Cool Shades: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* Chester Cheetah from the Cheetos commercials wear those.

 

* Kamina of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|Gurren Lagann]]'' is constantly wearing cool shades (which [[Bellisario's Maxim|stay on without any visible means of attachment]] and he wore despite living underground ''never seeing the sun'' for most of his life), and after he hijacks his own [[Humongous Mecha]], Gurren, he melts down the pair of swords it had on it to give the mech a pair of shades too. Later on, those same shades (combined with the mecha's wings) are used to hold the enemy down for a final blow. Then the shades reattach themselves. [[Rule of Cool]] indeed. This isn't even going into the far more ridiculous and over-the-top sunglasses that appear later on. These shades have undergone [[Memetic Mutation]], instantly rendering any character they are shopped onto incredibly manly.

** To top it off, during a massive power-up, Simon's digging goggles morph into Kamina's shades, and then into ''five-point star shades''.

* Kagato from the first ''[[Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki]]'' OVA.

 

* Heather Hudson of ''[[Alpha Flight]]'' (who normally wore prescription glasses) began wearing wraparound shades when she became leader of the team. When she received her version of the Vindicator/Guardian battlesuit, Madison Jeffries modified her shades for wear with the suit.

** In the second ''Alpha Flight'' series, Heather had switched to contacts, and initially didn't wear glasses with the new suit Department H had provided her, but after a while of getting bothered by the wind in her eyes, she brought the shades back.

* In ''[[Transmetropolitan]]'' Spider Jerusalem has distinct "live shades" with circular red lens and rectangular green lens. The item maker that created them was on hallucinogenic drugs. Now how cool is that.

** Cool enough that when he finally needed another pair, ''they had the same mismatched lenses''.

** It's ''also'' up in the air what he did before the invention of sunglasses—wear a blindfold? [[Peek-a-Bangs|Fringey hair]]?

*** While not normal, sunglasses may have already been invented when Dream created him—he was wearing them that time when he ate the orangutan's eyeballs, which seemed to be the eighteenth century. Before he had sunglasses, he presumably didn't go out in public. He only AWOLed after Dream went MIA. Before that, when not being a footman or whatever he was supposed to be on that occasion, he was a full-time nightmare. Turning around was a sufficient [[The Reveal|Reveal]].

* The titular [[Mister X]] wears circular shades to cover up his eyes, which look about as bad as you'd expect from someone who hasn't slept in years.

 

* Hermione Granger, [[Teen Superspy]], creates a set of shades that act as the display for her arm-mounted computer in the [[The Teraverse|Teraverse]] ''[[Harry Potter]]'' [[Alternate Universe Fic]] ''[[Hermione Granger and the Boy Who Lived]]''.

 

* The first ''[[Back to The Future]]'' ends with Doc Brown showing up wearing some very Cool Shades. They're so cool, they're made out of sheet metal! Christopher Lloyd couldn't see a thing out of them. They were only written in as a gag for the first film. When the sequels came around, he ditched them ASAP.

** In Part II the glasses are revealed to be a part of the Delorean's modifications that allow him to see what's happening around the car.

* Used intentionally in ''[[That Thing You Do]]''. Once The Wonders sign on a major record label, their manager gives the drummer a pair of sunglasses to make him stand out. [[Lampshaded]] later by a reporter: "Are those prescription, or are you just trying to look cool?"

 

* Molly (aka Rose, Sally, etc) from ''[[Neuromancer]]'' has mirrorshades surgically implanted over her eyes. The same surgery also rearranged her tearducts, so she literally can't cry. Instead, she spits.

** They're not just mirrorshades; they have microchannel image amps built into them so she can see in the dark. Somewhat [[Rule of Cool|cooler]] than your typical cybernetic replacement eyes, not to mention being rather easier to manufacture.

* ''[[Dark Future (novel)|Dark Future]]'': Many people dress themselves with these in ''Dark Future'' novels. Many of them are also shades which double as music-playing devices. [[Big Bad|Elder Seth's]] shades are not merely cool ones, but they're also a means to see beyond the normal and perceive the Outer Darkness and create a conduit between him and the [[Eldritch Abomination|Dark Ones]] he serves.

 

* ''[[Adam-12]]'': In the final few episodes of Season 7, Reed begins wearing sunglasses on-duty. This includes an off-duty rescue of Malloy (who has been taken hostage by a gang of reactionists) and during Reed's investigation of a typewriter theft ring.

* Horatio Caine of ''[[CSI: Miami]]'' punctuates almost every [[Quip to Black]] by putting on his Cool Shades—if he's not already wearing them. (If he's already wearing them, he'll take them off and put them back on again.) So you could say that he... (''puts on sunglasses'') has it made in the shades. '''''YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAH!!'''''

* Harper's imaginary friend Mr. Lies sports a pair of these in ''[[Angels in America]]''.

* One recurring character in [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|the reimagined series of ''Battlestar Galactica'']], Romo Lampkin, nearly always wears shades, despite the fact that he's living in a fleet of dimly-lit spaceships. Justified in that he wears them so that people cannot tell what he is looking at - he is a kleptomaniac lawyer, after all...

** Also a slight [[Genius Bonus]] to people who watches Chinese period films, where that style of glasses tends to be worn by evil characters or traitors.

* The awe-spiring sunglasses of Michael Westen from ''[[Burn Notice]]''. Sales of that particular brand of shades (Oliver People's Victory) shot up right after the show started to get popular, a testament to just how damn cool they are.

* Duncan MacLeod on ''[[Highlander the Series]]'' had them too in some episodes.

* ''[[The Rotten Tomatoes Show]]'' features a song called "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121009234936/http://current.com/shows/the-rotten-tomatoes-show/90012148_shade-tippin-by-brett-erlich.htm Shade Tippin']" in which Brett Erlich examines the phenomena in movie posters.

 

* ''Sunglasses at Night'' by Corey Hart

* ''The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades'' by Timbuk3

 

* [[Garfield]] [http://garfield.nfshost.com/2002/05/07/ is sometimes seen]{{Dead link}} [http://garfield.nfshost.com/2001/06/05/ wearing a pair,]{{Dead link}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20101106142358/http://www.garfield.com/comics/vault.html?yr=2010&addr=101101 or not.]

* ''[[Peanuts]]'':

** Subverted in one Sunday strip where Lucy wears a pair at the sandlot field; she can barely see with them on, bumping into things, until she bumps into Charlie Brown, who yells at her to, '''"TAKE OFF THOSE STUPID GLASSES!!"

 

* [[Bret Hart]] wore a pair of pink ones in his run with WWF/WCW. He'd usually give them to a child fan before the match.

* "Macho Man" [[Randy Savage]] is known for his colorful, decorative, and all around badass sunglasses usually with designs on them coordinating with his tights.

* [[John Morrison]] has a pair he wears to the ring, although how he sees in them [https://web.archive.org/web/20110821235323/http://www.wweshop.com/item/john-morrison-sunglasses/W02191/17-00355 is a mystery to me.]

* These + cool shirt + [[Fascinating Eyebrow]] = [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]].

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* Unsurprisingly, ''[[Shadowrun]]'' allows characters to purchase Cool Shades. The real fun comes when you start putting visual enhancements on them.

 

* Cecile Forward wears a nice looking pair in intermission scenes in ''[[Castle Fantasia 2 Renewal]]'', though they do tend to subvert their purpose in battle scenes, where she looks rather bug eyed.

* Dr. Robotnik from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' wears a pair of round-frame sunglasses at all times with the intended effect of making him look more intimidating. [[wikipedia:Image:Oldrobotnik.jpg|It didn't really work, at first.]]

* Rude, a boss in the remake of ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', wears a pair. During the first [[Boss Battle]] with him, after reducing him to about 50% health, Cloud's attacks break them; there's a short cutscene where he discards them, then puts on a spare pair, then continues the battle.

 

* Yuki from ''[[Megatokyo]]'' switched from [[Meganekko]]-style glasses to Cool Shades after Largo made her a [[Little Miss Badass]].

* Brent Sienna from ''[[PvP (webcomic)|Pv P]]'' is never seen without his trademark shades. He takes them off when he gets married, only to be blinded immediately because his eyes haven't been exposed to that much light in decades.

* Youngsilver from ''[[The Pride of Life]]'' sports a Bebop-inspired pair.

* Black Monday Blues, of ''[[Dead Winter]]'', is hardly ever seen without his red-tinted shades...and he carries a second pair inside his jacket, just, you know, in case.

* James of ''[[Out There]]'' has yet to be pictured without his Ray-Bans (if that's what they are). You can't even see his eyes when he's in [http://outthere.keenspot.com/d/20100724.html profile]. Since you ''can'' see the eyes of the [http://outthere.keenspot.com/d/20100922.html other characters] when they're viewed from the side (even when they're wearing glasses), it's hard not to wonder: does James even ''have'' eyes?

* Nearly everyone in ''[[Shinigami Death Punch]]'' has their very own pair of cool shades in their color. The author never hesitates to use them for dramatic effect, either.

 

* The [[Shadow Men]] in ''[[Broken Saints]]'' both wear these in one scene, apparently just so artist Andrew West could have their enormous monitor reflected in the shades.

** Also, Mars' glowing red shades.

* The Necro Critic. A [[Caustic Critic]] who is characterized by his sunglasses.

* Standard issue for [[Protectors of the Plot Continuum]]. Used mainly when agents need to Neuryalize a canon character (MIB style) yet not get neuryalized themselves.

* ''[[Sockbaby]]'' - Ronnie Cordova.

* Sign up for [[TV Tropes]]' forums and you can post a Cool Shades smiley! Or most any forum these days. If you happen to not have access something that writes it, just write a B, followed by a bracket opening to the left, possibly with a dash in between [ B) and B-), respectively.]

* [[80's Dan]] has a pair.

* Coco Adel from ''[[RWBY]]'' finishes off her stylish look with a pair.

 

* Throttle from ''[[Biker Mice From Mars]]'' wears a pair of sunglasses at all times—this is because as a result of being experimented on he lost his eyes and got them replaced by bionic ones. Although some Biker Mice fans say he's blind.

* ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'' wears black shades throughout every episode, and actively covers his face whenever they've fallen off.

* In ''[[Futurama]]'', Leela has interesting sunglasses... [https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/radicalsatan/leela er, sunglass?]

 

* Sunglasses were used functionally by actors who would wear them on set to protect their eyes from the intense set lighting. People saw behind the behind the scenes footage of actors doing so and thus concluded wearing sunglasses is fashionable.

* Many celebrities attempt to invoke this trope; perhaps the most successful example is Roy Orbison, who originally wore them because he left his regular prescription glasses on the plane that was taking him to one of his concerts, and didn't have time to get a replacement set (in the 1960s, you couldn't get glasses in less than several days, unlike today's one-hour stores).

* [[Ozzy Osbourne]] and [[Rush|Geddy Lee]] perform wearing round framed sunglasses.

* [[Joe Satriani]]'s black sunglasses and [[Bald of Awesome]] make up his look.

* [[Guns N' Roses]] had two frequent wearers, Axl Rose (who liked to use them [https://web.archive.org/web/20110423121049/http://api.ning.com/files/H3kuHxKOt2X3MBCW3JOagQRQCA75W0gJtwpPum4AwG6HyS8sIHbkyLBlVAEo7nV9Fdx9geDlWAdbfrbT2mmZ2SwbnrxuIXpc/AxlRose5.jpg over his bandanna]) and Slash (who also frequently uses a [[Nice Hat]]).

** Axl is occasionally not seen wearing shades, but Slash on the othere hand never takes his off. One interview said he went to see his mother who was dying of cancer in a hospital, and never took off his shades.

* Shades are standard issue for people working in the Secret Service and other bodyquard services, allegedly because they conceal what the wearer is looking at. This can help keep potential troublemakers in line, since they can't be sure that sunglassed muscleman isn't staring directly at them.

** Larger, square ones can also have a one-way mirror formed into the glass/plastic as well which allows them to look behind without having to turn around.

* [[Bob Dylan]]. He was almost never seen without them in the '60s.

* [[Lou Reed]].