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Lantern Jaw of Justice

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It doesn't get more heroic than this, folks.

Butt-Head: Huhuh, look at his face!
Beavis: Heh, look at that crack in his chin!
Butt-Head: I think it's a buttcrack!
Beavis: Well I guess that would make sense, since like, there's just a bunch of diarrhea coming out of his mouth.
Butt-Head: Yeah. Uhuhuhuhuh, it's like when God was passing out buttcracks, this guy got in line twice.
Beavis and Butt-Head (riffing on Sam Harris)

A square jawline. A protuberant chin. A manly cleft. Somewhere along the line (possibly around Superman's time), artists decided that these, more so than anything else, were the defining facial feature of really heroic (or really strong and dumb) characters. Perhaps to an even greater extent than broad shoulders, barreled chest, and absurdly large biceps, the surest sign of a character's strength and manliness lies in his chin.

Parodies of superheroes will take this trope to its illogical extreme, giving heroes jawlines large enough to logically prevent them from looking down — and possibly, a ridiculous "butt chin". Some artistic conventions also render the cleft as a "swirl" on the chin. While the gluteus chinnimus can affect non-heroic, not-so-strong characters, "chin swirl" is generally reserved for only the manliest of manly.

If a character with a jawline like this crops up in an American Western Animation production, there's a really good chance he'll be voiced by Patrick Warburton. Also common in Captain Space, Defender of Earth!.

This has some Truth in Television, as scientists have noted that there is a definite correlation between jaw size and testosterone production (though cleft chins are very much unisex). Plus, exaggerations aside, a well-defined jawline is considered by many to be an attractive trait in a man, which is why this trope is Always Male (except occasionally Brawn Hilda when played as badass instead of just comical).

This is mostly a hero trope, but villains occasionally have chins like this.

Sister trope to Manly Facial Hair, where facial hair is a sign of toughness and masculinity. In fact, many men who don't have a strong jawline will grow a beard to conceal it. Compare Beauty Equals Goodness, Top-Heavy Guy. Contrast Villainous Cheekbones and Thin Chin of Sin (where angular faces characterize a bad guy).

This item is available in the Trope Co. catalog.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • Fullmetal Alchemist:
    • Major Alex Louis Armstrong of has a mighty chin that has been passed down the ♥♥♥ Armstrong line for GENERATIONS! ♥♥♥
    • Alphonse actually has one built into his armor if you look closely.
    • Hohenheim also has a pretty big chin, which admittedly is mostly blocked by his beard. On the flip-side, so does Father.
  • Gaav from Slayers. He is a Badass Longcoat, he has the Heroic Chin... but he is a villain! Well, he's a villain because he's trying to kill Lina. When Amelia accuses him of being a villain, he's quick to turn the tables and point out Lina is technically a villain, and so is Amelia by association, causing a short Heroic BSoD on Amelia's part.
  • Bonaparte, Leona's tank from Dominion Tank Police.
  • Bean Bandit from Gunsmith Cats features a truly massive jaw. It's not just aesthetic though. One might notice that Bandit NEVER leaves any bones left over after a meal. And he eats walnuts with the shells on.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, famous for being very Rated M for Manly, has no shortage of this trope, especially in Stardust Crusaders. The most prominent example is the part 3 protagonist Jotaro Kujo (and, by extension, his stand Star Platinum), who never loses his heroic chin even as the manga's style and character designs grow more and more androgynous.
  • Argo Gulskii from Mobile Fighter G Gundam is the operator of Neo-Russia’s own Bolt Gundam, and he has a very strong jawline.
  • Lupin III:
    • Inspector Zenigata is drawn with a squarish face, befitting his role as Hero Antagonist.
    • In the Manga, his opponent, the titular thief, is at times depicted with one of these, as is Goemon. Chalk it up to artistic Early-Installment Weirdness, because they're more commonly depicted with pointed chins.
  • My Hero Academia: All Might, whenever he’s able to use his Quirk, has a western-style heroic jawline.
  • One Piece:
    • Though an antagonist, Bartholomew Kuma is decidedly on the side of "Justice," and appropriately has a very, very manly jawline, as Sanji finds out the hard way when he attempts to kick it and nearly breaks his leg. Of course, it is made of metal...
    • Meanwhile, Whitebeard has one of the most impressive jawlines ever, and while being a pirate supposedly puts him on the side of more chaotic-minded free spirits opposed to the law, he's definitely one of the most honorable and dedicated characters in the series.
    • Interestingly enough, Shiryu of the Rain has a massive chin, and while he once served as The Dragon to Magellan in the defense of Impel Down, he eventually joins Blackbeard as his new Dragon after his Ax-Crazy tendencies go a little too far.
  • Inverted in Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-, where the character with the huge cleft chin is the Big Bad, Fae Wong Reed.
  • Goh of Godannar is a rare Super Robot pilot example.
  • Wide Load in Transformers: Robots in Disguise, though he isn't as heroic as he thinks he is.
  • Takahata and Gateau from Negima! Magister Negi Magi, highlighting Asuna's preference for masculinity over boyish charms and androgyny.
  • Kamina from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
  • Ivica Tanović from Eureka Seven AO, though he's unusually slender for The Big Guy.
  • Subverted in Irresponsible Captain Tylor. The gung-ho and by-the-book Lt. Yamamoto has a formidable chin, yet his superior officer, a Mildly Military goofball with a chin barely half his size, is the hero of the series.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V:
    • Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon has a long, thin-shaped, and pointy chin that is described as the fang of rebellion. Dark Rebellion charges electric power in its chin and pierces or slices the opponent's monster with it, the attack being called Hangyaku no Lightning Disobey. The dragon also represents Yuto's will to revolt against Academia, which invaded his homeland.
    • Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon, the evolved form of Dark Rebellion, has also the same chin and attacks in the same manner, with its attack being called Shinkon no Disaster Disobey. The dragon represents Yuto's grief over the "deaths" of his comrades he left behind and his growing hatred of Academia.
    • Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, the combined form of Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, has even two chin fangs that look edgier than Dark Rebellion's chin. Like Dark Rebellion, Odd-Eyes Rebellion attacks with its double chin fang, but is far more aggressive while doing this, usually cracking the floor or the wall with the chin before hitting the opponent, the attack being called Hanki no Gekirin Strike Disobey. Despite its overall brutal appearance and its crazy attack behavior, Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon represents Yuya and Yuto's bond and their wrath against evil.
    • "House Cricket" Hibiki and "Sia ferox" Riock.
  • Gohzo Kamata in Hungry Heart: Wild Striker is even nicknamed "Sergeant Chin" by Kyosuke due to his very prominent chin, fitting for his role as being The Big Guy as Jyoyo Akanegaoka's main defender. He inherited it from his father.
  • The 24th episode of the PaRappa the Rapper anime features three policemen with prominent chins.

    Arts 

    Comic Books 
  • Superman, as stated above, has had one for such a long time that he may well be the Trope Maker. Superman's chin is taken to a ridiculous extreme in Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman artwork, in which the Chin of Steel becomes ludicrously inflated.
  • But, if anything, Batman's is even more dimpled and protuberant. It's certainly more prominent, at any rate, given that it and the lips are all we actually see of his face.
    • In Joker, The Joker rants about this. He demands to know why Batman leaves that tiny window of manly perfection for all the world to see when he tries so hard to cultivate his image as a Terror Hero. Batman's glorious Shut Up, Hannibal! response: "To mock you."
  • Captain Marvel has sported an absolutely enormous and manly chin since his conception, due in part to his being modeled after actor and real-life example Fred MacMurray.
  • Judge Dredd: Judge Dredd's suitably heroic chin is the only part of his face ever seen. He inherited his chiseled features from Chief Judge Fargo, his clone father. His mutant relatives in the Cursed Earth have developed even more exaggerated chins after the fall-out.
  • Gladiator from the Marvel Universe, who is a sort of half-Take That! and half-Affectionate Parody of Superman.
  • Side-character Arcadio in Groo the Wanderer had one of these chins, and female characters would occasionally swoon over it.
  • normalman:
    • Captain Everything. As a parody of Superman and Captain Marvel, it's to be expected, but he takes it to new levels as the series progresses and his appearance becomes more exaggerated. The same goes for the even more exaggerated Megaton Man.
    • And Sergeant Fluffy. Of course, the villainous Ultra-Conservative also has a very strong chin...
  • Even as a gangly teenager, Steve Rogers had a bit of this going on. As Marvel's foremost Cape, Captain America tends to have a strong chin no matter who was drawing him. Lampshaded a little when a new love interest, Bernie Rosenthal, was introduced in the '80s — she had a chin cleft, and the first thing she said to him was that he had one too.
  • Ironically enough, the Green Lanterns tend not to have prominent jaws, Kilowog aside.
  • Preacher: The Saint of all Killers. His lantern jaw rivals that of Clark Kent's, but there's nothing good about him.
  • From the Swedish comic Illustrerad Djävulskap we have Dr. Alabander Modul. He is also the local Villain Protagonist.
  • The Tick, naturally, has such a heroic chin. Even more heroic a chin is possessed by his ally Paul the Samurai, who actually cites his chin to convince a guard that he is a hero and should be allowed in. The guard accepts this argument.
  • Suske en Wiske: Tante Sidonia has a Gag Nose and a huge chin, which make her look unattractive, but she does have a heart of gold.
  • Jommeke:
    • Subverted with Kwak, a villain, who has a long, pointy chin.
    • Implied with Arabella, a good character, who also has a huge chin.
  • Agent 327:
    • IJzerbroot's chef of the Dutch Intelligence Service has a huge jawline.
    • Subverted by the villain Boris Kloris has a huge lower jaw, literally bigger than his face.
  • De Kiekeboes: Firmin Van De Kasseien, Kiekeboe's corrupt boss, has a brawny chin, symbolizing his arrogance.
  • Discussed in MAD's "Superheroes" special: it has a foreword by Adam West which revolves around nothing but this trope.
  • The titular Hellboy has always been shown with a monstrously thick chin, even when he was young. Given his Made of Iron tendencies, he could probably knock someone out with it.
  • Even as a duck, Dr. Cliff Carlson from Doug Gray’s The Eye of Mongombo sports a very manly chin.
  • While he was generally an Anti-Hero at best in the modern sense due to his truly antiquated sense of morality the Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint version of Hercules Unbound had a huge prominent squared-off jaw and was unquestionably a hero in the Ancient Greek sense.
  • Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias in Watchmen, another deliberately archetypal example.
  • Being a superhero parody, just about every male heroic character in Captain Biceps has one. Biceps himself has a lower jaw around three times as wide as his entire skull.

    Comic Strips 
  • Dick Tracy invented the heroic chin.
  • Popeye: Popeye's chin is colossal and he fights for justice all the time!
  • Nero: Subverted with Ricardo, the main antagonist, who has a hook nose and brawny big chin.
  • British comic hero Bananaman, as a parody of the genre, naturally possesses one of these.

    Fanfiction 
  • Dungeon Keeper Ami: In Interrupted Plotting, Ami references this trope when thinking of her first horned reaper:
    With his large, jutting chin he had - and he would have hated this assessment - looked almost heroic.
  • In Ma Fille, while it's a point of weakness in his origin series, Joe's oversized jaw indicates his heroism here, via his kindness to others and love of his daughter (and later, his husband and second daughter).

    Films — Animation 

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Possibly the main reason why Aaron Eckhart was cast as Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight. A subtle nod to the standard heroic archetype? Or maybe he's just a damn good actor. Possibly both. Nolan did comment on Eckhart's facial features making him look like a movie hero from the '50s, after all.
  • Batman movies: One of the few good things to be said for George Clooney's turn in the cowl is that his lantern jaw fit the physical requirements better than his predecessors.
  • In the heart-warming (?) ending of Me, Myself & Irene, it is revealed that Jim Carrey's alternate personality had one of these surgically implanted on him. Everyone is amused.
    "Look here, Daddy; now you can blow your nose and wipe your ass at the same time!"
  • Bruce Campbell, especially in Evil Dead. His (hilarious) autobiography is even called If Chins Could Kill.
  • Referenced in Fantastic Four (2005). When reflecting on why their relationship failed years prior, Reed tells Sue he always thought she wanted "a stronger man", while using his stretching powers to give himself a Lantern jaw for a few seconds.
  • Parodied in Bullshot (1983) where actor Alan Shearman is constantly thrusting out his jaw whenever his Comedic Hero character appears on the scene. Lampshaded in the trailer: "There was a time when heroes were straight-limbed, lantern-jawed, well-bred, and British!"
  • The comic-book Iron Man was never drawn with chin on his helmet but the movie version from the Mark II armor up has a protruding chin that does make him look more heroic.
  • Johnny in Starship Troopers. Seriously, his jawline steals half the scenes in that movie.
  • Judge Dredd:
    • Love him or hate him, but Sly Stallone had the perfect chin for the title role.
    • Played for Laughs when Fergie encounters an unmasked Dredd on the prison shuttle; he confirms the identification by covering Dredd's face and comparing his chin with the one he remembers.
  • Josh Brolin's character Sergeant O'Mara in Gangster Squad has a jaw of granite and a stare to match.
  • DC Extended Universe:
  • David Hyde Pierce, best known as his role as Niles Crane, has a quite prominent cleft chin.
  • While still on the comic book heroes, Joss Whedon explains in his commentary on The Avengers why Chris Evans' jaw is the reason that he is a superhero, and Joss is not.
  • Lampshaded in Unbreakable. When showing off a piece of comic book art to a prospective client, Elijah Price explains how the square jaw is common to superheroes, while supervillains have more pointed facial features. Later when David Dunn does an anonymous act of heroism, the newspaper the following day shows a sketch artist's rendering of the mysterious rescuer with a jawline to rival Dick Tracy.
  • Eggsy from Kingsman: The Secret Service has a jawline sharp enough to be considered a weapon in its own right.
  • 12 to the Moon. While the other eleven astronauts pass quickly through the checkpoint to their rocketship, the American captain stops to give us a profile shot of his classic hero looks and impressive chin.
  • James Bond: While all of the actors who play Bond have fairly impressive jawlines, George Lazenby's chin is the most exaggerated.
  • In any live-action Spider-Man movie, you never directly see Peter Parker putting on or taking off his mask because the actor always wears a prosthetic jaw with the costume. If they didn't reinforce the jawline, the mask would just hang between the jaw and the neck and look like a cheap Halloween costume. Even cosplayers will wear a prosthesis because the mask just won't look right without it.
  • Colin Firth in The King's Speech has a good solid chin, featured prominently in one minimalist poster featuring a close-cropped shot of his mouth and chin addressing a microphone.

    Literature 
  • Chrysalis (RinoZ): Beyn's first impression of the newcomers to the village of Renewal is that their leader's "shoulders were broad, her arms thick and her jaw could possibly cut bread." Anthony later thinks to himself that her jawline could probably cut steel.
    Whoever her parents were, they had some serious jaw genes going on.
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses: Since Tamlin is wearing a mask for much of the first book, Feyre makes mention of how masculine his jawline is.
  • In Me, by Jimmy (Big Boy) Valente, a parody of the life of Jesse Ventura, Garrison Keillor makes reference to a part of Navy SEAL training where "a Naval Surgeon gave us cleft chins."
  • In Tour of the Merrimack, dim-witted Vice-President Sampson Reed is described as having one so dramatic that his nickname is "The Chin".
  • A rare female example: Eldest Whistler is described as tall, lean, broad-shouldered, and iron-jawed.
  • Commissar Ciaphas Cain's (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!) chin accounts for a good 15% of the heroism his posters exude.
  • Joked about in A Memory of Light, where Mat observes that the Deathwatch Guards have all traded their senses of humor for oversized chins.
  • Warren the 13th notes that his father, Warren the 12th, had a strong jaw. It serves to perpetuate his kindly-but-strong appearance.
  • The capitalist/industrialist heroes in Ayn Rand's novels are often described as having sharp angular features.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Almost Human: DRN, a detective, who's also known as Dorian, has a prominent one.
  • America Unearthed: Scott Wolter.
  • Flabber from Beetleborgs, who some people think was based on Jay Leno.
  • Helo, who provides both the strongest jaw and strongest morals on Battlestar Galactica.
  • Burn Notice's Sam Axe. The guy's played by Bruce Campbell. In Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, the Columbian rebels even nickname him "The Chin" in Spanish.
  • Chuck: under Pentothal, Chuck tells John Casey, "Your jaw was sculpted by Michelangelo himself."
  • Nick Stokes, CSI.
  • Doctor Who:
  • Seeing as Adam Baldwin plays John Casey, that means Jayne Cobb of Firefly also has a Lantern Jaw Of Justice, although it is partially obscured by his goatee.
  • The Flash, who had a lantern jaw that was the only thing that showed when he was in his super suit. In fact, nearly every live-action iteration of the Flash has been played by an actor with a prominent or at least distinctive chin and/or jawline.
  • Game of Thrones: Brandon Stark was a heroic character with a jaw like an anvil.
  • McGarrett (Jack Lord) from Hawaii Five-O.
  • Christopher Meloni, who plays Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, nicknamed "The Chin of Justice". (He also has the habit of thrusting said chin towards a suspect while questioning them.) The same goes for Olivia Benson and Alex Cabot.
  • Robbie Rotten (played by square-jawed Stefán Karl Stefánsson) from LazyTown has a really big chin that he's quite proud of, but he's not at all "manly" in other ways... and he's the villain. But you knew that.
  • Both futuristic journalist Edison Carter and his A.I. counterpart Max Headroom have lantern jaws, though given Max's preference for snark and mischief over heroism, the "justice" part usually only applies to Edison.
  • The Middleman has a particularly spectacular one of these, nicely complementing his broad shoulders and washboard abs.
  • Misfits actor Iwan Rheon is a very attractive example of this trope. A pretty pertinent one too, as his character ultimately takes a level in badass and becomes The Hero of the series, despite spending the first two seasons as a put-upon nerd.
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000
    • Dr. Clayton Forrester, villainous Mad Scientist, had a chin cleft and was quite proud of it. He even invented "chinderwear" in one episode. Interestingly, after Clay's departure, Mike and the Bots would mock the male leads of films like Devil Doll and Time Chasers for their chin clefts: "Ugh, his chin-butt is engulfing her!"
    • Mike himself has a rather large face that has also been commented on by the Bots. He plays more to the dumb aspects of the trope, though.
  • Spitting Image: The puppets of Benito Mussolini, Quentin Tarantino, John Cleese, Prince Philip, Bruce Forsyth, Brian Mulroney were all depicted with large chins.
  • Commander James Fitzjames of The Terror. While Tobias Menzies sort of has this going on by default, the costumes really emphasize it, which suits Fitzjames' blustering self-appointed hero status.
  • The X-Files:
    • Agent Fox Mulder's prominent cheekbones definitely fit the trope.
    • Sheriff Hartwell from "Bad Blood" counts as well. However, considering that he's a vampire, albeit of the friendly kind, he's a borderline example among this trope and the Villainous Cheekbones.
    • Agent Doggett, a rugged manly-man type from seasons 8 and 9, has an angular face as well.

    Manhua 
  • Ravages of Time: Lu Bu has what can only be described as chin buttcheeks.

    Music 
  • Toshimitsu Deyama, vocalist of X Japan.
  • Freddie Mercury
  • Peter Steele of Type O Negative fame had one, as he looked rather like the Gothic Metal version of Gaston.
  • Satchel, lead guitarist of Steel Panther has an impressive jawline and chin.
  • Eminem's distinctive cleft chin was put to good use when he began to adopt Smug Super imagery as part of his Slim Shady persona, particularly in the music videos for "Without Me" and "Superman".

    Pinball 

    Pro Wrestling 

    Tabletop Games 
  • Bruce Campbell is such a good example that it's a feature of Ash's character in the Evil Dead 2 RPG rulebook.
  • Warhammer 40,000:
    • Space Marines tend to be designed this way...which, given their enhanced skeletons, wouldn't be that surprising.
    • Orks already have massive underbiting jaws that would shame a Neanderthal, but take it even further via Iron Gobs, a great big piece of curved and jagged metal that gives them an even more impressive jawline. However, due to the Orks being Ax-Crazy Blood Knights, their large bottom jaws are much less heroic.

    Video Games 
  • The titular Tin Star. It's even addressed in-game, with Maria saying that "no one with a chin like Tin Star's could be a bad guy!"
  • Captain Falcon of F-Zero and FALCON PUUUUUNCH fame.
  • Captain Henry Fleming of Code Name: S.T.E.A.M sports one of these. Quite fitting for a patriotic war veteran.
  • Captain Qwark of Ratchet & ClankFake Ultimate Hero, onetime Dragon and onetime Big Bad—has one of these. Ratchet even mentioned it when eulogizing him.
  • Freddie Hardest from the obscure self-titled MSX games had as his only distinguishing feature a chin the size of a pair of melons.
  • Double H from Beyond Good & Evil has one of these. Funnily enough, his original, Dummied Out (still visible in one MDisk) model had an even more dramatic, neck-engulfingly huge chin, but it was replaced with a more "normal" one. Not by much though.
  • Disgaea:
  • Granblue Fantasy: Tyre is a thoroughly upstanding guy, and his chin is huge. This led to Vyrn calling him "Clefty".
  • The title character of the Apple Macintosh game Power Pete/Mighty Mike possess a chin nearly the size of the rest of his head
  • All three main characters on the TV show-within-a-game Republican Space Rangers from Grand Theft Auto IV.
  • All classes in Team Fortress 2 (except Pyro) has one of these, further exaggerated by their underbites — yes, even Bratty Half-Pint Scout has a hatchet chin that can kill. The Soldier class epitomizes this, being a great, big, yelling, murderous chin. THIS MAN'S CHIN WAS SCULPTED BY GOD.
  • World of Warcraft:
    • King Varian Wrynn is famous for having one, earning him the moniker "King Varian Chynn"
    • Neltharion/Deathwing from the upcoming Cataclysm expansion is an inversion — his lower jaw would not be out of place at a construction site, yet he is going to break the world when he shows up. Also, he's a dragon. Slightly justified: Deathwing needs his armor plating because his body is being torn apart. Without his massive chin, his lower jaw would eventually fall off.
    • The unnamed human from the opening cinematic for Mists of Pandaria has one as well as a beard.
  • Warcraft 3:
    • The Knight unit has a very large chin. There's no cleft, but there is manly stubble.
    • Grand Marshal Othmar Garithos has his unit model based on the Knight and combines said unit's large chin with a mustache. He is, however, a subversion - he's fighting for a good cause, which is liberating Lordaeron from the undead Scourge, but he's also a racist Jerkass.
  • Wolfenstein: B.J. Blazkowicz has a truly colossal lantern jaw.
  • Punch-Out!!: Super Macho Man sports an impressive jawline, but Glass Joe doesn't. Soda Popinski is only slightly less impressive in this area but still boasts some serious chin cleft. Mister Sandman has one in all his appearances, being the game's token Scary Black Man, and it's a chin of iron, too—he'll take punches to the jaw all day if you let him.
  • Ash in the Evil Dead games.
  • Playable character from TimeSplitters 2, Hank Nova is described in his gallery info as having "the squarest jaw the galaxy has ever seen."
  • For a nonhuman counterpart, Monster Hunter 3 (Tri) has the Uragaan, whose chin is its most prominent feature. The chin can even be broken, but don't expect it to go quickly.
  • Parappa The Rapper: Joe Chin is never an outright hero — or an outright villain, for that matter — but he is definitely aptly named.
  • Samurai Warriors gives us the astounding and noble badass Honda Tadakatsu, whose in-game model gives him quite a square jaw to go with his powerful physique.
  • Sengoku Basara, of course, gives Tadakatsu a chin so pronounced it gets its own armor covering.
  • Full Throttle, Full Stop. You can see that chin from the tiny, tiny page art.
  • The Lost Vikings: Baleog the Fierce, being the offense class out of the trio, has a particularly large chin.
  • Warriors of Might and Magic: In cutscenes, Alleron is shown to have a huge chin.
  • Duke Nukem is a parody of the generic musclebound action hero. Which means he, of course, sports a Lantern Jaw Of Justice in addition to his trademark Balls of Steel.
  • Fire Emblem Fates has Arthur, whose square jaw goes hand-in-hand with his pursuit of justice!
  • Metal Slug's Marco Rossi and Tarma Roving have pretty impressive chins.
  • Guts Man, both in Mega Man (Classic) and Mega Man Battle Network, quite literally has the squarest chin in existence. It's so square as to be perfectly rectangular and often looks like a box attached to the bottom of his face, giving him an enormous underbite. Whether he's actually heroic or not depends largely on the universe and circumstances, but there are at least two instances of Guts Man being on Mega Man's side.
  • Guard-Captain Aveline of Dragon Age II is a rare female example.
    • Hawke's younger brother, Carver is another example. There are several jokes about his chin, mostly from Isabela.
  • Virtually any game that allows customization of the player character's face can prompt this. Some can take it to absolutely preposterous if not deeply unsettling levels.
  • Captain Walker of Spec Ops: The Line - a grizzled veteran with a prominent square jaw and heroic Perma-Stubble - enters Dubai to try to save as many people as possible after the world left it for dead, though it's inverted when he begins committing atrocities left and right for "justice" and vengeance as he breaks down.
  • In Five Nights at Freddy's 3, we're shown that the]] Murderer has a cleft chin. In fact, it's the only thing that's identifiable about him inside the Spring-Bonnie suit. Very obviously an inversion.
  • Blasto is a third-person shooter on the PS1 starring the late Phil Hartman. It stars the eponymous Captain Blasto, a Top-Heavy Guy, Casanova Wannabe, Idiot Hero, and overall dim bulb (imagine Johnny Bravo with a laser gun and you're most of the way there). He has a jaw that can easily be described as mostly neck, but it's actually so huge that when his mouth is closed, his chin qualifies as half of his face.
  • Very noticeable on the Xbox port of Serious Sam and any version of Serious Sam 2, both of which have a more cartoony art style than the rest of the series. His chin's size and squareness toned down in the more realistic games in the series, though it could still qualify as a more grounded example.
  • Army Men: Sarge. As ever, lampshaded in the PlayStation versions' cutscenes.
    Plastro: Well, well, well, if it isn't Sergeant Hawk. How very nice of you and your jaw to join us.
  • Every playable character in Broforce. Even the women.
  • Power Pete: The heroic titular character sports one.
  • The Detective of Disco Elysium has a prominent chin with a cleft. It is extra notable as being the only remaining vestige of his once rugged-good looks back from his youth, that his years-long alcohol and substance abuse haven't been able to wear away. Perhaps deconstructed: while not visible in the game itself note , his jaw's prominence is due to it having slight paralysis and lopsidedness as a complication from childhood polio, and it sometimes causes him to slur his speech. According to some characters, the Detective made a bit of a joke about it and used to call it his 'law-jaw'.
  • This is Deep Rock Galactic's take on what dwarves have underneath all those bushy beards: square, steely, and very prominent chins that usually have a friend or two. Especially prominent with the default Driller, since his armor's cut below the chin and his headgear ends at nose level.
  • Doom has the Doomguy, whose sprite portrait reveals his huge, square chin (apparently a family trait, as John Romero and Tom Hall indicate he's a direct descendant of Wolfenstein's B.J. Blazkowicz). This also goes for his appearance as the Doom Slayer in Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal.
  • Gotham Knights (2022). Renee Montoya visits the memorial statue for the late Commissioner Jim Gordon and complains that they've given him a straight jawline that he never had in real life. After she leaves, a bemused Batgirl comments that her father seems just as she remembers him.

    Webcomics 
  • Prince Ossomer of Erfworld has one by necessity since his appearance is a Shout-Out to Superman. His brother Ansom has a less pronounced (but still pretty manly) chin. Their brother Tramennis has the cleft, but his chin is quite narrow, so it's not as noticeable. Their father King Slately probably has one as well, underneath that King-of-Hearts beard.
  • Mimic in Rusty and Co.
  • Schlock Mercenary:
    • One character takes a missile in his chin, and when it's rebuilt he has one of these. Legs remarks that it looks heroic like it belongs in a comic book... and then the narrator insists that, for the sake of the Fourth Wall, the chin has to go.
    • Surgical reconstruction and Fourth Wall damage aside, there's a ton of lantern-jawed heroes in the comic: Kaff, Nick, Shep, Andy, Hob, Brad (after bulking up), Pranger, Doyt Gyo/Doythaban, hell, even Kerchak has the gorilla version...
  • Tweep brings us Captain Stone from the Show Within a Comic Space Force.
  • Art from Sequential Art is drawn with about half his face being square jaw and chin. He had also saved the planet a minimum of 3 times. The trope is played with here because he's just a graphic artist, and is often dragged into these situations against his will; he's pretty much Resigned to the Call because it's either the only way he can survive when these problems pop up or one of his friends gets involved and he has to go and help. He would call the police, but he knows they would never believe the story (he gets involved in some weird shit).

    Web Original 
  • In the web-novel Domina, occasional mention is made of Derek's "strong chin."
  • In Worm, this is one of Brian's more prominent features — although, entertainingly, he is actually the supervillain Grue.
  • Whateley Universe: This is common, going along with the Heroic Build of many Exemplars. An extreme example is 'Captain' Bravo, who has this to a laughable degree. As said in VAMP:
    The guy was tall, with broad shoulders, a barrel chest and powerful arms, and a long handsome face with a powerful chin. Yet for all that, he was frickin’ ridiculous. He was like a live–action version of a cartoon parody of the ‘All–American Hero’, with a chest that was too large for his frame, bulging arms that would have been impressive on a man six inches taller and a hundred pounds heavier, and his CHIN! It must have taken up at least a quarter of his face!
  • Welcome to Night Vale: Carlos is continuously described by Cecil as having, among other attractive qualities, a "strong, square jaw". He is also kind, brilliant, and uncommonly brave if a bit awkward and anti-social. Since it's supposed to be a community radio broadcast, we never actually get visual confirmation, although the fans are more than content to reinforce this.
  • In the Video Games Awesome! LP of Dragon Age: Origins, Becky and Fraser end up making a female dwarf noble with a ridiculously large and square jaw who they name 'Chinderella'.

    Western Animation 
  • Rubble of PAW Patrol, being a bulldog, has a large jaw, and is a heroic puppy.


Alternative Title(s): Heroic Chin, Chin Amen, Manly Chin

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