During times of emotional stress, a character's eyes, or just the reflected highlights in them, will shake perceptibly. The aim is usually to show someone on the verge of tears; as in, their eyes are pricking, or tears are welling, or something difficult to show otherwise. This is not usually a comedy trope, and can in fact mean that things have turned very serious. It may presage a Sparkling Stream of Tears if the situation gets worse. It can also indicate extreme happiness or love. When the irises shrink and shake, it's usually to indicate great shock and/or fear. Pretty hard (but not impossible) to replicate in Real Life. Best not to try, really.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- In Berserk, this almost always happens anytime Griffith gives his trademark beast-stare to anyone, or looks them in the eyes at all. Also happens a lot to Casca when she's feeling emotional (and that's almost always, as she's generally either raging or sobbing at all times).
- Akane Tendo in Ranma ½, every time Ranma does something that goes beyond their normal bickering and really hurts her feelings.
- Spy X Family: Anya does shaking tears after she finds out that Yor's "work" on the Lorelei was a Thorn Princess mission. Although her tendencies quickly overcame her worries.
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: At the end of the manga, after Kiyal reunites with her sisters after the last battle, she does a V-Sign, followed by quivering tears as she tells them of Kittan's Heroic Sacrifice.
- Happens to Lelouch of Code Geass when Suzaku springs on him that Nunally will be the next Governor of Area 11.
- Full Metal Panic!:
- Sousuke does this, most noticeably in TSR, when Gauron tells him that he had Kaname killed.
- Gauron himself does this during the time when he hijacks the Tuatha de Dannan, when he realizes that Kaname managed to regain control of the submarine. And in another instance, he ends up doing this in The Second Raid, on his death bed, while he's taunting Sousuke and yelling for Sousuke to hate him, in the hopes of Sousuke killing him.
- Done regularly in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou, but a specific mention should probably go to the end of episode 22, where this happens to the normally emotionless Yasuaki once he starts to consider himself useless.
- KonoSuba: Aqua always makes use of this trope, specially when confronting Kazuma. It's mainly present in the first episodes of the anime.
- This is used in emotional scenes in Saint Beast, such as Maya throwing a tantrum over Kira wanting to leave heaven and Rey and Luca promising to always fly together.
- Happens in Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) when Ed discovers the splattered remains of a chimera-fied Nina after she was mercy killed by Scar.
- In Kotoura-san, Haruka Kotoura falls apart every time she is called and/or thought of as "a monster" because of the associated memories. The second episode even combines this with Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises, Dull Eyes of Unhappiness, and Tears of Fear for a truly horrifying effect.
- Happens quite often in Project K- even to the normally cruel Fushimi when he hears about the death of a former clansman.
- In Tantei Team KZ Jiken Note, Aya, being the local Nervous Wreck, has this nearly Once an Episode. Other members of the cast have them occasionally as well:
- In episode 11, when Aya learns from Uesugi the reason behind the latter's strange behavior during the arc: his eye are so bad that he can't even see text any more. And a moment later, both the speaker and the listener gets this, as Uesugi mentions any treatment for his condition has at most 40% success rate, and bears the real risk of a complete loss of vision.
- In episode 12, as Aya relays the same news from above to Kuroki and Kozuka (with Hidden Eyes), the latter two get this as well.
- The artistic direction of Asteroid in Love's Animated Adaptation portrays this in a rather subtle way; only the gloss of the irises quiver. It appears in several scenes when the person is moved or shocked.
- In the A Minor Kidroduction, when Mira suggests to Ao that they should find an asteroid together, Ao's eyes start to quiver.
- When Mira talks about her promise with a boy called "Ao" many years ago, that Ao, sitting next to Mira, gets this in addition to Luminescent Blush. Mira gets this the next minute, since she always thought the "Ao" she met was a boy.
- During a flashback, a younger Ao gets this when other kids started teasing for her Open Mouth, Insert Foot.
- In the New Year Has Come segment of the eighth episode, Mira has this as she is shocked to learn that Ao is moving away after the Spring Break.
- In Episode 3 of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Nicol's on the verge of tears when Catarina genuinely says he's blessed with such a loving sister, especially since all he ever heard from others is how much of a burden his sister Sophia was to him.note
Film
- Shows up repeatedly in Arlo the Alligator Boy as part of the heavy eye animation, usually coupled with Puppy-Dog Eyes in the more emotional moments.
- Frank Langella does this a couple times in the 1979 version of Dracula when he gives more intensive stares to the ladies.
- In Turning Red, the highlights in a character's eyes is seen to shake almost every time someone cries.
Literature
- In the Kadambari of Bana (ca. A.D. 600), "thy twin eyes announce a cause of great joy, for they are dilated, their pupils are tremulous, and they are bathed in tears of joy".
Video Games
- ANNO: Mutationem: In the Mysterious Console DLC, when Noni realizes that the device has been activated, giving her contact for the first time after being trapped for years causes her to develop quivering tears before composing herself.
- Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun and Blue Moon: Aqua Man has these and a squiggly mouth, making him look like nothing so much as a toddler on the brink of tears.
- Pokémon:
- Combined with Exotic Eye Designs on the sardine-like Wishiwashi to make it look like it's perpetually crying. It DOES start crying once it enters battle and it's Level 20 or higher though, which summons other Wishiwashi to school up with it. Then it gets much more powerful and stops crying.
- Tapu Lele will start tearing up in this way in Pokémon Refresh if you touch its antennae
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Western Animation
- Hazbin Hotel: Whenever Sir Pentious gets emotional such as when Charlie forgives his betrayal, his pupils get super-big and his eyes get watery.
- In The Hobbit has Gollum discover that his "precious" is missing, his eyes become this in the ensuing Freak Out.
- In Jem, Pizzazz's eyes tremble in fear during the "It Takes A Lot To Survive" music video when she's stuck in a giant spiders web.
