Deadly to Behold

It might be an Artifact of Doom, a God in his True Form, or an Eldritch Abomination, but whatever you do, don't look at it!

You might Go Mad from the Revelation. You might crumble into dust. You might simply die of shock or from sheer overwhelming pleasure. Or it might be as harmless as you being hypnotised into a life of abject, mindless slavery. But whatever the consequence, ''do. not. look at it''.

Blind people will usually benefit from Disability Immunity. For everyone else, the recommended technique since Perseus has been to look at it in a mirror: Sometimes, it's enough to suppress or diminish the deadly effect; others, the attack is reflected along with the image. If the latter, your best bet is to use that same mirror as an Attack Reflector.

Subtrope of Brown Note. Supertrope to The Hypnotoad and Showing Off the Perilous Power Source. Contrast Eye Beams. Compared Ultimate Evil, where this applies to the bad guys themselves.

Anime

 * In Scrapped Princess, anyone who gazes into the eyes of a Peacemaker immediately falls under their control. Their influence is so strong that entire cities can be made to submit to their will.

Comic Books
"Judge Fear: Gaaaaaze into the face of Fear!"
 * If Ghost Rider tells you to look into his eyes, you're in big trouble (of course if he says this you probably deserve it, and if you don't it won't have much effect).
 * Judge Fear (one of a group of undead Evil Counterparts) in Judge Dredd has the ability to kill anyone who looks at his face through sheer terror, typically by lifting his helmet while delivering his catchphrase.


 * In the first story of Conan the Barbarian (The Phoenix on the Blade), Toth Amon avoids looking at the fiend he summoned. Later, said demon destroys the soul of a poor victim by forcing him to look at his demonic yellow eyes.

Film

 * In Raiders of the Lost Ark, whatever's inside the Ark of the Covenant will melt your face off if you look at it when the cover comes off.
 * Constantine. When John is trying to exorcise a demon from a little girl he tells the men helping him not to look. One of them does and his hair instantly turns white.

Literature

 * Skinwalkers in The Dresden Files can have this effect, but it's much, much worse if a wizard uses True Sight on them.
 * The in Harry Potter could kill anything that looked it directly in the eyes (such as ), and "merely" petrified those who saw it indirectly (mirror, camera viewfinder, through a translucent ghost). The aforementioned ghost was also harmed, notably making a Basilisk stare the only thing in the series implied to be capable of hurting ghosts.

Live Action Television
"The Beast: Don't turn around...if you look at me, you will die. Don't look, don't look at me. I'm reaching out, Toby...oh, I can touch you."
 * Parodied on Community, where Jeff warns the group not to look at Annie when she turns on the Puppy Dog Eyes. Abed doesn't think they'd work on him, until Jeff puts it in terms he'd understand; "She's the Ark of the Covenant!"
 * Doctor Who has an inversion in the Weeping Angels. The only time you are safe from them is when someone is looking straight at them, as they turn to stone. Close your eyes, look away or even blink and they're free to move, which won't end nicely for you.
 * In their second appearance, the Weeping Angels become a straight example - "That which holds the image of an angel becomes an angel". Yes, as well.
 * Played straight in The Impossible Planet:


 * Supernatural: Sam & Dean consult with psychic Pamela Barnes to discover who or what pulled Dean out of Hell. When she sees who it is (Angel Castiel, which she sees in his true form rather than in the Meat Suit we see him in) it burns her retinas out.
 * In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" there is a race of aliens that is said to be so ugly that any human who looks at one of them goes insane. The only exception is the Girl of the Week, who is able to look at them through special glasses because

Mythology and Religion

 * Looking into the eyes of the basilisk was said instantly kill (some stories even state the victim is turned to stone).
 * The cockatrice (a mythological creature similar to a basilisk) was said to have a similar efet.
 * The Greek monster Medusa.
 * In The Bible, Lot's wife looks back on God's destruction of Sodom, as she was ordered not to, and is turned into a pillar of salt.
 * In Greek Mythology, Orpheus went to the Underworld to get his wife back from death. Hades let him do it On One Condition: he had to leave with her without looking back to see if she was following. He almost did it, but just before they got all the way out he couldn't resist any more and looked back. He saw her disappear as she was returned to the Underworld.
 * There's a whole section in The Metamorphoses on this theme: Actaeon (sees Diana bathing, is turned into a stag and killed for it), Semele (dies of looking at Zeus), Tiresias (sees snakes mating and is turned into a woman as a punishment, Narcissus (whose doom is to not be able to look away from his own reflection), Pentheus (witnesses Dionysus' festivals and the maenads tear him to pieces)

Tabletop Games

 * Dungeons & Dragons has several monsters you shouldn't look in their eyes. Most notably basilisks, medusas and catoblepases.

Webcomics

 * Played with, along with My Eyes Are Up Here, in an Oglaf comic (NSFW)

Western Animation

 * Futurama: Don't ever look into the eyes of th- ALLGLORYTOTHEHYPNOTOAD!
 * South Park has Ugly Bob, the ugliest man in Canada (or so we are told). He's so ugly that he has to wear a paper bag over his head, and anyone who looks at him turns to stone. In the episode "Royal Pudding" his ugliness is used to defeat the monster that stole the Canadian princess.
 * According to Jimbo, if you look at the Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka you'll get paralyzed, or even die. This includes watching videotape of the frog.
 * There's an old Ruby-Spears cartoon called Mighty Man and Yuk. Yuk was the ugliest dog in the world. So ugly he had to wear a doghouse over his head at all times. Occasionally Mighty Man, who was six inches tall, would end up falling into the doghouse after taking a beating, and would emerge traumatized, but more often, Yuk would simply point his face at a badguy and remove the doghouse to traumatize the criminals into giving up.
 * Referenced in The Simpsons when Bart gets sent to a Catholic school. In the middle of class, Bart starts singing "Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you-" The next scene has him running from the angry mob, with the teacher yelling "Avert your eyes, children, it may take on other forms!".

Video Games

 * Final Fantasy X has a comical example of this. The party crashes Seymour's wedding to rescue Yuna, during which, Rikku tosses a flashbang at Seymour's feet and tells everyone to cover their eyes. Seymour doesn't. Guess what happens?
 * Endermen in Minecraft will stop and stare at you if you point the aiming reticle directly at them. When you look away again, they will run at you, teleporting to get closer, and will rush you until you die (or they do).