Family Eye Resemblance

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

In media, characters frequently have a Strong Family Resemblance to other members of their family, often down to a Hereditary Hairstyle. But sometimes creators go for a more subtle hint of relation: and since Eyes Never Lie, what better thing to do that than by giving the whole family very distinctive peepers?

Frequently, people who knew the parent in question will remark that the character has their mother's/father's eyes. In some cases, people can figure out who the family is from their eyes alone! Oddly, this occurs as often (if not more so) with Common Eye Colors as it does with Technicolor Eyes; this is usually justified by the eyes exhibiting some kind of expression or intensity that the parent shared.

Examples of Family Eye Resemblance include:

Anime and Manga

  • Fullmetal Alchemist: Ed has his father's eyes. The manga reveals that it is a mark of Hohenheim being ethnically Xerxian; i.e., belonging to a lost civilization.
    • When Armstrong is introduciing his tiny little sister, who claims that she has the same eyes he does. It's the ONLY thing she has in common with him, appearence-wise.
  • In Black Butler, Ciel has his mother's blue eyes. It's mentioned occasionally how much Ciel looks like his mother (even by his father).

Comic Books

  • Batwoman has a Long-Lost Relative Reveal heralded by the words "You have our father's eyes". Said by the villain Alice, who is actually Batwoman's twin sister.

Fanfic

Film

  • Repo! The Genetic Opera. Blind Mag tells Shilo that she has her mother's eyes.
  • Hot Shots!. People often tell Topper Harley that he has his father's eyes. Actually, he does. Literally. He keeps them in a little velvet case and all.
  • Rosemary's Baby. One character says of the title spawn of the Devil that "He has his father's eyes".
  • In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when Indy meets Dr. Elsa Schneider:

Elsa: Dr. Jones?
Indy: Yes?
Elsa: I knew it was you. You have your father's eyes.
Indy: And my mother's ears. But the rest belong to you.
Elsa: (smiling) Looks like the best parts have already been spoken for...

  • In the remake of Fright Night, the vampire tells a certain character, "You have your mother's eyes...and your father's aim." That's not a compliment.
  • In Super Mario Bros, the evil Koopa lady says this about Princess Daisy.
  • In What a Girl Wants, it's mentioned in dialogue that Daphne has Henry's eyes. The actors have different eye colors and no one bothered to give one of them contact lenses or something.
  • Played with in Addams Family Values:

Gomez: He has my father's eyes.
Morticia: Gomez, take those out of his mouth.

Literature

  • Harry Potter is often told he has his mother's eyes, so often that he can finish the phrase himself.
  • In one of Mercedes Lackey's Dragon Jouster novels, one character is able to identify the hero as the long lost son of her friend because his eyes looked so much like hers.
  • It is often pointed out that all members of the Heap family in Septimus Heap share Green Eyes.
  • In the 13th century Saga of the Volsungs, all the Volsungs have unusually bright, piercing eyes.

Live Action TV

Vicar: He has your husband's nose.
Wife: Yes. But he has his father's eyes.

Music

  • The Queen song '39 has the line: "Your mother's eyes from your eyes cry to me."

Theater

  • This is the subject of the song "Lily's Eyes" in the theatrical version of The Secret Garden.
  • In Die Walkuere, Hunding notices the resemblance of his wife's eyes to Siegmund's. This observation, and the Leitmotif quietly underscoring it, is the first clue they're related to each other and to Wotan.

Video Games

  • Brutal Legend. If you fail the stage battle against the Tainted Coil at the end:

Doviculous: You have your mother's eyes. And soon, so shall I. On a necklace, I think.

  • Golden Sun: Dark Dawn: Briggs recognizes Matthew because he "has Jenna's eyes", when Matthew clearly has his father's eyes.
  • In Fire Emblem 7, Wallace decides to believe Lyn's claim of being his lord's granddaughter because he can tell from her eyes.
  • In Summon Night: Swordcraft Story one of the Craftlords claims he can recognize Pratty (or Cleru for the strange people that play for something OTHER than lesbians) has the same eyes as her father Shintetsu, though this is after he notices Shintetsu's Guardian Beast is with her.

Web Comics

  • Gunnerkrigg Court: One astute reader realized that Anthony was Annie's father when they noticed that she had his eyes.
  • In Order of the Stick, Durkon claims he can tell that Julia is Roy's sister because they have similar eyes. This is odd as Roy has the semi-unique feature (his Palette Swap Thog, every member of the identical Azure City Army and a few nameless characters share it) that the eye farther from the camera is the bigger one, which Julia lacks.