The Glasses Come Off



""When you look at Clark Kent when he's working at the Daily Planet, he's a reporter. He doesn't fly through the air in his glasses and his suit.""

- Gene Simmons

"The only advantage to wearing glasses is being able to do that dramatic removal. {removes glasses} Oh my God. I can't see a thing without these. No wonder I wear them."

- Jim Gaffigan

A good way to mark your hero as an intellectual is to, well, stick him on the far side of a pair of Nerd Glasses.

But this is TV, and we all know that to be a really cool character, you have to occasionally kick some ass. We also all know that guys who wear glasses can never kick asses. It's contractually forbidden. Thus, just like Superman, when an intellectual is about to kick some ass, the first thing he has to do is take off his glasses. (See: Male version of Flung Clothing) For an additional humourous/intellectual touch, the characters may be shown taking especial care to put their glasses away in their pocket or in some other safe place, before commencing the violence.

Characters may also take their glasses off before kissing, because, well, some guys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses (see Beautiful All Along and The Glasses Gotta Go). Also because a pair of specs might get in the way. (And TWO pairs certainly will.)

One strange side effect is that if a character does this enough times, they may stop wearing their glasses altogether. Rarely is the fact that the character may have needed the prescription in the first place brought up, it's usually Handwaved that they eventually got contacts. While the loss usually represents the character taking a step forward in their attitudes, fans who are into that sort of thing can find it frustrating.

Given that such characters will at some point be shown to be Blind Without'Em, it may seem strange that removing their glasses renders the characters into Action Heroes, rather than rendering them, well, blind, but it seems to work. May occasionally make sense if the hero willingly removes her/his glasses to limit her/his fighting prowess.

There are other, more practical reasons for this trope, of course; it is, after all, not a bad idea to remove your glasses before doing things where they might fly off or get broken, and preventing unwanted reflections from the lenses becomes troublesome during martial arts. And then there's the fact that keeping any easily shattered material near your eyes during a fight is a really bad idea (which is probably where the taboo against punching a man in glasses came from). And naturally, you might want to remove your glasses to fire your Eye Beams.

Note that it isn't enough just to have glasses, you have to have Nerd Glasses for this trope to apply. Some characters have Scary Shiny Glasses or Cool Shades, and they are most certainly not more powerful when The Glasses Come Off. Except of course, when the glasses are the distinguishing trait for the character, in which case, you should probably back off. Quickly.

For the B-movie version, see Glasses Pull. As the examples show, inversions in which a character becomes more badass when they put their Nerd Glasses on (because now they can actually see clearly to fight) are also common.

Anime and Manga
"Kyon: I don't really have a glasses fetish. Yuki: What is a 'glasses fetish?'"
 * In Bleach, the Big Bad Sosuke Aizen does this, wearing his glasses when appearing to be a good, kind person, and taking them off after revealing his evil machinations and heading off.
 * Also done by Nanao Ise when Mayuri decides to stand in for his daughter science experiment/devoted slave Nemu at a meeting of the Shinigami Women's Association and refuse to leave, even when subjected to the Scary Shiny Glasses. Judging by his face, he got the message. Of course, this was after the vice-captains meeting was invaded by Byakuya standing in for Renji, a thoroughly creepy experience Nanao clearly wasn't prepared to experience again.
 * In one of the Rock Musical Bleach, Aizen does that when Ichimaru mocks the way he dances.
 * Modern Meganekko Magical Girls tend to lose their glasses after their Transformation Sequence.
 * Retasu/Mew Lettuce, Tokyo Mew Mew.
 * Noel/Aiiro Pearl Voice, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.
 * Ami/Sailor Mercury, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.
 * Although she does have a pair of in-uniform Cool Shades to calculate stuff.
 * Yuri Tsukikage, Heartcatch Pretty Cure
 * Hououji Fuu of Magic Knight Rayearth, included on a technicality. She wears enormous glasses, but the last stage of her evolving armor (which elevates her to Magic Knight status) magically tucks them away and improves her eyesight. She even mentions this the first time she becomes a Magic Knight.
 * Reversed in Witch Hunter Robin: again, while pyrokinetic Robin is certainly dangerous as is, she becomes quite a bit more effective in a fight after she's pressed into wearing glasses so she can, y'know, see to aim.
 * Then she discovers the true nature of her powers, becomes a deity, and takes them off.
 * Eda from Black Lagoon is rarely seen without her sunglasses, and is usually very easy-going and friendly. Once she takes the sunglasses off however, it's almost frightening how serious she is, and it makes you wonder about what she's really up to.
 * All during the Revolutionary Girl Utena TV series, Anthy wears glasses. However, at the end of the show, she's no longer seen wearing the glasses. Given the nature of the show, her previous dependence on them was most likely just a symbol for the spiritual "blindness" she suffered while under the thumb of her brother and not indicative of any physical problem.
 * Interestingly, this is reversed with Mikage, who is unable to clearly perceive things after he loses his glasses.
 * Mousse from Ranma ½ often does this to be followed by him doing something stupid since he's Blind Without'Em.
 * As a point of fact, Mousse is arrogant enough to hardly ever wear his glasses, often putting them on top of his head. In the early manga, he'd swallow his pride and wear them when involved in serious combat (only to take them off afterward.) By the late manga, his fighting skills have improved to the point he doesn't really need glasses anymore, but he'll still mistake potted plants for people outside a battle.
 * Soshi Asamoto from Absolute Boyfriend.
 * This doesn't apply to the live action series.
 * In Tokyo Babylon, Seishirou wears glasses as part of his gentle veterinarian person. He removes them and takes on a scary expression when he acts as the assassin he really is.
 * Interestingly this was inverted in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle where he is usually shown without glasses but puts them on when he's going to kick some ass.
 * Persona 4: The Animation has all of the characters (except Teddie) doing this in one of the opening sequences.
 * In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Quattro the Numbered Cyborg acts Moe Moe with her glasses on. She's not, and once she reveals just how brutal she is, she takes them off.
 * Gohan in Dragon Ball Z/GT. Apparently, he has perfect vision until he falls into the Loads and Loads of Characters trap and is no longer useful, but will still conveniently forget to wear them on days when the Monster of the Week or Big Bad might show up. When Baby possesses him, he actually smashes the glasses prior to going out and kicking Vegeta's ass.
 * Likewise, Trunks in Dragon Ball GT. But they might be only for reading.
 * Gohan only becomes useless if you count GT, which was not made by the original author. In Z, he is either 2nd to his dad or sometimes 1st. Everyone except Goku is useless in GT though, except maybe Vegeta.
 * Inverted in Trigun. When Vash puts his glasses on, some serious butt is about to be kicked.
 * Note that the glasses in question are tinted, making them closer to Cool Shades than Nerd Glasses. Also, they are tinted yellow, which real sharpshooters wear for the contrast enhancement and improved depth perception.
 * Cool Shades and/or Scary Shiny Glasses, depending on what provoked him into putting them on in the first place.
 * Justified in Gunslinger Girl. Claes' handler's last request of her before quitting the Agency is to be kind and gentle whenever wearing her glasses. Considering she's a cybernetically-enhanced assassin, you can imagine how bad things will go for any Mooks nearby when she takes them off...
 * In a later manga story new girl Petra "borrows" them while Claes is in the bath. She regrets it immediately when Claes sees her wearing them. Fortunately, Claes goes back to normal once she has them back.
 * In Soul Eater, Dr. Franken Stein tends to get Badass when his glasses come off.
 * Strangely enough, his are often of the scary and shiny short, so it's a little bit of a variation.
 * In xxxHolic Watanuki seems to lose his glasses more and more often as the series starts getting more serious.
 * In the Chinese/western manga Et Cetera, the villain of half of volume 2, Mr. Alternate, wears his monocle when being awesome and evil, and when he's pretending to be a train usher.
 * Actually, he always wears the monocle., when he's asleep, all the time. It's not just part of his train usher outfit. In fact, I don't think he's ever taken it off.
 * The first Big Bad of Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, Odin, wore glasses out of need. He also wore them as he fought. However, in a prolonged fight, after enough time had passed that Odin had learned the rhythm of his opponent's moves, he would remove his glasses and rely on that knowledge to launch his most powerful attack with perfect accuracy.
 * Subverted in Otogi Juushi Akazukin, when Shirayukihime has apparently been brainwashed she takes off her glasses to fight her friends. This is a clue to her friends that she's only pretending to be brainwashed because she can't fight as well without her glasses helping her see.
 * Reversed in Full Metal Panic!? Fumoffu: Issei Tsubaki is a dangerously skilled martial artist without his glasses. He's also Blind Without'Em, and when he actually puts his Nerd Glasses on, actually being able to see clearly makes him so much more effective that he manifests a Battle Aura.
 * Averted in School Rumble where Hanai usually never takes his glasses off when fighting.
 * Chisame Hasegawa of Mahou Sensei Negima does this to become her Cosplay Otaku Girl alter ego Chiu, or when she's being more serious than snarky. Otherwise she looks like a quiet girl with thick, perfectly round spectacles.
 * In more recent chapters, Negi tends to lose his glasses when things start to get serious.
 * Aozaki Toko from Kara no Kyoukai: uses her glasses to quickly change personality. She is a nicer person with the glasses on. She says it is useful for business. Unlike many other examples here, she keeps putting them on and removing without much reason.
 * Subverted in Saiyuki Gaiden, when Tenpou is successfully fighting off a large number of opponents single-handedly with his katana...until his glasses are knocked off and stepped on. Upon hearing them break, Tenpou muses about how he can no longer see his opponents and prepares himself for the inevitable conclusion to the fight (it doesn't stop him from trying, anyway).
 * It should be noted that he did technically win the fight.
 * Played on by Saiyuki's Cho Hakkai: when he's ready to get dangerous, he takes off... not his monocle, but his silver earcuffs (they're .)
 * Another inversion: Lady Une from Gundam Wing. When her glasses come off, she's practically Purity Sue, but when her glasses are on, you better run from her very fast.
 * From The World God Only Knows: Keima's mom Mari is usually a reserved Yamato Nadeshiko, but when she gets pissed off, she takes off her glasses, and shows the fury hell can't compete with.
 * Tashigi whenever she fights.
 * In one episode of Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, the quiet bespectacled Mangaka Harumi Fujiyoshi reveals that her glasses are actually a Power Limiter imposed upon her natural athletic abilities, which she promptly demonstrates by taking them off.
 * Cellaria in Soul Link goes the  route; crushing her glasses, letting her hair down, and
 * No mention of Soubi from Loveless, who always removes his glasses before a battle by wordspell?
 * Played hilariously straight in K-On!! Sawa-sensei is a kind, quiet, glasses-wearing school teacher who turns out to have been a heavy metal guitarist and singer a few years back when she attended the same high school she now teaches at. When Yui drops her guitar into Sawa-sensei's hands, she temporarily reverts back into her slightly-evil metalhead form, removing her glasses before she, utilizing incredibly high-level techniques, plays an insane, improvised guitar solo that would make Eddie Van Halen himself proud.
 * She also does so here and here.
 * Yamaki of Digimon Tamers removes his glasses for the first time when he . He then puts them right back on. He retains them for the rest of the series even though he's, although he occasionally removes them (alternately, his eyes will become visible through the lenses) during particularly dramatic moments, often when
 * Yoko's brief turn as a teacher in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is marked by her adopting a pair of glasses. She discards them when returning to her normal job: stone-cold badass.
 * While they didn't really come off as much as they did shatter into tons of little glass pieces, both Kamina and Simon do this in their final battles. Kamina, has his glasses broken when attacked by Thymilph, then proceeded to For Simon, in the battle with, when going in for the final charge, his glasses get broken before
 * Another inversion in Blue Seed: Sakura only dons her Nerd Glasses to fight demons.
 * In Otomen Kasuga, the main character's cousin and school rules enforcer wears glasses, which he discards and crushes when he reveals the reason why he's so adamant on destroying "otomen." During this time he also switches from his default polite/neutral first person pronoun "boku" to the assertive "ore."
 * When Mey-rin from Black Butler loses her frames,.
 * Dorothy of Oz: When Selluriah's glasses come off, it usually means she's about to transform into a witch and lay down the hurt on some poor demon.
 * Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Homura originally wore glasses but used magic to finally fix her eyes (and let her hair down) . As she does so, she resolves to kill all of the witches single-handedly,.
 * The myopic Satellizer L. Bridget in Freezing takes off her glasses when she's about to fight. Justified, since activating her Pandora abilities apparently comes with the added bonus of correcting her vision.
 * When Chitose of Yuru-Yuri takes her glasses off, it's a sign the "Yuri Goggles" are about to come on, as her doing so is always followed by some romantic and/or erotic fantasy between Kyoko and Ayano. Which is then followed up by a nosebleed.
 * Chitose's twin, Chizuru, does the same thing, except that she drools at fantasies involving Ayano and Chitose.
 * Inverted for Natsumi in Nicoichi, who puts on glasses during work to conceal her usual bumbling nature and project a no-nonsense, professional demeanour.
 * This happens with Nagato Yuki in Suzumiya Haruhi, when her glasses fall off during the fight with Ryoko, and she never puts them on again, probably because Kyon said he liked her better without them in a Crowning Moment of Funny.


 * Inverted in Kirameki Project: When it's time to get serious during the climactic battle, the glasses get put on.

Comic Books

 * Clark Kent wears glasses when he's not being Superman, though he also puts on nebbish behavior and about four extra layers of clothing to make him look pudgy instead of muscled. Birthright has some fun with this when depicting Clark and his parents turning Clark Kent into a man nobody would ever think is Superman: his mother's first orders are "no t-shirts!"
 * Played with in Kingdom Come. Superman never wears his glasses throughout the entire comic, due to his status as a full-time hero at that point.
 * Peter Parker in the Spider-Man franchise started with glasses but eventually lost them as he grew up and developed more confidence in his civilian identity.
 * The 2002 Spider-Man film brought back the glasses as part of its dedication to doing things right, then disposed of them immediately when Peter's powers also fixed his eyesight. And in the sequel, Peter's confidence-linked loss of powers also brought back his poor vision. In both cases, the presence/absence of his powers is indicated to the audience by a first-person point of view showing the state of his vision relative to his glasses.
 * The pre-Crisis version of Wonder Woman.
 * And recently returned to it.
 * Kitty Pryde of the X-Men needs glasses, but hates wearing them and rarely does so.
 * I suppose we should mention Cyclops while we're at it. Given that the glasses used to hold back his Eye Beams, taking them all the way off usually meant something was gonna get broke in a hurry.
 * Seldom demonstrated but awesome when it is: Cyke's visor, and shades as Scott Summers, are used to control the shape and strength of the blast even when he's actively using his powers. You don't fully understand until you see him take them off all the way and open his eyes fully. When that happens, "something" isn't gonna get broke - everything will get broke. For this reason, it's a weapon of last resort. However, if you absolutely have to get a Sentinel off your lawn, it'll get vaporized. And if Juggernaut's trying to destroy a dam, you'll
 * Roffa in The Trigan Empire was a fighter pilot in Nerd Glasses (!). One day he took his glasses off to make a dramatically scowling gesture at the map and never put them on again. His geekiness decreased from then on too, in a few subsequent stories he seemed to have taken a level in badass.
 * Daniel aka Nite Owl of Watchmen usually wears his glasses but doesn't in his Nite Owl guise. A classic example is when he and Silk Spectre were mugged, Daniel took off his glasses before kicking the gang's ass.

Fanfic

 * Hanae in Pretty Cure Perfume Preppy loses her glasses everytime she transforms into Cure Tangerine.
 * Three times, in With Strings Attached:
 * First, after John gets wings, he takes his glasses off to fly because he's terrified they'll fall off in mid-air. Eventually he ties them around his head. And eventually he gives them up altogether when he has his eyes permanently healed.
 * Second, Beagle John in New Zork City throws his glasses on the bed before leaving his hotel room to confront strangers. Vanity!
 * Third, Ringo very reluctantly removes his (opaque) glasses in the Hunter's world so it isn't obvious that he's using magic to see. And later the glasses turn into a living creature and scamper away from him.
 * In Futari wa Pretty Cure Blue Moon,.

Film

 * Stuart Saves His Family. Subverted. When Stuart takes Mia's glasses off, she's less attractive and squinting, and says, "Let's put the glasses back on".
 * Rocky. Played straight with Adrian.
 * The moment when Brad Majors whips off his glasses while confronting Frank N. Furter early in The Rocky Horror Picture Show is clearly a subversion, as it does nothing for his hero status and only foreshadows his glasses-less state after being seduced by Frank later in the film.
 * The accompanying line you're supposed to shout out for this is, 'By day, he's a mild-mannered jerk, but by night he's... SUPER ASSHOLE!' There are variations, but 'Super Asshole' is, of course, the important part.
 * In the movie L.A. Confidential, Ed Exley tends to take his glasses off when he assumes his "Action Policeman" persona. However, he drops the habit (and the persona) by the end of the movie, just in time for the final shootout.
 * Ed and Jack are about to bust some perps, both carrying shotguns. "I forgot my glasses!" "Your WHAT?! Well just don't shoot me, ok?"
 * Parodied in Spaceballs, wherein Dark Helmet opens his helmet numerous times, revealing that he's wearing glasses underneath (and that he's Rick Moranis).
 * Classic war movie The Dam Busters has the Giles variant of this trope right in the final scene—as the characters mourn the deaths of the pilots, the commander removes his glasses to hide his tears.
 * Another classic war film, The Devils Brigade, has a clean-cut, unassuming Canadian nebbish taking off his glasses and neatly folding them and tucking them in his pocket just before demonstrating to the unruly American troops that he's actually their hand-to-hand combat instructor. JUDO'D! Later in a massive bar brawl, he repeats the move to great effect.
 * The protagonist of Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man has his glasses taken from him by his "spiritual guide", who remarks that "[perhaps] you will see better without them."
 * Inverted in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen film, where Allan Quatermain must put on his glasses to snipe people at long distance with his rifle because, well, he's gotten old and his eyes aren't what they used to be. At the end of the movie, he goes to do this again only to find his glasses have broken in the initial struggle, so Tom Sawyer has to take the shot.
 * Inverted in the beginning of Terminator 2.
 * Played dead straight by HudMaSpecs in Free Jimmy.
 * A strange and sad example is in Pan's Labyrinth when Dr. Ferreiro dies. He admits to Vidal that he Mercy Killed a prisoner instead of keeping him alive for more Cold-Blooded Torture, and walks away. As expected, Vidal shoots him in the back, and he keeps going for a few more steps, during which time he takes off his glasses as if in surprise.
 * Played straight in Brick, which has Brendan take off his glasses before he gets into fights.
 * In Good Will Hunting Sean takes his glasses off before
 * In the Indiana Jones saga, when he's not in a macho attire fighting nazis or looting ancient treasure sites, the title character is a calm bespectacled archeology college professor.
 * Sort of inverted in Buckaroo Banzai. We know Buckaroo is smart, but when he puts on his red-rimmed Nerd Glasses, he's really kicking the brain into overdrive (or showing off, since one of those times is a press conference). This is because of interference from the producers; they insisted that no action hero would wear glasses, despite director and co-creator W.D. Richter's desires. The compromise made between Richter and the producers was that Buckaroo could wear his glasses in three scenes in the film.
 * In the second ending of Clue,
 * My Girl: "Where's his glasses?! He can't see without his glasses!"
 * Spy Kids 3: Game Over: Inverted. In Level 3, just before the PvP duel, Arnold explains to Juni that he entered Game Over for the "untold riches" given to those who defeat the Final Boss in order to save his family from poverty. The duel starts, and Arnold puts on his goggles and proceeds to kick Juni's ass in a way that would make Chuck Norris jealous.
 * They Live! is an Inversion. They need to be wearing the glasses to see whose ass needs kicking.
 * And they're also all out of bubble gum.

Literature

 * Subversion: In the Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collaboration Good Omens, hapless Newton Pulsifer is described as even less handsome when he takes off his glasses, because he bumps into things and has to wear bandages.
 * In the same book, the demon Crowley is famous for never removing his sunglasses, regardless of the lighting. No reason is given (or needed). But near the end, when the organic waste is nearing the oscillating device, a group of hose-wielding humans accidentally knock off his shades. Cue slit-pupilled Menacing Stare and unholy wrath.
 * Another subversion: one Encyclopedia Brown story involved a snooty newcomer to the neighborhood trying to romance the detective's Action Girl Sidekick Sally. To impress her, the newcomer fights with a bully who is rude to them on a date, putting his glasses away in his chest pocket before getting into a long, drawn out fight where the bully lands many punches on his chest. When he pulls out his glasses after the fight and they are fine, Encyclopedia points out to Sally that if the fight were real the glasses should have been broken considering all the punches the bully was landing in the chest area. She promptly lays out the would-be boyfriend herself.
 * The Machine Gunners has an instance of the practical use of this. Boddser Brown wears glasses, and Chas McGill insists he takes them off before the two start fighting, so Chas can't be blamed for breaking them.

Live Action TV

 * The Brady Bunch: Middle girl Jan gets glasses in the third-season episode "The Not-So-Rose-Colored Glasses" and wears them (for the most part) for the rest of Season 3, and much of the time in Season 4. She is seen with glasses exactly once in a Season 5, after which it appears Jan's astigmatism is cured.
 * On another episode, Marcia helps a girl become pretty. When her glasses are brought up, the girl mentions that she has contact lenses at home, but never wears them. How very convenient, but begs the question on how the girl's parents spent a large chunk of change on contacts for their daughter (this is the 1970's, after all), then simply let her not wear them. The same issue comes up in the film The Princess Diaries and is handled almost the same way.
 * Family Matters: Urkel, whenever he used the Transformation Chamber to change into suave ladies man Stefan Urquelle (in Seasons 5-7, after which Urquelle becomes a "permanent" character, thanks to Urkel's cloning accident). Also, whenever the nerd used the Transformation Chamber to change into any one of his other alter-egos, including Elvis Urkel and Bruce Lee Urkel.
 * Walker, Texas Ranger: C.D. Parker, but only when the bad guys removed them for him ... so they could beat him up.
 * The Dukes of Hazzard: In the 2005 TV remake/prequel The Beginning, Daisy Duke wears thick glasses (among other things, as she also wears large sweaters and baggy pants, and her hair in a bun; and is very shy and mousy). When she went to get a job at the Boar's Nest, she shed all of these things and became the babelicious babe the character came to be known for. (This is all non-canon to true Dukes fans, as Daisy was queen of the prom in high school according to the series' bible.)
 * Billy in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, though, interestingly, he doesn't stop needing glasses altogether until he stops having fight scenes in Power Rangers Zeo.
 * He switched to contacts by that point.
 * Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in Angel, who first appeared in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series as the young bespectacled Watcher of Faith the Slayer, but in the Angel series gradually became more competent in combat capabilities, until he had turned into a tragic, ruthless and brooding anti-hero (without glasses). Understandable because his character was originally introduced as the bumbling, poncy, and less cool version of...
 * Rupert Giles, librarian, sorcerer and member of the Watchers' Council, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Giles admitted that he gained the nickname "Ripper" during his rebellious youth, when he had delved into black magics and demon summoning. Calling special attention to the trope, in the episode "The Gift", following a large heroic action sequence, Giles puts his glasses back on before he delivers a Coup De Grace in cold blood, effectively refusing to be a hero as he commits a necessary but reprehensible act.
 * In the Sixth Season, Xander and Willow mention in passing that Giles's habit of taking off his glasses and cleaning them was both a silent signal that he disapproved of what the Scooby Gang were doing, whether this be goofing off or doing something morally grey, and also a way of averting his eyes in the latter case so he could claim to have no knowledge of what they were doing.
 * In Heroes, Mr. Bennet uses his glasses much like Giles, whipping them off or putting them back on every time he makes a big decision. And Sylar, a Serial Killer, doesn't need glasses—but in a Flash Back, it's shown that he used to, and turning evil apparently improved his eyesight. However, Sylar is only seen wearing his glasses while working on a watch, implying that he is farsighted rather than nearsighted, which would explain why he does not have to wear them while kicking arse.
 * In recent episodes, Sylar's glasses seem to have become more symbolic. When he's wearing them he's Gabriel Grey, the nice watchmaker he used to be. When he takes them off, he's the evil Sylar.
 * Only after he stole Claire's power.
 * Daniel Jackson in Stargate SG-1, subverts this trope as he's been known to kick plenty of ass with his glasses on. Usually he only takes them off when he's thinking or particularly stressed out about a situation.
 * For added extra said glasses for his alternate universe counterpart have much thicker frames than he had at the start of the series just to hammer the point home.
 * Also subverted within the show, as on many occasions the team can be seen wearing eye protection when going into a firefight, including post-spectacles Daniel.
 * NCIS: At the end of an episode in which geeky coroner's assistant Jimmy Palmer has been fretting about being unable to do anything to stop a bad guy who shot at him, he gets his chance when he removes his glasses and then rams his car into the guy's truck with a maniacal grin.
 * In Battlestar Galactica Reimagined, President Roslin is constantly taking off/putting on her glasses at every dramatic moment.
 * Romo Lampkin even steals her glasses during the Baltar trial for the purpose of making her look less intelligent/sympathetic.
 * Romo himself takes off his Sunglasses at Night for effect during his interview with Caprica Six.
 * Don't forget about Admiral Adama. Whenever he took off the glasses, he would end up doing rash things. It was only when he put the glasses back on that he started seeing things clearly.
 * In The Office, Michael takes a stand against the new boss Charles, who remains calm and professional until he has finally had enough. He takes his glasses off and prepares to throw Michael out of the building, causing Michael to flee in terror.
 * Eliot from Leverage tends to wear glasses every now and then, but mostly averts the trope by not always bothering to take them off when he's getting into a fight.
 * In Criminal Minds,  ditches his Nerd Glasses after he's revealed as The Reaper.
 * Parodied during a dream sequence of Leonards in The Big Bang Theory. Since the time machine he ordered blocks the stairs and the elevator is out of order, he opens the elevator door, whips his glasses off, swoops Penny off the floor and then, with her in his arm, lets himself down to the ground floor on the elevator cables.
 * When Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson came back to the WWE in February 2011, after his triumphant entrance, he removed his sunglasses, referred to himself as "Dwayne", and thanked the fans for supporting him when he left the WWE to go to Hollywood and expressed his heartfelt appreciation...and then the sunglasses went back on and The Rock, The Most Electrifying Man in All Entertainment, was back.

Music

 * "In a Different Light" by Doug Stone is about an office worker who has a sexual fantasy about a female co-worker, who always comes to work wearing thick glasses, her hair in a bun and otherwise looking like a schoolmarm. He imagines her as a completely hot babe who has taken off her glasses, lets down her hair and either gets naked or wears a sexy dress. Even better—the whole thing comes true! "In a Different Light" became Stone's first No. 1 hit on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in the spring of 1991.

Video Games

 * One of the most beautiful Giles-style variants occurs in Metal Gear Solid 2. Otacon holds his dying sister in his arms. She reaches up to hold the side of his face, slightly lifting his glasses. They talk for a while, Otacon hiding his grief desperately, but then the glasses fall from her hand and clatter to the floor and she's gone, along with all of Otacon's attempts at stoicism; he bursts into tears. However, the next scene inverts the ass-kick variant, with him retrieving his glasses and putting them on when he realizes he has to go and save the hostages. Previously, the hydrophobic girl took her glasses off before facing her fear, with the subversion that she didn't actually need the glasses and only wore them to resemble her brother.
 * The Main Character in Persona 4 does this when it's time to stop taking hits from the true final boss and kick its ass.
 * There's also the fact that this action comes right after the boss's line, "Humans can't possibly grasp the truth with their own hands" - the glasses are used to see through the Ominous Fog of the Midnight Channel and he doesn't need them anymore.
 * Could actually be foreshadowed by the random encounter music.
 * Specifically, Yeah/Naked truth lies only if you realize/Appearing in nobody's eyes till they sterilize
 * The very minor character does this to great effect in Princess Waltz,
 * Not to mention that the ever so epic musical piece "Battlefield of Steel" playing in the background turns this into a Crowning Moment of Awesome as well, especially if you think back and realize that they've been hinting ever so gently at this the entire time.
 * Guile's pre-fight intro in Street Fighter IV employs this, but it's only a mild form of this trope (he pulls off his aviator sunglasses and sticks them in his back pocket). His friend Charlie Nash in the Street Fighter Alpha series is the straighter example of the two, though.
 * Charlie is actually a subversion, because his glasses are purely cosmetic.
 * In Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Wesker takes his shades off whenever he does a hyper combo.
 * In Resident Evil 5, he takes them off before fighting with Chris and Sheva...only to chuck his shades at them as a distraction before Flash Stepping over to kick their asses.
 * Shiki Tohno from Tsukihime is a crowning example of this. In the game (and spin-offs), he needs his glasses to see . Needless to say, he only takes off the glasses when he turns into a complete badass, represented as . This change in personality is a result of . A good example of this is when he.
 * Andrew of Samurai Shodown removes his glasses before fighting.
 * In Tales of the Abyss, Jade Curtiss takes off his glasses before the final battle with the Big Bad. Justified in that they're actually a Power Limiter.
 * Tron 2.0: In the analog world, Jet wears glasses. As soon as he hits Cyberspace, he's glasses-free and suffering no ill effects..
 * Tron 2.0: In the analog world, Jet wears glasses. As soon as he hits Cyberspace, he's glasses-free and suffering no ill effects..

Web Comics

 * Brent Sienna of PvP removes his trademark glasses He later reveals that his eyes have grown unaccustomed to light.
 * In Girl Genius Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer!, removes his "glasses" once, and in a non-canon chapter. Seeing his eyes for the first time was quite... surprising.
 * Now done in canon, as well.
 * Bob has attempted this on more than one occasion. Subverted, though, because while he's really good at taking off his glasses, he's not really that good at the hero part.
 * Cliff Sinclair of Slightly Damned takes his glasses off before any epic battles.

Web Original

 * When Terry of Kate Modern removes his glasses, it's a sign that he's really ticked off.
 * from Neopets actually does this when she reveals to everyone her true evil self and then sends Faerieland crashing down onto Neopia to express how much she hates the Faeries and wants to destroy them one day.

Western Animation
"Arnie: (nasal nerd voice) I can see! (Action Hero voice) I! Can! Fight!"
 * Subversion: The Simpsons: "Worst Episode Ever". Milhouse takes off his glasses before attacking Bart, but puts them back on when he realizes that he can't see without them.
 * Family Guy: In the episode "Don't Make Me Over," she's-so-ugly Meg gets a makeover, which involves her shedding her glasses. (Meg becomes only bearable to look at, although it's played up as her becoming very attractive.) By episode's end, she decides she's happier being the girl that kissing reminds you of licking an ashtray, and reverts to her glasses-wearing, homely self.
 * Reversed in The Fairly OddParents, when a geeky and useless boy becomes King Arthur—a rippled Adonis and fighting machine—when he puts glasses on. After all, how good are you going to be at swordplay when you are blind?


 * Done straight and to great effect in Gargoyles - faced with an invasion by several angry gargoyles, Owen Burnett calmly takes off his glasses, puts them in his pocket, and adopts a martial arts stance. The fact that he isn't remotely capable of fighting a gargoyle hand-to-hand does not make the moment any less Badass.
 * Averted in Metalocalypse, as Charles does not remove his glasses to fight, though he does undo his necktie before he first fights the Metal Masked Assassin.
 * Parodied with a hint of Ho Yay in Clone High, where JFK gives a makeover to Ghandi than completes it by taking of his glasses. JFK told Ghandi "Looks like an Angel."
 * Inverted by the title character of Daria in that The Glasses Came Back On after the visual restrictiveness of her specs when driving caused her to have an identity crisis.
 * Also inverted in the 1960s cartoon Fearless Fly. The housefly hero is a 98-milligram weakling, until he dons his square-rimmed glasses. Inevitably, in nearly every episode, he gets them knocked off at a crucial moment.
 * Played straight in the Magic School Bus's Dinosaur episode, where Arnold takes off his glasses and tucks them away in his shirt pocket to fight the T-Rex.
 * Recess plays this straight in a dream sequence when Miss Grotke's getting ready for a boxing match.
 * Also played straight in "Gus's Last Stand", when Gus (attempts) to fight Gelman.
 * Used to pretty frightening effect in Wakfu when

Real Life

 * Real-life example: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair occasionally did this during Prime Minister's Question Time.
 * The queen of Denmark does this at the end of her annual New Year's speech, but only in order to deliver her Motto. Good thing, too, since she really does seem to be blind without them.
 * Dave Barry never appears with eyeglasses on the covers of his books, even though he admits to be Blind Without'Em. He even joked about his yearbook photo, saying that the glasses instantly made him look like a Teacher's Pet geek.
 * Sometimes it really is a good idea to take glasses off if you're going to be getting into physical confrontation or a contact sport, because of the possibility of them being knocked off, lost, or damaged. But unlike what some non-glasses-wearing folks think, you needn't fear having breakable glass attached to your eyes, because modern glasses are made of shatterproof plastic.
 * Averted by Belgian heptathlete/high jumper Tia Hellebaut, who never takes off her glasses. Not even when winning Olympic gold.