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{{trope}}
[[File:
'''<s> Albireo</s> [[Loveable Sex Maniac|Ku:Nel Sanders]]:''' I get told that a lot...
▲{{quote|'''[[Ninja|Kaede]]:''' That's a pretty difficult-to-trust smile.<br />
A smile is supposed to be a reassuring expression, indicating happiness and complete absence of angst and danger. If someone's smiling, it means all is well with the world...
... unless it's a '''Cheshire Cat Grin''', which always denotes that someone's in for it.
The Cheshire Cat Grin is an expression made by a [[Tricksters|Trickster]] who's up to something, and "something" never bodes well for the person he or she is smiling at. Usually, it involves their total
{{quote|
'''Character B:''' ''(grins at character A)''
''[[Gilligan Cut]] to character A dressed in a bikini swimming across a river full of piranhas to placate the pride of man-eating lions with the power of dance so he can steal the sacred ruby out from under Lord Evil's nose.'' }}
Generally, this is drawn as a smile with far too many teeth on display, where the mouth doesn't match up with the eyes, going practically from ear to ear. For example, the mouth may be a broad grin, but the eyes definitely have a wicked gleam in them. It occasionally has sexual connotations, particularly when there's a predatory quality about the grin.
Strangely, it's usually done by heroes who have a [[Zany Scheme]] in mind, rather than by villains, who tend to prefer the [[Psychotic Smirk]] or the [[Slasher Smile]]. Heroes and heroines who are slightly eccentric -- [[Cloudcuckoolander|or slightly deranged]]
If you ever see someone with the Cheshire Cat Grin in real life, vacate the premises before you can discover what they're smiling about. Or, for that matter, how their face manages to do that.
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime
* ''[[Lupin III
* [[
* Gengar, from ''[[Pokémon (
** See the example under Video Games for a time when he ''does'' frown.
* Dee Laytner, from the ''[[
* Washu of ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]!'', usually right before she's about to stuff Tenchi into some machine or another.
* Kisuke Urahara from ''[[
** Shinji Hirako has an [https://web.archive.org/web/20100830222413/http://manga.animea.net/bleach-chapter-184-page-8.html even more classic version of a cheshire cat grin].
* Ichihara Yuko from ''[[
* [[Trickster Archetype|Deviant genius]] Hiruma from ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' has this as one of his default expressions, to the point where those new to the
* Road Kamelot of ''[[D
* Haruko of ''[[FLCL]]'', usually when she's about to be entertained, between the [[Cat Smile]] and [[Slasher Smile]] stages. [[It Got Worse|It's very, very much a bad thing]] for Haruko to be entertained.
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]!'' plays this for comedy; if Haruna starts smiling, something embarrassing and/or unpleasant is about to happen. The other characters are rightfully scared of her.
* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
* In ''[[
* Ed from ''[[
* Holo from ''[[Spice and Wolf]]'' does this whenever she's sweet-talking someone (usually Lawrence) into doing what she wants.
** It's probably a [[Cat Smile]], despite the fact that she's a canine. She's usually teasing with it, not actually plotting things with bad consequences.
* Hikaru and Kaoru from ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]''.
* In ''[[
** Not to mention Ciel. When he fakes a smile, it's adorable. When he gives a real smile... It probably means someone is about to get hurt. Badly.
** And in one of the OVAs? Grelle literally had the Cheshire's smile while playing the Cheshire Cat!
* Bel from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' tends to have this as his default face, along with making one when he laughs his creepy "Ushishishishi~" laugh.
** Hmmmm... notice how his default outfit is actually a pink and purple striped shirt? And how in one Omake he's considered a house pet in the Varia family? Looks like the resemblance isn't just the smile...
* [[
** The Kyuubi's face is eternally twisted into a Cheshire Cat Grin.
* Sumiko from ''[[Kekkaishi]]'' seems to have one of these as her defining trait, when she was [[The Faceless]] it's all we saw of her. {{spoiler|May actually be more malevolent, as we don't know much about her. [[Technically a Smile|The fact that now that she's not The Faceless reveals that the smile does NOT reach her eyes is a bad sign]]}}.
* [[Stepford Smiler|Xer]][[Sweet Tooth|xes]] [[White
* Roronoa Zoro from ''[[
* [[Trickster Archetype|Irabu]] from ''[[Trapeze]]'' gets a disconcerting grin on his face whenever he give some kind of devious advice [[Stealth Mentor|in order to help his patients somehow.]]
* Ham Egg from [[Osamu Tezuka]]'s works is easily indentified for making this grin constantly, which foreshadows his unpleasant and villainous nature.
* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'': Truth usually has a grin that's wider than seems possible when seen and its the only feature other than his body's outline that's readily discernible. The lack of eyes makes it hard to decide what kind of smile it is, though.
** The Gold-Tooth Alchemist echoed this, often wearing a bizarrely-wide grin at times when there was no discernible reason for ''anyone'' to be smiling. Add the unfocused eyes and it moves into [[Slasher Smile]] territory.
* ''[[
{{quote|
'''Asuka:''' ''(looks sideways and grins)'' Wunderbär! }}
** Kaworu often wears one himself, particularly in the manga or any of the other alternate universes where he pops up. It fits in well with his cryptic nature.
* Milly Ashford of ''[[
* ''[[Hellsing]]'': [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|The Major]] is noted as having "a detestable grin which would split his cheeks". Combined with his {{spoiler|[[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|artificial origin,]]}} [[Eyes of Gold]] and his desire to [[Blood Knight|spark the world to eternal war]] it plants him firmly in [[Nightmare Fuel]] territory. It will occasionally flicker into [[Slasher Smile]] territory, especially towards the end of the series.
* This is [[Bleach
* Captain Gotoh in the ''[[Patlabor]]'' manga specializes in these wonderfully awful toothy grins.
== Comic Books ==
== Comics ==▼
* Vilmarh Grahrk from the ''[[Star Wars]]: Republic'' comics seems to have one of these on his face [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/b/b4/Vilmarh.jpg all the time]. Considering his nature, it may be considered a [[Slasher Smile]].
* Agent Graves from ''[[
** Topped by Lono, whose presence is often defined by his grin. There are many times throughout the comic where all you can see his smile, shining in the darkness.
* The Joker. King of this trope.
* One ''[[Beetle Bailey]]'' Sunday strip had Beetle torment Sarge by periodically giving him one of these smiles. Sarge tore his living quarters and office apart trying to find whatever [[Practical Joke]] Beetle had set up (in fact, there wasn't one).▼
* In one ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' arc, when Calvin notices Susie left her dolls outside while she had lunch, Calvin makes one and says "That gives me a ''brilliant'' idea!"▼
* ''[[The Boondocks]]'' has a strip with a truly ''evil'' grin spreading across Riley's face as his inner monologue contemplates an [[Noodle Incident|unspecified act of mayhem]]:▼
{{quote| "Hmm... mischief... danger...trouble... malevolence... discord... pandemonium... TOTAL CHAOS... ''MASS CONFUSION!''"}}▼
* ''[[Dilbert]]'': Catbert gives two of these [http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2001-03-04/ in one strip], though his clueless victim doesn't quite get the message.▼
* TJ from ''[[Luann]]''. Other than the permanent grin, he's actually a pretty regular guy.▼
* When ''[[FoxTrot]]'' parodied ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Literature)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'', Andy as "Mrs. Grinch" had a very accurate recreation of the Grinch's "wonderful, awful idea" face mentioned below.▼
* Marunde in ''[[Someone Elses War (Literature)|Someone Elses War]]'' wears one of these, though the narrator calls it a "crocodile grin."▼
* Trolls in the Franco-Belgian comic ''[[Lanfeust]]'' often make those, usually when they are about to brutally slaughter people or cause heavy property damage (which is most of the time).
* From ''[[X-Factor (comics)|X-Factor]]'', the anti-mutant militant hate group [[Politically-Incorrect Villain|The Right]] had mooks with [[Powered Armor]] with big grins painted on the faces of the helmets, presumably intended as psychological warfare.
== Film ==
* Jack Skellington from ''[[
▲* Jack Skellington from ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas (Film)|The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'' has this mixed with [[Slasher Smile]] as his default smile. Sally {{media|Sally_cheshire_cat_grin_6839.jpg| gets a good one}} when she tricks the doctor into eating the poisoned soup.
* ''[[The Machinist]]'': Ivan does a particularly disturbing rendition of this trope.
* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]:'' Right before taking vicious or manipulative action, Captain Jack Sparrow often sports an evil, toothy smile. In the screenplay for Dead Man's Chest, a "Cheshire grin" is mentioned in Jack's direction during a particularly loathsome act of betrayal.
* The allegedly-catatonic Cameron, just pulled up from the bottom of a pool after keeling over into it face first, broke into one of these in ''[[Ferris
* ''RRRrrr!!!'': [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6NL9m_bS2Y At 9:11.]. Unless we count this as [[Slasher Smile]].
** Thank you very much for the [[Nightmare Fuel]]...
* Dr. Frank-N-Furter walks on stage with this expression in the ''[[Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'', and it's his default expression when he's not angry, jealous, megalomanical, or begging for sympathy. No real surprise really, as Cheshire Cat is actually a nickname for the actor [[Tim Curry]].
** Similarly in his role in ''Home Alone 2: Lost In New York''. They even segue quite unnervingly from his grin to a still from [[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (
* ''[[Equilibrium]]'''s [[The Dragon|Cleric Brandt]] has a smile which first inspires [[Fridge Logic]] when you realise that he's not supposed to have any emotion, then [[Fridge Brilliance]] when you realise that he ''doesn't'' have any emotion; his huge smile has nothing to do with real happiness or real satisfaction. Knowing this makes it pretty creepy.
* [[Zero Mostel]] as Pseudolus delivers one of these to [[Jack Gilford]]'s Hysterium in ''[[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]''. They've determined that the only way to get a visiting Captain to leave is to convince him that his intended bride is deceased. Hysterium intones, "But where are we going to get a body?" whereupon Pseudolus does a slow take at him with a grin that almost breaks his own face.
* ''[[A Fistful of Dynamite]]'s John Mallory is fond of this, especially when he's toying with Juan Miranda.
** A general movie axiom - if James Coburn grins, run away.
* The most recent live-action version of ''[[
* The [[Tim Burton]] version of ''[[Alice in Wonderland (
* [[Incredible Hulk
{{quote|
'''Hulk:''' ''*looks down at him*''
'''Cap:''' ''*points up at the {{spoiler|Chitauri invaders}}*'' Smash.
'''Hulk:''' >:D }}
* The movie version of ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (
== Literature ==
* The [[Trope Namer]] is the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130531065943/http://www.ebbemunk.dk/alice/23a_cheshire_cat.jpg Cheshire Cat], from ''[[Alice in Wonderland
** There are several possible explanations, but very little info to support any of them. On another note, the novel might be also a [[Trope Maker]], because most of its incarnations stem from the Sir John Tenniel's [https://web.archive.org/web/20121115121810/http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Cheshire_Cat_Tenniel.jpg/250px-Cheshire_Cat_Tenniel.jpg.png iconic illustrations of the Cheshire Cat].
* From the nonfiction desktop book ''Murphy's Law for Lawyers'': "A man who can smile in a crisis is a man who has thought of someone to blame it on."
* ''[[
** Angua in ''[[
** From ''[[
** "It was a smile like the one you find on black and orange striped creatures prowling through the jungle looking for someone to smile at."
* Ford Prefect from ''[[The
* Some girls have [[When She Smiles|wonderful smiles]]. Then there's Kouma of ''[[The Longing of Shiina Ryo]]''.
* In ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (
▲* Marunde in ''[[Someone
== Live-Action TV ==
* Dr. Phlox from the pilot episode of ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]''. Somehow his head avoids self-decapitation.
* Not quite a Cheshire Cat Grin, but with the same effect in "Bride of Chaotica!" an episode of ''[[
* Talk show host/Comedian Jay Leno always seems to have one of these on his face.
* Theo ''[[Kojak]]'' pulls out one of these at least every couple of episodes.
* ''[[
** River Song is fond of it, too.
{{quote|
** The Sixth Doctor does one in his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUKanwT1elM opening credits].
** Strangely enough, the gentle, unassuming, [[Adorkable]] Fifth Doctor often wore one of these, especially when talking to people taking him prisoner. He smiled most of the time, in fact, but it very rarely reached his eyes.
Line 135 ⟶ 122:
* Michael Westen from ''[[Burn Notice]]'' does this a lot. His smile will ''eat your soul.''
* Judge Frasier did this all the time on ''[[This Is Wonderland]]''.
* ''[[
{{quote|
''(everyone grins at Kryten)'' }}
* ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'': [[Robot Girl|Because of]] [[Emotionless Girl|her basic nature]], anytime Cameron smiles, you should be on your guard. No matter what, that smile is intended to manipulate you.
* Nikola Tesla (as played by Jonathon Young) on ''[[Sanctuary]]''.
* ''[[
* ''[[Justified (TV series)|Justified]]'' has Detroit mob lieutenant Robert Quarles, who has a big, unsettling smile.
▲== Newspaper Comics ==
* ''[[Garfield]]''
** In one early strip, Garfield tormented Jon by Cheshire cat grinning in the dark. Jon turns on the light and asks if he's been reading ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' again.
** In another early strip, Jon wakes up to see Garfield grinning widely at him. "Oh, great," he says to himself. "Garfield ate my toothpaste again..."
▲* One ''[[Beetle Bailey]]'' Sunday strip had Beetle torment Sarge by periodically giving him one of these smiles. Sarge tore his living quarters and office apart trying to find whatever [[Practical Joke]] Beetle had set up (in fact, there wasn't one).
▲* In one ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' arc, when Calvin notices Susie left her dolls outside while she had lunch, Calvin makes one and says "That gives me a ''brilliant'' idea!"
▲* ''[[The Boondocks]]'' has a strip with a truly ''evil'' grin spreading across Riley's face as his inner monologue contemplates an [[Noodle Incident|unspecified act of mayhem]]:
▲{{quote|
▲* ''[[Dilbert]]'': Catbert gives two of these [http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2001-03-04/ in one strip], though his clueless victim doesn't quite get the message.
▲* TJ from ''[[Luann]]''. Other than the permanent grin, he's actually a pretty regular guy.
▲* When ''[[FoxTrot]]'' parodied ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (
* Very literal example in one series of ''[[Peanuts]]'' strips: Snoopy is listening to Linus read the chapter of ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' where Alice meets the Cat, and then Snoopy grins widely. Linus is shocked when Snoopy disappears, leaving only his grin. Then he reappears, and says, "I've been able to do that for years!"
==
* Done superbly in the [[David Tennant]] version of ''[[Hamlet]]''. "O villain! Smiling, damned villain...", saying this all while sporting a spine-chilling smile. We know his sanity is long, long gone.
== Video Games ==
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'', Midna makes quite a few of these(in her imp form). Especially whenever she hits a turning point in her quest to overthrow Zant.
** Eh, I'd be inclined to say she goes full-on [[Slasher Smile]] at least twice.
** Link's [[Nightmare Fuel|nightmarish]] Elegy of Emptiness statue in ''Majora's Mask''.
* Father Vincent of ''[[Silent Hill 3]]'' smiles one of these quite a lot.
* Gengar from ''[[
** Not quite so in the first ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'' [[Spinoff Series|games]]. A {{spoiler|formerly human}} Gengar shows not only a Cheshire Cat Grin and [[Slasher Smile]]; he frowns quite a bit as well, and even ''[[Tear Jerker|tears up]]'' {{spoiler|by the time Gardevoir's body is restored.}}
** We also have [http://archives.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:Sableye_anime.jpg Sableye]{{Dead link}} from Gen III, but it's generally hard to smile pleasantly when you have a mouthful of sharp teeth.
* Tohsaka in ''[[Fate/stay
** That's nothing. Sakura's can silence a room and ''extinguish candles''. {{spoiler|It makes sense. They are sisters, after all.}}
* ''[[Mario
* ''[[
* Taokaka of ''[[
** Hazama/Terumi Yuuki sports several smiles that almost never leave his face, but simply tag each other. His default smile is a Cheshire smile with closed eyes, yet with no reassuring kindness in the expression. When his [[Psycho Smirk|smile]] shows his [[Eyes of Gold]] you better start running, 'cuz it might very well be your last chance at getting away with your life. If his [[Slasher Smile|smile]] shows teeth, [[Fist of the North Star|you're already dead]].
* Dee Jay from ''[[Street Fighter]]'' smiles because [[Fun Personified|he's an almost always happy dude]], but the type of smile he has is this one.
* In ''[[A
* The [[Grimmification]] of ''[[
* Travis Touchdown of ''[[
== Web Animation ==
* Whenever The Cheat from ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' smiles, it's this kind of smile. Things often backfire on him, though.
== Web Comics ==
* Both Zimmy and Coyote in ''[[
** Of course, both of them pale before the awesomeness of [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=458 Jack's smile.]
** Jack outdoes himself in [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=620 this] strip.
* Tedd from ''[[
* The [[Mad Scientist]] in ''[[Books Don't Work Here]]'' tends to smile like this when he is up to something, and whether it will work or not he always tries to be up to something.
* Rocky, from ''[[Lackadaisy Cats]]'' seems to have this as his default expression. His cousin wears a combination of this and [[Slasher Smile]]. [http://tracyjb.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=48#/d154crs Like so.]
* Smiling Man from ''[[User Friendly]]'' smiles all the time, but sometimes it gets [https://web.archive.org/web/20170922074730/http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20090415 even worse].
* Shadowchild from ''[[
* George from ''[[Johnny Wander]]'' is always depicted with one of these. Except one time when he grimaced and it was basically the same thing but upside down. [http://www.johnnywander.com/comics/128 Even his tombstone has that grin.]
* In ''[[
** [[Mad Scientist|Sparks]] tend to wear a huge grin when they've got an idea. Considering the stuff they usually invent, this is seldom good news for anyone in town.
* Joey Von Krause from ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140218141836/http://mortifer.smackjeeves.com/ Mortifer]'' is almost always smiling like this, even when [http://mortifer.smackjeeves.com/comics/318885/chap18page12/ you've succeeded in pushing his Berserk Button] ({{spoiler|Looking under his eyepatch, in case you were wondering}}). It's later stated that he smiles whenever he's in control of the situation, [[Magnificent Bastard|which is all the damn time]].
* {{spoiler|Dagre}} from ''[[
* Subverted/defied with Florence Ambrose in ''[[
* ''[[
*
* Pandora from ''Dangerously Chloe'' - a succubus from Chloe's class who isn't malicious at all, but [[Screwy Squirrel|loves mischief and messing with people]] and [[Genki Girl|happily and unceremoniously throws herself into everything she does]]. As a result, she wears gleeful grins about half of the time.
== Web Original ==
* In ''[[
* The eponymous Trollface (now in [https://web.archive.org/web/20141005153947/http://img.chan4chan.com/img/2010-08-31/1283265262586.png glorious HD]).
* [[Doctor Steel]]'s robots all have huge creepy grins.
== Western Animation ==
* The Grinch in [[Chuck Jones]]' screen adaptation of ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (
** This could be arguably [[Chuck Jones]]' [[Signature Style]], when he directed ''[[
* ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]'': "My name is Fred and I've been very... naughty".
* In the penultimate episode of ''[[Teen Titans (
** She's in [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|the comics]], too, minus that power. For the record, her name is Jade Nguyen, and she has done things justifying that grin (like nuking [[Qurac]]).
* On ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* [[Played for Laughs]] on the ''[[
* Dr. Bender, the [[Depraved Dentist]] from ''[[The Fairly
** Timmy gets one of these himself, in the episode F.L.A.R.G. Mark sums it up pretty well.
{{quote|
* In the ''[[
* In the ''[[
* Snoopy in ''[[The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show]]'' does this once, complete with the ability to vanish.
** He has this in the original ''[[
* A favorite expression of [[Enfante Terrible|Heloise]] on ''[[Jimmy Two
* The animated [[Beetlejuice (
* Henry and June (the latter more often) do this in ''[[
* Twilight Sparkle of ''[[My Little Pony
* T-Bone from [[
== Real Life ==
* Chimpanzees "smile" by baring their teeth as a way of warning potential challengers that this chimp is not to be messed with. This has led to more than a few people getting mauled, because, hey, the monkey is smiling at 'em! And ain't he just like a little person? Maybe he wants a hug! No. When a chimp smiles at you, he's telling you to fuck off. By the way, those teeth? They go for the face. And chimps are ''strong''. [[Fluffy the Terrible|Mister Peanutpants]] does not want to be your friend, kids.
* Former Australian Treasurer Peter Costello was famous for his Parliamentary savaging of his opponents in debate, of which his Cheshire Cat grin would be a prime indicator to get out of the way of his victims.
* [[Tony Blair]] was known as the Cheshire cat (then the less favourable "Cheshire twat") since he became leader of the opposition and then prime minister due to his smile.
* The [http://www.troublemakerstudios.com/ logo] of Troublemaker Studios.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Smile Tropes]]
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:Mouthful of Index]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Trope]]
|