There are many ways to show a close interpersonal connection between characters, from holding hands to kissing to giving gifts. But ironically, it is the use of cold that is sometimes used to show the closeness and warmth of a relationship, be it romantic, familial, or friendship.
This is Cold Touch Surprise. You might see this gesture between couples who are dating, close friends, and, as anyone with a brother or sister can attest, between siblings. You would almost never see this between people between whom there is no affection at all, at least not without consequences. One such variation might find characters in a dark room, insisting someone hold their hands for safety, then complain about the hand being cold, only to find it doesn't belong to their friend, but instead the Villain / Monster of the Week, often in a Spoofy-Doo setting.
Especially practiced by a Genki Girl or her male equivalent, or the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
For this trope to apply, it needn't necessarily be the face, it can be hands, face, neck, armpits. The idea is that someone has decided that their friend/love interest will be the perfect medium for warming their hands, not only because they're warm, but also because they get to watch them squirm as they put their cold hands on them.
On a hot summer day, this can still be in play, though instead of cold hands and feet, cold drinks in bottles or cans, or ice cream or popsicles will serve as the medium of cold pressed to an unsuspecting person.
It can also be used as a prank between close friends.
Expect the person using this tactic to say something akin to "Tell me, are my hands cold?" Sometimes as a preamble, but just as easily it could be after the attack has been launched.
There's some overlap with Romantic Ribbing.
Examples:
- BanG Dream!: In one 4koma strip, #261, "Forbidden Warmth", Lisa is blowing on her cold hands trying to warm them, when she spots Himari and tries to warm her hands on poor Himari's face. Ran and Tomoe scold Lisa (though both also state they completely understand) while Moca and Tsugumi try to deal with a startled Himari.
- The Demon Girl Next Door: When Yuko starts gloating about her "superior" abilities, Momo presses an ice cold water bottle to the spade end of Yuko's tail, causing her whole body to suffer a chill. Yuko quickly apologizes for her boasting.
- The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan in episode 1, Ryoko tricks Kyon into carrying the grocery bags, then puts her cold hands on his face to warm them. In this case, she was instructing Yuki on methods of flirting.
- An Inversion on Interviews with Monster Girls. Hikari is a vampire, and is vulnerable to both heat and light, though she is still a Daywalking Vampire. If she feels overheated, she'll deliberately cuddle up to Yuki, a Yuki-onna (Snow woman) whose body is naturally cold.
- K-On!: One episode has Ritsu pull this on her younger brother Satoshi to tease him. Ritsu had been subjected to this same treatment by Yui earlier in the episode.
- Episode 11 of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid has Kanna complaining about the cold while on the way to a New Year's festival when her best friend/Implied Love Interest Saikawa comes running up, leading Kanna to put her hands on Saikawa's cheeks and comment on how warm they feel. Saikawa's reaction is predictable.
- My-Otome Zwei: While investigating a downed meteor, but really just unwinding together, Shizuru delights in pressing a cold beer bottle to an unsuspecting Natsuki's exposed neck, to the other's startlement.
- Ranma ½, the Animated Adaptation episode A Cold Day in Furinkan sees Ranma putting his icy hands on Akane's face, causing her to squeal in protest.
- Teasing Master Takagi-san, the segment "I hate the cold". It begins with Yukari, Sanae, and Mina, as Mina puts her cold hands on Yukari's face. Then, while they're arguing, Sanae slips a cold hand under Mina's untucked blouse, laying it on her stomach. At the same time, Nishikata is climbing the stairs, and Takagi passes him, brushing his cheek with her cold hand, then daring him to get her back.
- Jeff Foxworthy, as one of his routines, talks about this involving feet. "Why is it that when a woman gets into bed, the temperature of her feet and butt drop to below freezing? And wanna put 'em on you!"
- There's a joke floating around the internet (possibly originating from Tumblr?), usually involving people replacing the names with fictional characters of their choice - person A says "My hands are cold", so person B holds their hand. Then person A says "My lips are cold, too", and person B gets confused and puts their hand over person A's mouth.
- In the Safehold novel A Mighty Fortress, Emperor Cayleb ministers to the morning sickness of Empress Sharleyan. Then he crawls back into their mutual bed and warms his cold feet against her.
Cayleb: Well, they got frozen in your service. The least you can do is help me thaw them out again!
- American Horror Story: Murder House: When the family moves in, Violet teases Gabriel after touching him by saying she has "cold hands, but warm heart." By this point, she's a ghost. It's heavily implied she was actually only invoking the trope so that Tate would try to kill Gabriel (so he and Violet could be Together in Death), Violet would save his life, but he'd be sufficiently freaked out to leave with his family and not come back.
- In Castlevania, we find out about Trevor and Sypha's Relationship Upgrade after they have a discussion about Sypha's habit of pressing her cold feet against him when they're in bed together.
- Clue Club:
- On more than one occasion, Dee Dee and Pepper have entered a dark room or hallway, with one of them, usually Pepper, requesting they hold hands for safety. Both will complain that the other's hands feel cold or be like ice, only to reveal that the Monster of the Week has somehow got between them.
- In "The Real Gone Gondola", Woofer and Whimper are warming themselves by a heater in the clubhouse after having been buried in snow. Woofer is in front of the heater, and Whimper's back feet are still blue with cold. Whimper shoves them under Woofer to warm them more quickly, causing Woofer to leap several feet into the air.
- Looney Tunes: In "Daffy Duck Slept Here", Porky and Daffy have to share a bed. Daffy's feet get so cold they get encased in ice, so he puts them under Porky, causing him to jump up to the ceiling.
- The New Scooby-Doo Movies: In "The Mystery of Haunted Island", Shaggy and Scooby weaponize this, dumping ice down the shirts and shorts of the Harlem Globetrotters to shock them awake after the owner and coach of the Scorpions successfully kept the Globetrotters from getting a good night's sleep before the game.
