Cyclopean Creature: Difference between revisions

Examples from Doom
(Description + example curation + additional examples)
(Examples from Doom)
 
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A '''Cyclopean Creature''' -- or informally just a "cyclops" -- is a character or creature that naturally only has one eye, and typically only one orbit for that eye. The term is derived from the Cyclopes of [[Classical Mythology]]: here, "cyclops" more accurately translates to "circle-eye" or "wheel-eye", referring to the eye's size rather than its number - the Cyclopes themselves were giants as well.
 
As a design trope, monocular vision is very occasionally symbolic of a narrow vision and lack of (figurative) perception, -and some humanhumanoid villains will have one functional eye as an indication of their mypoicmyopic worldview; -- this alsomanifests provideseither anas excusethis fortrope or as an [[Eyepatch of Power]]. Characters with a single eye might also sport [[Peek-a-Bangs]] or some other ocular obtrusion. If the eye takes up the entire head, then it's also a [[Faceless Eye]]. The [[Cyber Cyclops]] is a typically-robotic subtrope.
 
Compare to the other deviations from normal eye structure:
For other deviations from normal eye structure, see [[Eyeless Face]], [[Third Eye]], [[Oculothorax]], and [[Extra Eyes]]. Compare to the robotic subtrope, the [[Cyber Cyclops]]. For other uses of the term, see [[Cyclops|the disambiguation page]].
 
* [[Eyeless Face]], where the eyes are ''missing'' from a being's features.
* [[Extra Eyes]], which describes characters with ''more'' than two.
** [[Third Eye]], a common motif and design trope that often places an additional eye in the middle of the forehead.
* [[Oculothorax]], where a creature's body is almost entirely taken up by a giant eyeball, and may or may not have other eyes besides.
 
For other uses of the term, see [[Cyclops|the disambiguation page]].
 
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* ''[[X-Men]]'' member Scott Summers AKA Cyclops averts this - he has two eyes, sobut namedalso becausehas ofa themutant largepower visorthat spanningcauses histhem head.to Underneath[[Eye Beams|constantly emit a powerful energy]], requiring him to wear the distinct visor that he's gotnamed twofor. eyes,In the ''[[Age of courseApocalypse]]'' -timeline, buthe gettingreally adid lookonly athave themone caneye, besince ratherWolverine [[Eye BeamsScream|dangerousgouged out the other one]].
* A couplepair of cyclopean-looking young adults appear as minor characters in ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)|Preacher]]''. They're from an isolated family living in the swamps of Louisiana, and arewere born from generations of in-breeding.
** In the ''[[Age of Apocalypse]]'' timeline, he really did only have one eye, since Wolverine [[Eye Scream|gouged out the other one]].
* A couple appear as minor characters in ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)|Preacher]]''. They're from an isolated family living in the swamps of Louisiana, and are born from generations of in-breeding.
 
== [[Film]] ==
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** ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue]]'' introduces the Electric/Steel Magnemite, a small vaguely robotic Pokémon with a single eye - it evolves into Magneton, which appears as a fusion of three Magnemites.
** ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver]]'' introduces the Unown, glyph-like Psychic Pokémon whose eye takes up most of their bodies.
** ''[[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire]]'' addsadd a fewsome examples:
*** Duskull is a Ghost Pokémon with a single red eye behind a skull mask-like face. It evolves into Dusclops, which appears as a mummy-like ghost with a more "traditional" cyclopean eye.
*** Beldum is a Steel/Psychic Pokémon that resembles a floating arm, and has a single eye positioned in the "joint".
** ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'' introduces Dusknoir, an evolution of Dusclops that appears more djinn-like but retains the single eye.
** ''[[Pokémon X and Y]]'' add some more examples:
*** Honedge is a Steel/Ghost Pokémon that appears as [[Living Weapon|an animate sword]] with a gem in the hilt that appears to be its "eye". Its evolution Doublade subverts this, as its body is composed of two swords (with one 'eye' gem for each sword); the final evolution Aegislash plays it straight, with more of an actual 'eye' situated where the blade and hilt of its body meet.
*** Trevenant is a Ghost/Grass Pokémon resembling [[When Trees Attack|an animate tree]] with a single red eye.
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*** Rolycoly is a Rock Pokémon that appears as a chunk of coal with a single red eye.
*** Runerigus is a Ground/Ghost Pokémon formed from a cursed painting absorbing a Galarian Yamask, and its ghostly form only has a single eye visible within the slabs composing its body.
* ''[[Doom (series)|Doom]]'':
* Massmouth, from the ''[[Doom]]'' [[Game Mod]] series ''The Adventures of MassMouth''. (He was originally a [https://web.archive.org/web/20131002132955/http://planetquake.gamespy.com/View.php?view=ModeloftheWeek.Detail&id=28 Quake II skin].) He also appears as a bot in ''Skulltag'', a source port focused on multiplayer, where one of his lines is a complaint about his lack of peripheral vision.
** The original introduces the [[Oculothorax|cacodemon]], spherical flying horned monsters with a single eye and a toothy maw. Cacodemons attack by spitting a ball of lightning, and can bite you at close range, though knockback from damage typically prevents the latter. Cacodemons are something of a [[Mascot Mook]] among the games' community.
* Many enemies in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' franchise sport a single eye, often as their [[Aim for the Eye|weak point]]. Recurring examples include:
** ''[[Doom II]]'' introduces the pain elemental, a cacodemon-like monster with a pair of cyberdemon-like horns and stubby arms. Pain elementals [[Mook Maker|shoot lost souls]] at you, and when killed collapse in on themselves and explode, spawning three lost souls - this is notable in that it cannot respawn on [[Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels|Nightmare! difficulty]] (the hardest) like most monsters. It ''can'' be revived if it is crushed while dying, leaving a small pool of gibs; these gibs can be resurrected by an arch-vile, creating a ghost monster, and is an incredibly rare event to witness.
** The Tektite is a one-eyed [[Giant Spider]] which often hops around the map. The recurring Gohma is a [[Giant Spider]] boss that can usually only be damaged by [[Attack Its Weak Point|attacking its eye]].
* Massmouth, from the ''[[Doom]]'' [[Game Mod]] series ''The Adventures of MassMouth''. (He was originally a [https://web.archive.org/web/20131002132955/http://planetquake.gamespy.com/View.php?view=ModeloftheWeek.Detail&id=28 Quake II skin].) He also appears as a bot in ''Skulltag'', a source port focused on multiplayer, where one of his lines is a complaint about his lack of peripheral vision.
** Armos are animated statues that feature a one-eyed design in some of the games.
* Many enemies in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' franchise sport a single eye, often as their [[Aim for the Eye|weak point]]., Recurringand examplesmany include:of them are recurring enemies as well.
** Ghinis are one-eyed ghosts found solely around graveyards.
** [[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The first game]] hadintroduced its own share of examples to start:
** Eyegores are typically statue-like cyclopean beasts that are tough to damage, but are weak to arrows.
*** The Tektite is a one-eyed [[Giant Spider]] which often hops around the map. The recurring; Gohma is a [[Giant Spider]] boss that can usually only be damaged by [[Attack Its Weak Point|attacking its eye]].
** [[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The first game]] had its own share of examples to start:
*** Armos are animated statues that featuredebut awith the one-eyed design the use in somemany of the later games.
*** Ghinis are one-eyed ghosts found solely around graveyards, and touching the graves will cause more invincible Ghini to spawn.
*** Digdogger is a giant urchin-like monster with a single eye; the Japanese manual instead calls it a giant [[Clu Clu Land|Unira]]. Playing the recorder while in the same room as it will cause it to shrink into a smaller form, which can be damaged with other weapons. One is fought as the boss of Level 5, and a second appears in Level 7 that instead splits into 3 of its miniature self.
*** Patras are a horde of flying [[Oculothorax|winged]] [[Faceless Eye|eyeballs]] that appear as bosses, and only appear in Level 9 within the first quest.
** ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link]]'' has the ghostly Moas, Fiery Moas and the [[Faceless Eye|eyeball-like]] Girubokku.
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past]]'' sees the return of Tektites, while Armos use a different design that averts this trope. Examples that debut in this game:
*** The incredibly-durable Eyegores are typically statue-like cyclopean beasts. thatThe green Eyegores are tough to damage, but are weak to arrows; red Eyegores are immune to every other weapon save for arrows.
*** The Beamos are [[Invincible Minor Minion|invincible statues]] that shoot lasers at you if their single rotating eye spots you.
*** Hinox appear as monsters that roam the Dark World and lob bombs in Link's direction; they take several hits with the sword to defeat, but [[Weaksauce Weakness|can be easily felled with one of Link's own bombs]].
*** Ku are Dark World counterparts to Zoras that behave the same, surfacing from the water to shoot fireballs at Link.
*** Arrghus is a large jellyfish monster with a single eye that acts as the boss of Swamp Palace, and must have the polyps on his body (called Arrghi) pulled off with the Hookshot before he can be attacked directly.
*** Eyeball Bats are Dark World counterparts of Keese that appear in Thieves Town and Ganon's Tower, and are essentially [[Oculothorax|winged eyeballs]].
*** Kholdstare, the boss of Ice Palace, appears as a giant cloudy eye encased in ice; once its icy shell is broken with the Fire Rod or Bombos Medallion, it splits into three and floats around the boss chamber.
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'':
*** Twilit Parasite Diababa is the three-headed boss of the Forest Temple, and has [[Aim for The Eye|an eye hidden inside the large main head]] that only appears during the second phase.