History Main / StaringContest

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'': One of the DVD extras is of a staring contest between Skwisgaar and Toki, with Toki taking it very seriously and Skwisgaar trying to make small talk. In the end, Skwisgaar blinks first and Toki tries to make him kick a dildo as his forfeit. (Skwisgaar refuses because the idea is fascinating to him and he'd rather do it on his own terms, and Toki forgot to bring a dildo anyway.)

* ''Literature/RWBYFairyTalesOfRemnant'': One of the stories is "The Man Who Stared at the Sun", or "The Farmer and the Sun". In the story, the Farmer and the Sun [[TheBet have a wager]]. If the Farmer wins, the Sun will always shine the ideal temperature on his crops so long as his family diligently works the land. If the Sun wins, the Farmer and his family will praise and worship the Sun and spread that worship to other people. The Farmer first tries to race the Sun, but the Sun demands a staring contest instead. After weeks of holding the contest, with the Sun constantly trying to trick the Farmer into looking away, the Sun eventually has to forfeit because the rest of the world was suffering without its light. [[spoiler:In the end, it's revealed that the Farmer went blind as soon as the contest started and was faking staring at the Sun to win. The Sun is angry at being tricked, but keeps his side of the wager in honor of the Farmer's sacrifice.]]

* In the first ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' short ''[[Recap/PokemonPK1PikachusVacation Pikachu's Vacation]]'', Snubbull has challenges with Squirtle and Bulbasaur this way. Squirtle falls back, Bulbasaur rolls its eyes until Snubbull gets dizzy.

A Staring Contest is a competition where a number of players (usually two) must lock sights with each other's eyes and stare as for as long as possible. The first player to look away or blink loses.

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]
* In episode 12 of ''Manga/{{Rinne}}'', Rokumon incorrectly recalls this event happening between Sakura and Ageha when the former sees the latter holding hands with Rinne. The narrator, and in this example, Rinne himself, state that this is not what happened.

* The dub of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' has Guilmon give the excuse of a staring contest when he initially doesn't run away from a D-Reaper agent.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Comic Strips ]]

* ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey'': Sarge and Beetle are having one. Beetle gains an advantage because he falls asleep during it.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Crabgrass}}'': [[https://www.gocomics.com/crabgrass/2021/10/05 Kevin and Miles engage in one]] in a sunday comic. Kevin actually practices in a mirror beforehand, and when Miles proves too hard to beat, he resorts to an EyePoke to win.

[[folder: Fan Works ]]

* Socrates attempts to have one with a duplicate of Andy in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries''. Since the clone doesn't blink, he loses.

[[folder: Film -- Animated ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Averted in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'', where Butler and an equally large bodyguard ''don't'' engage in this trope. Butler has previously shown that he has a very effective DeathGlare, but here the narration notes that both men are blinking normally so as to avoid dry eyeballs, and that staring contests are for amateurs.
* One of the stories in ''Literature/RWBYFairyTalesOfRemnant'' is "The Man Who Stared at the Sun", or "The Farmer and the Sun". In the story, the Farmer and the Sun [[TheBet have a wager]]. If the Farmer wins, the Sun will always shine the ideal temperature on his crops so long as his family diligently works the land. If the Sun wins, the Farmer and his family will praise and worship the Sun and spread that worship to other people. The Farmer first tries to race the Sun, but the Sun demands a staring contest instead. After weeks of holding the contest, with the Sun constantly trying to trick the Farmer into looking away, the Sun eventually has to forfeit because the rest of the world was suffering without its light. [[spoiler:In the end, it's revealed that the Farmer went blind as soon as the contest started and was faking staring at the Sun to win. The Sun is angry at being tricked, but keeps his side of the wager in honor of the Farmer's sacrifice.]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Parodied in ''Series/BattleBots'' during a ColdOpen in which host Kenny Florian is engaged in a staring contest with HUGE. Bear in mind that HUGE is one of the robots and is thus incapable of blinking (and doesn't have functional eyes in the first place). [[spoiler: Kenny wins. HUGE is not happy.]]

* In the ''Series/BroadCity'' episode "Rat Pack," Jaimé and Ilana get in one with the exterminator over his $400 fee. The exterminator wins.

* A common gag in the early seasons of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' was the title character being stared at by Eddie, his father's Jack Russell Terrier. One time Frasier decided to try and turn it into one of these. He lost after about five seconds.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games]]
* The fourth case in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations'' reveals that Edgeworth once won a glaring contest against his own reflection. Somehow.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay'', Guybrush places Hardtack and Trenchfoot into a staring contest, into which our hero can distract the pirate duo into looking behind them so he can place the [[ChekhovsBoomerang Pyrite Parrot]] into the treasure chest, in hopes that he can find where they'll bury it along with one of the {{Summoning Artifact}}s later.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'', Eye-Brawl is a two-man team of a flying eyeball and a headless giant. Their backstory starts with them having a staring contest, but since neither was capable of blinking, things escalated.
* In Chapter 4 of ''VideoGame/KingsQuest2015'', King Graham is goaded into one with his daughter, Princess Rosella. He doesn't really want to have one, but she reminds him that there's actually a ''law'' in Daventry which states that no one can refuse a staring contest when challenged by a member of the royal family - including members of the royal family.

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* In ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'', Shelly [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/10102001/ cheated in a staring contest]] to get out of paying her bar tab.

* ''Webcomic/CrossTimeCafe'': The Neolithic [=CTC=] characters start a tournament on [[http://www.whiteponyproductions.com/neoctc/NEOCTC_502.htm page 502]].

[[folder: Web Videos ]]

* Series/KeyAndPeele once pitted tattooed, scarred, and otherwise brutal looking thugs against a CuteKitten named Snowball in a staring contest as a promotional clip for their movie ''Film/{{Keanu}}''. The kitten won each time.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/AngryBeavers'' episode "Stare and Stare Alike" centers around this. Dagget and Norbert spend so much time trying to out-stare one another they forget what started the contest in the first place, [[spoiler: and end up missing out on a call-in contest.]]

* Featured in ''WesternAnimation/HiHiPuffyAmiYumi'' for Episode 10's Live Action Segment, where Ami attempts to [[HypnoticEyes hypnotize Yumi]] near the end of the contest. [[spoiler:Yumi wins the contest when Ami sneezes, but Yumi does not stop staring at Ami.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'', Katz and Courage have an [[CookingDuel epic duel to the death]] in the form of a staring contest.
* A ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' short had Mac and Bloo having such a contest. It turned out Bloo wasn't blinking because he was hiding behind a cardboard cutout of himself.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', Patrick does one with himself. In another, both he and [=SpongeBob=] have one.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'', Patrick does one with himself. In another, both he and Spongebob have one.

* ''Series/BigTrain'' had a poorly drawn cartoon sketch of the World Stare-out Championships. A streaker even interrupted one of the matches.
* The sketch comedy show ''Series/AlmostLive'' once did a bit where two guys get into a staring contest that goes on for ''years'', with one of them even getting married in the process, with the other guy being his best man. His wife finally gets fed up and storms out, her slamming the door behind her causing both men to blink simultaneously. They immediately start in on a "holding your breath" contest...
* Parodied in ''Series/BattleBots'' during a ColdOpen in which host Kenny Florian is engaged in a staring contest with HUGE. Bear in mind that HUGE is one of the robots and is thus incapable of blinking (and doesn't have functional eyes in the first place). [[spoiler: Kenny wins. HUGE is not happy.]]

* In the ''Series/BroadCity'' episode "Rat Pack," Jaimé and Ilana get in one with the exterminator over his $400 fee. The exterminator wins.
* ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'': Bucky Barnes' [[Creator/AmyAquino court-mandated therapist]] makes him and Sam Wilson try the "staring into the soul" exercise, where they face each other and say why the other person bothers them. After a few seconds Sam and Bucky turn it into a staring contest leaving the therapist frustrated at their immaturity.
-->'''Dr. Raynor:''' Wait, what are you doing? [[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe Are you having a staring contest?]] Just blink! (''snaps fingers'') Sweet Jesus.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Featured in ''WesternAnimation/HiHiPuffyAmiYumi'' for Episode 10's Live Action Segment, where Ami attempts to [[HypnoticEyes hypnotize Yumi]] near the end of the contest. [[spoiler:Yumi wins the contest when Ami sneezes, but Yumi does not stop staring at Ami.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'', Katz and Courage have an [[CookingDuel epic duel to the death]] in the form of a staring contest.

* The ''WesternAnimation/AngryBeavers'' episode "Stare and Stare Alike" centers around this. Dagget and Norbert spend so much time trying to out-stare one another they forget what started the contest in the first place, [[spoiler: and end up missing out on a call-in contest.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': As seen in "The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks!", old rivals Scrooge [=McDuck=] and Flintheart Glomgold apparently spend all their shared time in their Billionaires Club sitting in the middle of a room divided down the middle glaring hatefully at each other in "a vision-based battle of wills".
* In ''WesternAnimation/CentralPark'', Season 1 "[[Recap/CentralParkS1E3HatLuncheon Hat Luncheon]]", Bitsy has a staring contest with her dog Shampagne, and while she always wins, Shampagne doesn't seem to get the purpose of the contest.

''[-For proper effect, try to read this without blinking-]''

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', ''Peeps''

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fws_staring.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"What are you doing?"'']]

* Referenced in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths''. After Owlman gives a NotSoDifferentRemark to Batman, Batman tells him that there is ''one'' difference between them: "We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back at us, you blinked."

* Referenced in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths''. After Owlman gives a NotSoDifferentRemark to Batman, Batman tells him that there is ''one'' difference between them: They both [[HeWhoFightsMonsters stared into the abyss, and had the abyss stare back at them]]... but [[StrawNihilist Owlman]] [[OmnicidalManiac blinked]]. [[TheFettered Batman]] [[ThouShaltNotKill didn't]].

** In another strip, after beating Jon and Odie, he notices his reflection in a mirror. He says that it will be a tough challenege.

[[caption-width-right:350:"What are you doing?"]]

* Referenced in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths''. After Owlman gives a NotSoDifferent speech to Batman, Batman tells him that there is ''one'' difference between them: They both [[HeWhoFightsMonsters stared into the abyss, and had the abyss stare back at them]]... but [[StrawNihilist Owlman]] [[OmnicidalManiac blinked]]. [[TheFettered Batman]] [[ThouShaltNotKill didn't]].

* One of the stories in ''Literature/RWBYFairyTalesOfRemnant'' is "The Man Who Stared at the Sun", or "The Farmer and the Sun". In the story, the Farmer and the Sun [[TheBet have a wager]]. If the Farmer wins, the Sun will always shine the ideal temperature on his crops so long as his family diligently works the land. If the Sun wins, the Farmer and his family will praise and worship the sun and spread that worship to other people. The Farmer first tries to race the Sun, but the Sun demands a staring contest instead. After weeks of holding the contest, with the Sun constantly trying to trick the Farmer into looking away, the Sun eventually has to forfeit because the rest of the world was suffering without its light. [[spoiler:In the end, it's revealed the Farmer went blind as soon as the contest started and was faking staring at the Sun to win. The Sun is angry at being tricked, but keeps his side of the wager in honor of the Farmer's sacrifice.]]

* ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'': Bucky Barnes' court-mandated therapist makes him and Sam Wilson try the "staring into the soul" exercise, where they face each other and say why the other person bothers them. After a few seconds Sam and Bucky turn it into a staring contest leaving the therapist frustrated at their immaturity.