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{{trope}}
[[File:vampyr3.jpg|link=
On the big or small screen, if someone falls over motionless with their eyes wide open, it is a sure sign that they are
Additionally, dead bodies always have their eyes either closed or ''all the way'' open, with no middle ground. (Again, this stands in contrast to reality, but nobody wants a dead body making a weird face. Not to mention that it's hard for an actor to have half-closed eyes without flickering.) In the latter case, someone who knew the deceased will often come along and manually close the corpse's eyes for "respect" or "dignity". This is always done the same way - using the palm flat open, they pass their hand over the dead person's face, somehow closing their eyes. Nearly everyone does this. Occasionally, the friend will also put two coins over their closed eyes as well, to "pay the boatman" to take them across the river Styx into the afterlife. See [[Due to
The above is universally true of live-action, but [[Anime]] occasionally depicts someone fainting with open eyes (Mikado Sanzenin of ''[[Ranma ½]]'' is an example), or dying with half-closed eyes. Open-eyed deaths in anime often have the iris/pupil area of the eye drawn as a dull grayish spot, similar to some types of [[Mind Control Eyes]]. In [[Animation Age Ghetto|Western animation]], [[Never Say "Die"|death is rare]], visible dead bodies even rarer, and open-eyed corpses unheard of. Except in animated Batman movies, of course. In many Western (not as in Cowboy movies) action films, people will often die with eyes wide open when they are killed by surprise.
If they're [[Not Quite Dead]], expect to see their [[Eye Awaken|eyes open]]. Otherwise? [[He's Dead, Jim]].
Note
If a character's eyes close when they die, it's [[Big Sleep]].
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Anime subversion: In ''[[Rose of Versailles]]'' when Jeanne Valois is publicly branded as a criminal, she faints with her eyes wide
* ''[[
* Used in ''[[
** Also Light's death in the manga.
* Kyuzo from ''[[Samurai
* Subversion: in the final arc of ''[[Ranma ½
* The [[Hollywood Cyborg|Combat Cyborg]] Due from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' exhibited both this trope ''and'' [[Blood From the Mouth]] upon getting impaled by Zest to show that she's really dead.
* In ''[[
** Except Itachi, whose eyes remain open. It also rains, but there's no indication of rain-in-the-eyes.
* Despite being a story about a serial killer, where you'd expect to find Dies Wide Shut, this trope remains averted in ''Shounen Zanzou'', where the expressions of Adrian Clay's victims' corpses are never seen because he covers them with tape. The only ones we see are his mother's which look more like a mix of anger and fear, and Lawrence Hill's [https://web.archive.org/web/20081121093441/http://www.angelicvoice.fr/galleries/boysnext/BND07-mortlawrence.jpg eyes are half-closed].
* The [[Fullmetal Alchemist (
** We actually see his eyes go foggy as he [[Killed Off for Real|dies for real]]. He gets better, though.
* In ''[[Battle Royale]]'', this is actually a more common type of death than the peaceful closed eyes death. Understandable, considering most of the people are killed by unexpectedly getting shot in the head. The more memorable one of this type is [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/battle_royale/c077/20.html Mimura's].
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* In [[Ginga Densetsu Weed]] and possibly its prequel series, almost every character that dies has their eyes open.
* Charles Beams dies this way in [[Eureka Seven]].
* Havock in ''[[Darker
* In ''[[
* ''[[
** Yuzu in the 4th movie
* Averted by ''[[
* The first victim of the mysterious and highly lethal [[The Plague|plague]] shown in ''[[
* In ''[[
* The first ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima
* In ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'', during TSR, Gauron dies in this manner. Which makes him all the more unnerving, considering he also died with a [[Slasher Smile]], looking maniacally happy at Sousuke.
* In later works by [[Akira Toriyama]], especially ''[[
* Zancrow becomes one of the few deaths in ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' this way. His killer is nice enough to shut his eyes for him afterward.
* A lot of characters in ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' die this way, due to the fact that they're usually in mid-action when killed. Along with the fact that they're being killed by something they can't see, and that about half of the people killed don't even know exists.
** Averted with the deaths of {{spoiler|Kurama and Mariko}}; since they know what's about to happen to them, they close their eyes tightly and brace themselves.
* Averted in ''[[Inuyasha]]'' - as the resident [[Nigh Invulnerable|brick]], Inuyasha has a tendency to get the tar beaten out of him whenever a sufficiently powerful [[Monster of the Week]] appears - to show he's been seriously injured, he'll often be knocked out with his eyes open and unreflective, but never dead.
== [[Comic Books]] ==▼
▲== Comic Books ==
* People killed by the Joker, especially by his Joker Venom (which is justified in that it pulls back the muscles of the face), often die with their eyes open to enhance the creepy effects of his methods. As noted above, this extends to points in the DCAU where he was allowed to kill, usually the animated movies.
* In ''[[
* In one story from the ''Mellon Chronicles'' series of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' fanfiction, a wounded Legolas rests with his eyes closed for a time, and when Aragorn notices, he freaks out for a moment, believing the elf to be dead - as far as he understands it, elves rest with eyes open.▼
▲== Fan Fic ==
▲* In one story from the ''Mellon Chronicles'' series of ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' fanfiction, a wounded Legolas rests with his eyes closed for a time, and when Aragorn notices, he freaks out for a moment, believing the elf to be dead - as far as he understands it, elves rest with eyes open.
** The idea of elves not sleeping in the same way as humans comes from the one example given through Legolas in the LotR. It is debated whether this can be taken as the general style of sleeping for elves, another form of resting distinct from sleep, or due to the circumstances.
* Averted in Chapter 16 of ''[[
* ''[[
== [[Film]] ==
* The French soldier that Baumer stabs dies like this in ''[[All Quiet
* ''[[
* ''[[Frenzy]]''. Poor Brenda.
* All the bad guys in ''[[
* Almost every character killed on screen in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' saga died with his eyes open. Justified in those characters killed by the Avada Kedavra curse, since they were dead before they hit the floor. [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/harrypotter/images/6/63/Cedricdead.jpg Poor Cedric].
* ''[[Pod People]]'' was especially ridiculous with this idea. Even a girl who had been comatose for a couple of days, with her eyes firmly shut, died with her eyes open.
* Subversion: The film ''[[
* A similar subversion occurs near the end of the first ''[[Back to The Future]]'' film, when Doc is shot by the Libyans while, unbeknownst to Marty (and the audience), he is wearing a bulletproof vest.
* Ratso Rizzo's death on the bus in ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]''
* Used in ''[[Waking Ned Divine]]''. Ned dies of shock with his eyes open after winning the lottery, and people try to disguise the lottery win as part of a clever plan. They drew the sides of his mouth down, so he'd look sad, but his eyes showed his happiness so they were forced to close them.
* Ray Brower the [[MacGuffin]] dead body in ''[[Stand
* ''[[Drag Me to Hell]]'', when the medium dies.
* Shimi Skywalker in ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' dies with her eyes open and Anakin tenderly closes them before his [[Unstoppable Rage]] kicks in.
* The Colonel in ''Valkyrie'', [[Eyepatch of Power|sort of]].
* An odd variation in ''[[The Dark Knight]]''
* Everyone who dies in ''[[9
* In the original ending to ''[[Clerks]]'', Dante dies with his eyes open.
* ''[[Dead Man Walking]]'': Matthew Poncelet's eyes fall shut when the anesthetic kicks in, then flick open when he expires.
* The body Chunk is locked in the freezer with in ''[[The Goonies]]''.
* The victims of serial killer O'Ryan in ''[[
* Levasseur in ''[[Captain Blood]]''.
* In ''[[Devil]]'', one of the victims dies like this. When [[Ten Little Murder Victims|another one]] tries to close them, they stay open, and he's told that it doesn't work until someone's been dead for a couple of hours.
* Shoshanna in ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]''.
* Nina at the end of ''[[
* Jim in ''[[A Single Man]].''
* ''[[
* Both Hugo and David in ''[[Shallow Grave]]''. When the flatmates go to bury Hugo's corpse, the eyes appear to be staring up at David even as he's about to smash the face in. Later David also dies with his eyes open, and they remain open even as he's taken to the mortuary.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* Subverted creepily in [[
▲== Literature ==
▲* Subverted creepily in [[JRR Tolkien (Creator)|JRR Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings|The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers]]'': Pippin sneaks over to have a go on Gandalf's new palantir. He gets a fright when he sees Gandalf looking at him, but no, Gandalf's just asleep. Earlier in the same volume, Legolas is sleeping - with his eyes open.
** In the case of Legolas, he's not actually sleeping. Elves don't sleep, at least not the way mortals do.
* In ''[[X Wing Series|Iron Fist]]'', Ton Phanan finally dies with his eyes open and a look of wonder on his face. Granted, one is a prosthetic and ''can't'' close. Face closes his organic eye after he dies, before immolating the corpse with his TIE Interceptor.
* In ''[[
{{quote|
* In [[James Swallow]]'s ''[[Warhammer
** Later Sachiel himself is lying in the [[Battle in
* In ''[[Lonesome Dove]]'', Deets dies like this after getting mistaken by the Native Americans as about to kidnap a blind child, but he was [[Just Trying to Help]] in the [[Tear Jerker|most heart-wrenching way]].
* Dobby in ''[[Harry Potter and
* The main villain of ''[[Sherlock]]'', Jim Moriarty, not only shot himself through the mouth in front of Sherlock Holmes, but did it as part of a game of [[Xanatos Roulette]]. His body is shown to be smiling as well as wide-eyed.
▲== Live Action TV ==
▲* The main villain of ''[[Sherlock]]'', Jim Moriarty, not only shot himself through the mouth in front of Sherlock Holmes, but did it as part of a game of [[Xanatos Roulette]]. His body is shown to be smiling as well as wide-eyed.
* Subverted in episode of ''[[Law and Order SVU]]''. Alex Cabot is thought to be killed, but turns up alive at the end of the episode.
* ''[[Law
* ''[[
* ''[[
* On ''[[In Plain Sight]]'', Mary goes to the crime scene and finds one of her victims dead. When she goes to shut his eyes a woman who we can assume is a detective or from forensics says "Hey don't touch that." Mary asks if they can close his eyes and she replies only if she has a needle and thread.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'':
** Martha Jones closes Mr. Stoker's eyes as a mark of respect after his blood is drained by a Plasmavore in "Smith and Jones".
** The Doctor closes Professor Lazarus's eyes in "The Lazarus Experiment", and Sarah Jane Smith closes the Third Doctor's eyes in "Planet of the Spiders".
* ''[[Star Trek:
** The Klingons sense of honour means that their allies will hold their eyes open and look into them as they die. Happens in a couple of episodes. They also scream to ''warn the afterlife'' that a Klingon Warrior is arriving. Highlighted by Tasha Yar in her [[Dropped a Bridge
** Data, in the episode "Contagion." Geordi closes his eyes for him (which looks kinda weird since Burton can't actually touch him without screwing up Spiner's makeup and the hover is obvious). Whenever he shuts off, his eyes are usually open.
* Bryce at the end of season 2 of ''[[Chuck]]''.
* ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' has two in the third season finale - Tuck closes Allan's eyes, and Robin later closes Gisborne's eyes.
* ''[[Kamen Rider Stronger]]'':
** Poor Tackle. Though it does give Shigeru a drive to win at least. Thats good, right?
** [[Alas, Poor Villain|Poor]] [[Kamen Rider Double|Saeko]]. Though it does give Shotaro a drive to win at least. [[Kick the Son of
* In the final episode of ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]'' Chris Skelton views a video of a disturbing close look of a dying police officer's face in such a fashion after the officer is shot to death. The dying police officer is Chris himself
* An episode of ''[[
* In ''[[
* In the ''[[
* Discussed in the ''[[
* In one of the [[Tear Jerker|most heartbreaking moments ever seen]] on ''[[
* ''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]'': Victor [[La Rue]], when [[Killed Off for Real]] by Walker and The Hangman, who forced C.D. Parker to pull a suicide by cop, die with their eyes wide open. Even more disturbing with [[La Rue]], because not only does his face look just as vicious upon his death, Alex has a nightmarish thought as he's being carted out on a gurney- only to ''spring back to life'' to the tune of Elvis.
* Quite a lot of deaths in ''[[
* In ''[[Breaking Bad]]'', Jane starts choking while she's asleep. When she finally dies, her eyelides slide partially open. She's shown hours later with her eyes still open.
* {{spoiler|Lexie}} on ''[[
== [[Music]] ==▼
▲== Music ==
* [[Michael Jackson]]'s "Little Susie" mentions the titular girl's blind stare, as well as someone coming to close her eyes for her.
* This happens to {{spoiler|Mikey}} in the music video for "The Ghost of You" by [[My Chemical Romance]].
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
* In ''[[Metroid
▲== Video Games ==
* Lumine dies like this in ''[[
▲* In ''[[Metroid (Video Game)|Metroid]] Prime 2: Echoes,'' when you find the GFS Tyr's landing site, Captain Exeter is leaning against a communications console with his visor broken and his eyes wide open. After watching the Marines' final, fatal Ing encounter in cutscene, Samus shakes her head at the futility of their deaths before kneeling next to Exeter's corpse, closing his eyes through the broken glass.
▲* Lumine dies like this in ''[[Mega Man X (Video Game)|Mega Man X]] 8''. Subverted in ''Maverick Hunter X'' where X's eyes remain open when he's unconscious, with varying reactions from observers.
* Happens with Trevor in ''Phantasmagoria2''.
* Richard L. Jenkins in ''[[
** Played straight with one unfortunate ''Normandy'' [[Red Shirt]] in ''[[
** Also applies to anyone who bites it during the suicide mission in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''.
* Both
* In ''[[
** Averted at the end of the same chapter, when the mortally wounded Guybrush's eyes open wide in a blank stare at a saddened Elaine, but then gently close as he collapses and [[Big Sleep|"falls asleep"]] with his mouth open.
* Seymour from ''[[
* The previous Steef guardian in ''[[
* Emma Emmerich in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[
* The wide open eyes of Paul after his death in ''[
* ''[[
** Also when Haley and Belkar are sneaking out of occupied Azure City; Celia uses an illusion to appear as a demon, while the two mortals draw X's over their eyelids and lie very still on the cart so they appear to be corpses.
* ''[[Homestuck]]'': Midway through Act 5 Act 2, the [[All Trolls Are Different|trolls]] start dying; most of the dead trolls die with their eyes open, as a result of being actively fighting when they were murdered. The exceptions are [[Team Mom|Kanaya]], who [[Our Vampires Are Different|got better]], and [[The Heart|Nepeta]], whose death was not actually seen, possibly as part of a [[
== [[Web Original]] ==▼
▲== Web Original ==
▲* Penny in ''[[Dr. Horribles Sing Along Blog]].''
* [[Kill the Cutie|Red]] in ''[[There Will Be Brawl]]''.
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'': Homer's mother, Mona, dies like this.
▲== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Batman: The
* Death in western animation may be rare, dead bodies more so, eyes wide open even more so, but ''[[Metalocalypse]]'' does its very best to make up for it.
* ''[[Family Guy]]'': In the two-parter when Stewie is killed by Peter, his eyes are wide open and Peter wipes his hand over and closes them.
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
* When [[Western Terrorists|terrorist]] Timothy
▲== Real Life ==
* Observe the autopsy photos of [[John F. Kennedy]].▼
▲* When [[Western Terrorists|terrorist]] Timothy [[Mc Veigh]] (of Oklahoma City infamy) was executed, he expired eyes wide open, staring at the viewers.
▲* There's a photo of [[Serial Killer]] Ted Bundy out there that shows his eyes like this.
▲* Observe the autopsy photos of [[John F Kennedy]].
* Unorthodox Example: When e-paper based readers run out of power, they often expire with an "out-of-power" message still on the screen since their displays require no power when static. In a world where we're used to monitors which go black when unpowered, this can give the same impression as being dead with eyes open.
* Eyes are closed to prevent them drying out and causing something known as "tache noir".
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[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Eye Tropes]]
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