Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / NerdGlasses

Go To

1[[quoteright:254:[[Film/PacificRim https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/newt_geiszler.png]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:254:A must-have accessory for a nerd.]]
3
4%%
5%%Examples have been alphabetized. Please insert new examples in the correct order
6%%Zero Context Examples are not allowed, and have been commented out. Please add context if you wish to uncomment an example.
7%%
8
9->'''Sherri & Terri:''' ''[to Bart]'' Nice glasses, four eyes.\
10'''Nelson:''' Yeah, nice shoes... uh, two feet.
11-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E9TheLastTemptationOfHomer The Last Temptation of Homer]]"
12
13It is a truth universally acknowledged that nerds wear glasses. They typically wear ugly, unflattering glasses that help them as they study, read, and obsess over obscure academic topics. There are several types of glasses that are signifiers of deeply-entrenched nerd-dom:
14
15* Chunky black plastic (tape on the bridge optional), sometimes chunky tortoiseshell plastic instead--as worn by the classic nerd, though these have lately come back into fashion again, style being a CyclicTrope
16* Coke-bottle glasses so thick they're opaque--have their own page at OpaqueNerdGlasses
17* Unflatteringly large glasses poorly proportioned to the wearer's face--often with thin frames; in live-action these have the advantage that they don't block the wearer's face
18* Old-fashioned round hornrims--sign of an AbsentmindedProfessor or academic-nerd. Like the chunky black plastic example above, round hornrims have also become popular again as of TheNewTens.
19* Half-moon glasses--around the 50's, these were the eyewear of choice for the original nerds, although nowadays they're more of an old lady librarian style
20* Browline glasses--a two-piece frame with thick plastic upper frames and thin wire lower frames popular in the fifties and sixties. Most often seen on [[SmartPeopleWearGlasses highly intelligent and well-read types]], or people who like to ''think'' they are. [[RuleOfThree Similar to the above-mentioned black plastic and hornrim glasses]], browlines are also back in as of late.
21* "Cat-eye" glasses--once ultra-fashionable for women in the 50's, now usually restricted to lady nerds (and the occasional hipster)--unless they have rhinestones or are purple, in which case they are [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself Impossibly Tacky Eyewear]]
22* Repaired glasses--broken frames held together by a shoddy repair job involving improvised materials like paper clips and adhesive tape
23
24Compare BespectacledCutie, GlassesAreSexy and GlassesOfAging. You may also be interested in the other GlassesTropes.
25
26----
27
28!!Examples:
29[[foldercontrol]]
30[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
31* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': To show that Son Gohan has achieved his dream of becoming a scholar, he's wearing glasses to show what a nerd he has become. A lot of media focuses on this adult Gohan having neglected his training time and time again. His Super Saiyan transformation and beyond fixes his vision, so he doesn't need glasses while he's transformed. Whenever he's back into action as a badass fighter with nothing holding him back, he doesn't wear glasses.
32* ''Manga/GingaTeikokuKouboushi'': ''Volume 1: Foundation'': Dr. Lewis Pirenne is of short, round stature with large, round eyeglasses (with frames so thin, the artists sometimes neglect to draw the temple stems). Dr. Pirenne is in charge of the ''[[GreatBigBookOfEverything Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' that the Foundation has been working on for fifty years.
33* Saruhiko Fushimi, SCEPTER 4's resident hacker (and third-in-command) from ''Anime/{{K}}'', wears the thick black frames kind. They don't get in the way of his [[{{Bishonen}} good looks]], though.
34* Sayaka Kanamori in ''Manga/KeepYourHandsOffEizouken'' has a pair of these, which she tends to wear on her forehead. A bit unusually, while she is somewhat awkward and doesn't seem particularly popular, she's the ''least'' nerdy person in her social circle.
35* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'': Haruhi is introduced wearing thick black frames that are a clue to her frugal and resolutely practical nature--she normally wears contacts, so why waste money on fashionable glasses? They also serve to make the TheGlassesGottaGo more dramatic by disguising her [[ClarkKenting "secret identity"]] as a girl.
36%%* ''Manga/PingPong'': Sakuma, and to a lesser extent Smile.
37* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': Kululu, the Keroro Platoon's resident MadScientist, wears OpaqueNerdGlasses with spirals on them.
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Card Games]]
41* In the ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' CollectibleCardGame, one of the character cards, Simon "[=McGoo=]" [=LeDuke=], wears a pair of thick-framed glasses.
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Comic Books]]
45* ''ComicBook/BatmanBlackAndWhite'': In "Broken Nose", Batman hunts down a man who robs banks wearing PoweredArmor. Out of the armor, he turns out to be a skinny geek wearing half-moon glasses.
46* ''ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'': Tim's nerdy friend Ives wears large round glasses which, when coupled with sweater vests and his tall, stringy physique, are not at all flattering. He eventually starts filling out and wearing more flattering clothes, but the glasses stay.
47* This trope is {{Lampshaded}} in a ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' issue where Comicbook/BlackCat [[MuggedForDisguise mugs a Horizon Labs employee for her outfit]]. Electro scoffs at the disguise and asks how anyone is supposed to buy someone as hot as Black Cat as a "nerd-girl."
48-->'''Black Cat''': Easy. One, I've got [[NerdGlasses the smarty glasses]].
49* The core principle of the {{Clark Kent|ing}} persona is, of course, the implausibility of Franchise/{{Superman}} wearing dorky black nerd glasses.
50* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie's]] BlackAndNerdy hacker extraordinaire best friend and SecretKeeper Georgia Redmond wears large wire-framed glasses.
51[[/folder]]
52
53[[folder:Comic Strips]]
54* ''ComicStrip/ScaryGary'': The "LAB NERD" mix Leopold bought [[ArtificialHuman grows a lab nerd that is already wearing glasses.]]
55[[/folder]]
56
57[[folder:Films — Animation]]
58* [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents Marlena Gru]] of ''Franchise/DespicableMe'' wears cat-eye glasses as a form of ImpossiblyTackyEyewear because of their gaudy design.
59* Dick Grayson in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'' wears glasses so heavy that they actually exist as a separate Lego piece, and aren't just drawn on his face. In his Robin identity, he wears a green-tinted version instead of a mask.
60* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': Randall Boggs starts out with a pretty magnificent pair of horned rim glasses in the prequel ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' (taking place before he [[FaceHeelTurn became a villain]]) that make him look ''positively'' dorky. Unfortunately, he stops wearing them less than a minute into his first appearance because his roommate Mike Wazowski says they give away his camouflage ability. He thus spends the rest of the movie (and ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'') [[BlindWithoutEm squinting to compensate for his impaired vision]].
61* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'':
62** Unsurprisingly, it's a trait for some of the Techies, like Scribble Dee (large, brown-rimmed round ones) and Micro Chips (thick, black-rimmed square ones). Also lean into EyeGlasses with their eyes occupying the whole lenses.
63** Human-world Twilight Sparkle wears these in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames''. Unlike her pony counterpart, she really needs those as she's BlindWithoutThem. Adjusting her glasses is a CharacterTic for her.
64* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'':
65** Downplayed with Mei: she's undoubtedly a huge nerd and she does wear glasses, but her glasses are fairly stylish and well-fitted to her face, not the kind of ill-fitting monstrosities that scream "nerd" to everyone in sight.
66** On the astral plane, Ming's teenage self is shown to have worn thick glasses, and she had similar academic pressures to Mei.
67[[/folder]]
68
69[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
70* Judy from ''Film/NineToFive'' has a pair of octagonal and ''huge'' eyeglasses.
71* In ''Film/BringingUpBaby'', Creator/CaryGrant plays a clumsy paleontologist with nerdy Literature/HarryPotter-like glasses.
72* Arnie Cunningham from ''Film/{{Christine}}'' wears thick, black glasses. Later on, they're broken by school bullies and fixed with the stereotypical white tape. Even later, however, after Christine has made him cool, he discards them altogether.
73* ''Film/DollFactory'': Melvin wears glasses, and is as nerdy as they come.
74* The titular Eddie from ''Film/EddieTheEagle'' wears glasses, and he breaks several pairs in his practice sessions. The real-life Eddie Edwards wears them too.
75* In ''Film/AForeignAffair'', Phoebe Frost (played by Creator/JeanArthur) wears unflattering, round-ish horn rims.
76* ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' has Rosa Klebb wearing particularly hideous thick-framed ''and'' [[OpaqueNerdGlasses thick-lensed]] glasses in many scenes.
77* Janine from ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'' wears big, thick glasses which give her a "bug-eyed" look, as Venkman comments.
78* ''Film/ItsAWonderfulWorld'', Guy Johnson steals a horribly thick pair of round horn rims from a Boy Scout for a disguise. He can barely see out of them.
79* ''Franchise/JurassicPark'':
80** ''Film/JurassicWorld'': [[Characters/JurassicWorld Lowery]] has a pretty thick pair of glasses.
81** ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'': [[Characters/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom Franklin]] is a stereotypical nerd, and he has glasses.
82* Rick Vaughn, in ''Film/MajorLeague'', is fitted with these, curing the vision problem that got him branded with the nickname "Wild Thing". However, the glasses don't hurt his [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys persona]] and he still has fangirls (and, oddly, fanboys).
83* Franchise/MonsterVerse: Recurring character Dr. [[Characters/MonsterVerseSkullIslandExpedition Houston Brooks]], Dr. [[Characters/MonsterVerseMonarch Rick Stanton]] in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', and [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans Josh Valentine]] in ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' all have browline/chunky-black glasses and are definitely nerdy, as does Dr. Serizawa's father Eiji in his younger years in the prequel graphic novel.
84* Boris the Russian hacker wears glasses fixed with red adhesive tape in ''Film/GoldenEye''. Which he always wears on the edge of his nose, somewhat defeating their purpose.
85* ''Film/PacificRim'':
86** Resident Kaiju biologist Newt Geiszler has a pair of thick, black ones.
87** Newt's vitriolic best friend Hermann Gottlieb also has nerd glasses, though his are of the grandpa Coke-bottle variety and he only needs them for close looks at stuff.
88* ''Film/{{Predator}}''. Hawkins, the team's radio operator. His actor Creator/ShaneBlack wanted to wear authentic military-issue ballistic glasses, but Creator/JohnMcTiernan preferred him to look as geeky as possible.
89* ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'': Nerd-in-denial Lewis Skolnick has thick black half-frame glasses.
90%%* One of the Hansen Brotheras in ''Film/SlapShot'' has some.
91* The ''Franchise/{{Tron}}'' films go a little wild with these. Aside from Flynn and Dillinger, almost every other human member of the cast has thick, ''very'' [[TheEighties '80s]] nerd glasses. {{Justified}} as this ''is'' a software and electronics company, and [[ExploitedTrope exploited]] in [[Film/{{Tron}} the first film]], as the thick glasses help distinguish the human Users from their cyberspace counterparts, but {{Downplayed}} as of ''Film/TronLegacy'''s ARG, as Lora apparently got contacts or Lasik, Alan's frames are wire-rim and more subdued, and Roy (in the extras) still has a pair of coke bottle glasses. In the AlternateContinuity [[VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh video game sequel]], however, Alan still has thick and unflattering glasses and son Jet has black-framed "hipster" glasses in the analog world, but TheGlassesComeOff once they hit cyberspace.
92* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
93** Dr. Hank [=McCoy=] wears the horn-rimmed variety in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which in his case is a visual cue that he's a geeky academic.
94** In ''Days of Future Past'', Dr. Bolivar Trask's glasses are a tad too big for his face, but were considered fashionable during the time period he lives in. His eyewear is meant to denote his status as an engineer (more specifically a weapons designer).
95[[/folder]]
96
97[[folder:Literature]]
98* ''Literature/TheAbsolutelyTrueDiaryOfAPartTimeIndian'': Arnold draws himself with enormous ones, which illustrate his weak-looking, gawky appearance and vulnerability to getting beaten up by bullies.
99* In ''Literature/ABadCaseOfStripes'', the doctors all wear huge black glasses.
100* Ponder Stibbons, ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s resident {{Magitek}} geek, wears glasses, which cover artist Paul Kidby draws as these.
101* Ultra-stickler Percy has round hornrims in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' novels.
102* ''Literature/{{Nerdycorn}}'': [[TheProtagonist Fern]] wears a pair of glasses with big, thick rims. Some of the unicorns mock them by putting a pair of donuts up to their eyes.
103* ''Literature/TimeRiders'': Maddy Carter. She also has the frizzy hair and asthma.
104[[/folder]]
105
106[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
107%%* Adam Conover from the [=TruTV=] show ''Series/AdamRuinsEverything'' sports a pair of brown horn-rimmed glasses.
108%%* In the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode "[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E21Ragtag Ragtag]]", agents Coulson and May wear these as part of their "nerdy executive" disguise when visiting Cybertek.
109* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': In a cast chockablock with nerds, Leonard is the only character to wear NerdGlasses, in the "thick black plastic" variety. Interestingly, the Finnish name for the show happens to be ''Rillit huurussa'' which literally means "Frosted glasses".
110* ''Series/BlackSails'': 18th century pirate Dufresne wears small, round, wire-framed glasses, which establish him as the ship's nerdy, noncombative accountant.
111%%* Young Reid in ''Series/CriminalMinds'', and adult Reid, too, in the earlier seasons.
112%%* ChildProdigy Galina on ''Series/DaddysDaughters'' wears giant glasses.
113* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Tenth Doctor sometimes wears a pair of dark tortoise-shell rectangular-frame PurelyAestheticGlasses, which he calls his "brainy specs".
114** Recurring character Osgood wears large glasses with chunky plastic frames.
115* In a behind the scenes segment for ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'', Creator/DrewCarey mentions that he needs to get in costume. He then simply switches from a pair of wire-rim glasses to his iconic Nerd Glasses. Lampshaded in the (full) second opening of the show, where Drew's glasses are broken and by his friend's advice he replaces them by going to the nearby Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and stealing Buddy Holly's.
116* Mac Lesggy, host of the French science show ''[=E=m6=]'', wears thick-framed glasses, though they're tamer than his once-iconic zebra-framed glasses.
117* StereotypicalNerd Steve Urkel from ''Series/FamilyMatters'' wears a pair of large, roundish, red glasses with thick frames.
118* ''Series/TheFlash2014'':
119** Dr. Harrison Wells wears glasses with thick plastic rims that are black on the upper half and clear on the lower half. They manage to suit him very well, despite being obvious nerd glasses that [[SmartPeopleWearGlasses help to indicate]] that he is a genius even compared to the other highly intellectual characters. Flashbacks to before [[spoiler:Eobard Thawne [[KillAndReplace killed and replaced]] the original Harrison]] show him wearing similar glasses with completely clear frames that look significantly dorkier. [[spoiler:His Earth-2 doppelgänger]] wears similar glasses to him, although he tends to save them for when he's working in the lab. As a more [[MinoredInAsskicking action-oriented character]], he often goes glasses-less.
120** [[InsufferableGenius Hartley Rathaway]] and [[TheProfessor Martin Stein]] are the only other characters anywhere close to Wells's intellectual league, and they also wear black plastic glasses.
121* Nerdy Bill from ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks'' wears a large, clunky, unflattering pair.
122%%* Lily on ''Series/HannahMontana'' wore these during an UnwantedGlassesPlot. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)
123* In ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'', Carisi has worn a pair of clunky black plastic ones with a camera inside while undercover at least twice.
124* In ''Series/LoisAndClark'', Clark's glasses are originally a set of dark brown tortoiseshell browline glasses. In later seasons he switches to a more modern and stylish pair that doesn't work nearly as well at hiding his identity.
125* In the early seasons of the show, Adam Savage of ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' wears large, chunky plastic glasses that even other members of the team call "coke-bottle lenses". They're thick enough that they might also grant him some additional protection in the [[OncePerEpisode occasional event]] where something might explode. He wears smaller frames in later seasons, but they're still thick, black plastic.
126* On the Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} television show ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'', Simon Nelson-Cook (more commonly known by his nickname Cookie) has black glasses with tech fitted on them.
127* Sloane, in ''Series/TheNewsroom'', occasionally wears thick-framed and unstylish glasses while dressed down to remind us that she's a nerd. While not wearing them, she's usually very fashionable.
128* Uncle Junior on ''Series/TheSopranos'' wears an oversized pair of glasses with thick frames. Dominic Chianese, who played Junior, said that these glasses pretty much ''were'' Junior.
129* ''Series/StargateSG1'': Dr. Daniel Jackson, the show's AdventurerArchaeologist, wears large wire-framed glasses. In fact, looking at how the use of Daniel's glasses changed over time is an interesting way to visualize his character development. His initial characterization is as a naive, dorky academic and the unfashionable hair and glasses emphasize this, but over time as the character [[TookALevelInBadass toughens up]], many of the "dorkiness markers" are dropped. By the last few seasons, Daniel apparently wears contacts 20-30% of the time, and finally in Season 10 his glasses are replaced with more fashionable ones, which fits with the BadassBookworm character type he has picked up. One dorky AlternateTimeline Daniel also has thick-framed nerd glasses, to contrast with the regular Daniel who had had enough character development to no longer be dorky at that point, and to emphasize the extreme dorkiness of the alternate version they needed something different.
130%%** Whenever Samantha Carter appears in an AlternateUniverse scenario, she also tends to have this. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)
131%%* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)
132%%** Atropos in "[[Recap/SupernaturalS06E17MyHeartWillGoOn My Heart Will Go On]]" has these.
133%%** As does Ed Nelson in "[[Recap/SupernaturalS08E11LARPAndTheRealGirl LARP and the Real Girl]]".
134%%* Robbie from ''Series/{{Victorious}}''.
135* ''Series/TheXFiles'': "[[Recap/TheXFilesS05E10Chinga Chinga]]" has a SadistTeacher named Jane who slaps an autistic girl because she has a tantrum (true, she's a CreepyChild with a PerversePuppet, but still) and would like to [[BurnTheWitch burn her mother]]. Jane's glasses exhibit nearly every feature of the Nerd Glasses: very unflattering, with thick coke-bottled lenses and strangely-shaped large chunky frames. Could she be ''more'' unlikeable?
136[[/folder]]
137
138[[folder:Music]]
139* Music/ElvisCostello wore a thick-framed black pair, at least early in his career, when he seemed to be consciously projecting an awkward[=/=]Music/BuddyHolly style.
140* Andy Fletcher from Music/DepecheMode wore [[https://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4mvzi9UPq1qm5gdno2_500.jpg a thick, black pair]] during the band's early days.
141* Music/MarkMothersbaugh of Music/{{Devo}}. You may notice that the band tends to dress identically, save Mark with his glasses/goggles; this is because he has been legally blind since a child and can't see much without them.
142* Music/JohnFrusciante, formerly of Music/RedHotChiliPeppers, never wore the glasses onstage with the band, but off stage and in most of other performances, they're almost always present.
143* Music/BuddyHolly chose thick, black frames for his glasses after deciding that he could not perform without them, so he'd better make them a part of his image.
144* Music/TrevorHorn wore these early in his career. They even appear on the cover of Music/TheBuggles album ''Adventures in Modern Recording''.
145%%* Lisa Loeb's glasses are a major part of her public image. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)
146%%* Music/{{Morrissey}}, occasionally. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)
147* Music/TheProclaimers are famous for not only being identical twins with near identical singing voices, but both wear the same glasses too. Poor eyesight is particularly common in Scotland where the band is from, compared to the rest of the UK, so this is something of a fitting trope.
148* Music/JarvisCocker alternated between these and contact lenses during {{Music/Pulp}}'s heyday. Nowadays, the specs are an integral part of his image.
149* Music/TearsForFears:
150** In the second "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOGKql-tGDA Mothers Talk]]" music video, Roland Orzabal has horn-rimmed glasses in the scene where he's surrounded by newspapers to convey that his character is a {{Bookworm}}.
151** In the "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsHiG-43Fzg Head over Heels]]" music video, Curt Smith wears large, square-ish spectacles in order to portray a geeky library janitor.
152* John Flansburgh of Music/TheyMightBeGiants wears these most of the time, so much that it became part of his image. His bandmate, John Linnell, later started wearing the glasses, but unlike Flansburgh, he usually doesn't wear them on stage or in publicity photos.
153%%* Rivers Cuomo of Music/{{Weezer}}. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)
154* Music/WeirdAlYankovic is the quintessential example of a nerdy musician wearing a pair of nerdy glasses. They were a key asset to his image for a majority of his career before his ultimate LASIK surgery on January 24th, 1998.
155* Guitarist Noodles from Music/TheOffspring wears the black thick-rimmed variety.
156** Singer Dexter Holland was seen wearing the tortoise-shell browline variety when he gave the commencement speech at the 2022 graduation ceremony of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
157[[/folder]]
158
159%%[[folder:Podcasts]]
160%%* Havi from [[Podcast/GaysInCapes QDND]] has this as one of his defining features. They're not exactly flattering on him, but his TheGlassesGottaGo transformation doesn't actually go any better. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample; what do they look like?)
161%%[[/folder]]
162
163[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
164* Wrestling/JimCornette, a non-athletic nerd who made money taking pictures of wrestlers before buying his way into the business with help from his mother. Best known for managing Wrestling/BigVanVader and Wrestling/TheMidnightExpress.
165%%* Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys were known for wearing glasses held together with tape during their intros in Wrestling/{{ECW}}.
166* Jamison, the dyed-in-the-wool ultimate mark who dressed like a nerd and wore glasses like a nerd. Several times, the repaired glasses had to be repaired after he got punched... right in the glasses.
167* [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Bubba Ray and Devon Dudley]] sometimes sported this look.
168[[/folder]]
169
170[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
171* [[MeaningfulName Brains]] from ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}''. Frames thicker than his fingers, in a dashing powder-blue.
172[[/folder]]
173
174[[folder:Roleplay]]
175* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'':
176** Ivy wears a pair of slim browline glasses which, while actually quite stylish, are an easy indicator of her nerdy personality and interests. Funnily enough, both of her parents [[LamarckWasRight also wear glasses]].
177** Both Jacob and Rhys have glasses of the thick-framed variety, and are both intellectually inclined (Jacob via his rigorous studying and ScheduleFanatic tendencies, Rhys via working for the school newspaper as an IntrepidReporter).
178[[/folder]]
179
180[[folder:Toys]]
181* ''Toys/MonsterHigh'':
182** Ghoulia Yelps, the smartest girl in school and Cleo De Nile's best friend and all-around personal assistant, wears a pair of thick, white cat-eye glasses decorated with rhinestones (though not conspicuous enough to push them into ImpossiblyTackyEyewear territory).
183** Jackson Jekyll, half of Frankie's main love interest, also counts. He's a timid, oft-bullied intellectual who wears slightly opaque square glasses with thick frames.
184[[/folder]]
185
186[[folder:Video Games]]
187* Formerly sold as a rare cosmetic item in ''VideoGame/AnimalJam''. Complete with white (or on some variants of the item, yellowish) adhesive tape on the bridge and a pencil behind your animal's ear.
188%%* ''VideoGame/{{Beastieball}}'''s Riley wears a classic set ever since she was a child, while also possessing an incredibly strong interest in Beastieball. She even serves as the opponent in the game's tutorial. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample; what do they look like?)
189%%* Jack wears an astoundingly huge, thick-framed pair of these with his HatOfAuthority in ''VideoGame/CaveStory''. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample; how is he a nerd?)
190* In ''VideoGame/DiceyDungeons'', the Inventor sports a pair of orange glasses and is the GadgeteerGenius among the contestants.
191* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'':
192** In the world of ''Disco Elysium'', the word "binoclard"/"bino" -- a French word for a wearer of glasses, with a connotation similar to "four-eyes" -- is used whenever, in our world, we would say "geek" or "nerd" (e.g. tabletop role-playing games are described as "binoclard stuff"). This not only shows off the role that FantasyCounterpartCulture France has had in the game's "immigrant melting-pot fantasy" setting, but also implies that glasses aren't that commonly seen. The link between binoclard-dom and being a geeky loser is so common in the setting that in ''The Final Cut'', the infra-materialist reading group refers to a rival Communist tendency -- the Mazovian Economists - as "the Econoclards".
193** Kim Kitsuragi has atrocious eyesight which forces him to wear big bino glasses, which he views as "mostly just cumbersome". Despite his elegant dress sense and socially insightful personality, the combination of the glasses and his Seolite ancestry leads to him getting stereotyped as AsianAndNerdy, which he is subtly defensive about. The player [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential can]] also make fun of his glasses and call him a "bino", though it doesn't get a rise out of him.
194** An item in the game is a pair of "Mega-Bino's Prescription Lenses", which are beige plastic square frames with impenetrably thick Coke-bottle lenses. The description comments that beige does not look good on anyone and that they are "nausea-inducing hell glasses", but they give you a +2 boost to your Encyclopedia skill due to letting you "unleash your inner bino".
195* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'':
196** The Four Eyes trait increases the Courier's Perception with glasses, but [[BlindWithoutEm decreases it without them]].
197** The ''Old World Blues'' DLC introduces [[MadScientist Dr. Klein's and Dr. Mobius']] glasses, which boost Intelligence and provide bonuses to the Courier's Repair and Explosives skills, respectively.
198* Mid Previa of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', whom the party meets in the Ancient Library, wears glasses with thick orange frames. They also have very large lenses.
199* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'':
200** Gordon Freeman has a pair of these. However, instead of losing them once he starts ripping zombies apart with a crowbar, he keeps them and becomes a BadassBookworm.
201** The "Walter" scientist model from [[VideoGame/HalfLife1 the first game]] wears a pair of thick-framed glasses. His successor in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', Dr. Isaac Kleiner, inherits the glasses along with his other physical traits.
202* ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'':
203** Lloyd of ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' wears the round glasses, and they double as OpaqueNerdGlasses. He's extremely pasty, with a strong interest in computer software, and a frequent target of bullying at his elementary school. The ''[[AllThereInTheManual MOTHER Encyclopedia]]'' mentions that they're his prized possession and that he's never seen without them, and that's a point of pride for him.
204** Jeff of ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' wears the classic thick square frames. They go well with his suit and bowtie and bowl cut, and he's a GadgeteerGenius ''extraordinaire'', They're also OpaqueNerdGlasses, as seen on both his clay model and sprite.
205* ''VideoGame/PaleoPines'': Owynn wears reading glasses, and he's a book-smart expert on dinosaurs.
206* ''VideoGame/PaperChase'': In the Inform version, the psychologist is described as wearing thick spectacles.
207* ''VideoGame/Persona5'':
208** The game has an unusual case of PurelyAestheticGlasses: After the MiscarriageOfJustice that lands him on probation at the start of the story, the protagonist starts wearing big, clunky circular glasses to appear more mild-mannered. He takes them off when reading, whenever he's in the Velvet Room, and whenever he's in the [[MentalWorld Metaverse]], and he can see perfectly fine without them.
209** An actual case where the user ''does'' legitimately need glasses, meanwhile, is the extremely [[{{Hikkikomori}} shy and anxiety-ridden]] Futaba Sakura, a [[WrenchWench programming prodigy]] and [[GamerChick nerdy gamer]] who spends all of her time on the computer.
210%%* Ernie Eaglebeak from ''VideoGame/TheSpellcastingSeries'' has a classic set. They can be magicked in ''Spellcasting 301: Spring Break'' to appear more stylish, if the player so chooses.
211* Parodied with Sheldon from ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'', who's not just the owner of the Ammo Knights chain of weapons stores, but an [[GunNut extremly enthusiastic and loquacious weapons nerd]]. As such, he wears a pair of literal binoculars at all times, having become incredibly nearsighted due to his work as an engineer/mechanic.
212[[/folder]]
213
214[[folder:Visual Novels]]
215* Liam from ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'' wears these. He's also a socially awkward third wheel for Jade and Dash at his introduction, and it is unclear how much of his awkwardness is intentional.
216[[/folder]]
217
218[[folder:Webcomics]]
219* ''Webcomic/{{Avania}}'':
220** Junior Warrant Officer [[BespectacledCutie Rhys O'Shaughnassy]] wears large, round-lensed glasses with bulky frames.
221** Major Beckinridge of the Royal Corps of Engineers, and Lieutenant Ingwin Iverness of the Black Lanners both wear oversized round hornrim glasses.
222** Ministry Secretary Jane Darcy wears half-moon spectacles.
223* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', this is {{Invoked}} as Sarah is [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2014-07-04 given]] a pair of [[PurelyAestheticGlasses costume]] nerd glasses after "proving" her geekiness.
224* Tarvek from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' wore a pair of these as a child, but had upgraded to his current pince nez set by the time he went to Paris to study.
225* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':
226** Eridan has large, rounded rectangular glasses with thick black frames, contributing to his {{Hipster}} appearance.
227** While it can be hard to tell since the bridge isn't visible, John wears rectangular glasses with black frames. Jake has an identical pair.
228** Aranea is a lady nerd and exhibits 1970s fashion sense, so she wears thin, white cat-eyes.
229%%* Holly from ''Webcomic/LightningMadeOfOwls'' has this as her defining feature. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)
230* Played with, with Gary of ''Webcomic/MenageA3''. He's certainly a geek, if not much of a nerd, and he wears glasses with black plastic frames. But, in keeping with his general dorky image, they're relatively neat and don't look too bad on him.
231* Thaddeus Euphemism the goofy scientist from ''Webcomic/ThePetriDish'' wears glasses.
232* ''Webcomic/SabrinaOnline'' (and its predecessor ''ComicStrip/SabrinaAtSeeCAD'') has its titular character Sabrina, a anthromorphic skunk who is a massive {{otaku}} devoted to Transformers and Amiga computers, wearing her thick massive pair of shades almost constantly. There is some TruthInTelevision to this though as real life skunks are naturally myopic, and all the skunk characters in the series are seen wearing glasses (with the exception of Tabitha, and Zig-Zag a skunk/tiger hybrid who only wears reading glasses on occasion).
233* Amber in early ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'', until she gets a {{makeover}}, with a LampshadeHanging that she's discovered that nobody even ''makes'' glasses like that any more.
234* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': Vedika is a shy and intelligent girl who wears a pair of large round-framed glasses. She [[TheGlassesComeOff takes them off]] when she transforms into the MagicalGirl Mindful Eye.
235* Ruby of ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' is relatively subtle in her nerdiness, but her outsize round lenses are one sign. However, she's good-looking enough to make them at least a little bit cute.
236* In ''Webcomic/WeakHero'':
237** Timothy Park is an information gatherer for Jake Ji, and totes a pair of oversized square glasses.
238** Eugene is an obvious nerd and MrExposition, and sports a pair of square browline glasses.
239[[/folder]]
240
241[[folder:Web Animation]]
242* Sniffles from ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' is a geeky GadgeteerGenius who loves superheroes and ''Franchise/StarTrek''. He wears thick-framed round glasses, complete with tape to hold the lenses together.
243[[/folder]]
244
245[[folder:Web Original]]
246%%* David Kalla wears these to show off his adorkableness.
247* Eugene, WebVideo/MatthewSantoro's nerdy clone, wears these.
248* Squeaks from ''Website/ScrubClub'' wears glasses and is described as an "absent-minded professor".
249* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Elaine "Delta Spike" Fleischer wears Nerd Glasses and a lab coat in a deliberate attempt to be sexy. She's also a GeniusDitz known as the "Explosion Queen" around the labs.
250[[/folder]]
251
252[[folder:Western Animation]]
253* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'':
254** The nerdy InsufferableGenius Colin wears rectangular black glasses with very thick frames.
255** Joan, the school nurse, wears enormously oversized eye glasses -- or rather lenses inexplicably attached to her face.
256%%** Principal Brown, Mr. Robinson, Granny Jojo, Dr. Butt, Dexter, the Librarian, and Tree Librarian, Hot Dog Guy, Dr. Old Man Reaching For A Jar Of Olives, the Soulless Office Worker, Paperball, Phil, and Razor also wear glasses.
257* Steve Smith of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. In the unaired pilot he has much nerdier-looking round glasses, but for the main series they were retooled into rectangular black-framed ones, resembling what are commonly known as emo or hipster glasses. He is mentioned as being far-sighted yet doesn't seem to have a problem seeing without them on the occasion that he breaks them. It is likely that he exaggerates his condition because he feels smarter wearing them.
258* A rare robotic example; in ''WesternAnimation/AnimalMechanicals'', Komodo, the Mechanicals' BadassBookworm, is designed to have chunky, square eye-pieces that are treated (and even referred to InUniverse) as glasses. They especially pop since they're the only part of his design that's blue[[note]]Komodo is mostly red, yellow, and white[[/note]].
259* [[Characters/BobsBurgersTinaBelcher Tina Belcher]], the awkward oldest daughter of Bob Belcher of ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'', wears them.
260* Penny Sanchez on ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' has quite thick frames, but she's no less adorable with them.
261* Jérémie Belpois, the TeenGenius and MissionControl from ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko''. Not too thick, but noticeable.
262* WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'s iconic Manstopper Glasses, a pair of large, round glasses. She's an intellectual girl who considers herself to be SurroundedByIdiots.
263* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'':
264** Dexter has thick-framed glasses that double as EyeGlasses. He is also a ChildProdigy and ScienceHero and owns a huge underground laboratory.
265** Dexter's scientific rival Mandark wears thick-framed glasses as well.
266%%* Mort, Muriel, and Neil Goldman from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.
267* ''WesternAnimation/FourEyes'': Emma and her friends Skyler and Pete all wear glasses, and are considered geeks among the class. However, in Emma's case, her glasses are also a TransformationTrinket that enable her to turn from an alien into a human and keep her alien status hidden from the other kids.
268%%* Ron Stoppable's mom, and a few other female characters, tend to wear these kinds of specs in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''.
269* ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'': Atsaq, a doctor, has red-rimmed glasses.
270* Willy in ''WesternAnimation/MyDadTheRockStar'' wears them.
271* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
272** A.K. "Daring Do" Yearling wears these while incognito.
273** [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRarity Rarity]] wears cat-eye glasses with bright red frames when she's working. Given that she's TheFashionista, though, on her they look less nerdy and more fashionably retro.
274* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Dr. Camila Noceda wears browline glasses and is rather shy about her more nerdy interests.
275-->'''Luz''': Mom! You were a secret nerd?
276* The ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Bubblevision" revolves around Bubbles getting glasses to correct her poor eyesight to fight a giant ant; due to how she looks with the glasses on, Blossom and Buttercup repeatedly tease her and call her names like "nerd" and "dork", causing her to feel humiliated. The Professor, however, does ''not'' laugh at her and tells her it shouldn't matter what her sisters think and what matters is she needs to fight crime, and she musn't let what they say get to her. She later [[TheDogBitesBack gets her revenge]] when the glasses magnify her eye beams and she singes her sisters in the process of frying the monster.
277* Mitchell from ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' wears thick-framed glasses, emphasizing his nerd tendencies.
278* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'':
279** ButtMonkey Gus Griswald is a stereotypical geek kid with high-water pants and thick-framed glasses.
280** LovableNerd Gretchen Grundler has huge thin-framed round glasses that show off her adorkableness.
281* Shelton Klutzberry in ''WesternAnimation/TheReplacements''. In one episode it's revealed that they're so heavy that they cripple his posture and distort his voice; without them he instantly turns into an unwilling ChickMagnet.
282* Filbert from ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' is a downright ''extreme'' example of this. So much so, in fact, that his signature nerd shades even end up [[LamarckWasRight being passed on to his sons]].
283* ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'': Peabody and Sherman. They're the smartest being in existence and his LovableNerd pet human, respectively, and they both wear round glasses.
284* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'': Chuckie has glasses with extremely thick frames, although as a preliterate child his nerdiness is primarily manifest in his visual appearance (RummageSaleReject and later braces) and more timid personality.
285* Velma of ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'', who serves as TheSmartGirl for the Scooby Gang. She's just not Velma without those chunky square lenses.
286* As revealed via flashback, Peter Parker from ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' used to have glasses, and he was an awkward and introverted science nerd until he got bitten by the genetically augmented spider that gave him his superpowers.
287* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': [[Characters/StevenUniverseConnieMaheswaran Connie Maheswaran]], a geeky friend of Steven's, initially wears large thin-rimmed glasses. She needs them due to being BlindWithoutEm, but after "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E24AnIndirectKiss An Indirect Kiss]]", thanks to Steven's healing saliva, her eyesight is restored to normal and she loses the need for them. She still wears them but without the lenses, so her parents don't get upset, but eventually explains it to them after about a year and stops wearing them entirely.
288* ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'':
289** Junko wore big round glasses during his childhood on his home terra, where he was seen as a nerd; he sometimes uses them for reading.
290** The Terradon scientists' round goggles evoke the appearance of stereotypical nerd glasses and hugely magnify their eyes.
291* Tobey [=McCallister=] from ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'' is a nerdy [[ChildProdigy 10-year-old]] RobotMaster who wears a very large pair of round glasses.
292* ''WesternAnimation/XavierRiddleAndTheSecretMuseum'': Brad, who is shy and nerdy, wears glasses.
293* Jay of ''WesternAnimation/ZekesPad'' wears thick red glasses and is arguably the smartest character in the show [[SurroundedByIdiots (though there isn't really any competition)]].
294[[/folder]]
295
296[[folder:Real Life]]
297* Before 2012, new US military recruits who reported to their respective boot camps were not allowed to wear any prescription eyewear they brought with them. Within the first week, they were prescribed a pair of durable yet unflattering thick brown specs called BC (birth control) glasses (or, alternately, [=BCDs=], for BC Devices or BCG for Birth Control Goggles). So named because wearing them in public is the surest form of birth control known to man. Also known as [=RPG=] (Rape Prevention Glasses) The official "BCD" prescription eyeglasses were changed in 2012 to a more 2012-friendly eyeglass style. In 2014, they did away with mandating official eyewear in favor of a broad permission on "conservative" civilian prescription eyeglasses for all uniforms, as long as they're not "trendy" or otherwise garish.
298* Cat-eye glasses, as mentioned above, were very popular in the [[TheFifties 50s]] for women (and even for some men: look up, Juan García Esquivel) up to the early [[TheSixties 60s]]. Many famous stars sported these as well. Nowadays, they indicate someone who is hopelessly, intentionally or "ironically" [[note]]Not really a true example of irony, but hipsters typically don't know or care[[/note]] unfashionable.
299* Creator/JeffGoldblum, {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and popularizer of the GibberingGenius trope in his films, is myopic and prefers the "chunky black frames" style of these offscreen, but plays with this trope in that he prefers the upscale brand Jacques Marie Mage. The glasses became so associated with him in TheNewTens that in 2021 he collaborated with [=JMM=] on a limited-edition frame, [[https://jacquesmariemage.com/goldblum/ "The Jeff"]]. In a note included with each pair, Goldblum muses that the wearer might [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman start acting like him]] ("Well, if so, have fun as you try out a few obtuse phrases.").
300* Actor Creator/HaroldLloyd first helped popularize horn-rimmed glasses in America in the 1920s.
301[[/folder]]

Top