is just a grown-up, but a lost boy recognizes him as The Pan after looking into his eyes.