Hazel Eyes

Hazel eyes are usually mundanes who may have the potential to become something more, but don't always realize it.

Hazel eyes are often mentioned when they seem to change color. For this reason, they have an unfortunate association with Mary Sue, especially when described in loving detail. Whether Suish or not, hazel-eyed characters can be mercurial and unpredictable but still reliable.

Hazel eyes are basically middle ground between Brown Eyes and Green Eyes. Which is appropriate, since Hazel is a mix of brown and green pigments. They occasionally show up with elements of Eyes of Gold as well.

It should be noted that these eye color tropes are not just for characters who have eyes of this color, but when the color actually stands for something significant to that character, like blue for water, green for earth, red for evil, etc. Please do not add characters who just happen to have eyes of this color without a substantial reason behind it.

No real life examples, please; eye colors don't have specific meanings in Real Life.

Examples of Hazel Eyes include:

Anime and Manga

Asahina has hazel eyes in Suzumiya Haruhi. We see how she has hidden potential when her time-traveling more-competent future self appears in the story.
Setsuna F. Seiei, The Hero of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, has hazel eyes.^[context?] And, as said in the last sentence in the description, he is surrounded by people with Eyes of Gold and, later in the series, he got those too.
Death Note fans often describe Light's eyes as hazel, but they're actually brown. There's no green in there at all - which is fortunate, as it would clash with the stunning (but metaphorical) red shade they often turn.
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch: Hanon has these eyes while in human form (while in mermaid or idol form, she has Blue Eyes).^[context?]
South Italy (Romano) in Axis Powers Hetalia, probably to make him halfway between North Italy, who has brown eyes, and Spain, who has green.
Yellow from Pokémon Special.^[context?]
Miho Nishizumi from Girls und Panzer, to set her apart from the rest of her family and as a sign of her potential to become her own person once she abandons the family's ways.

Comic Books

Katchoo has them.^[context?]
Spider-Man's eyes are officially hazel, but given the practicalities of comic book coloring, they're effectively brown.^[context?]

Fan Works

In Sherlock Holmes fanfics, Dr. Watson is often described by many different fans as having hazel eyes (the other prominent eye color is blue). The consensus on the hazel eyes seems to be that they are warm, in total contrast to Holmes's cool Gray Eyes, and that they match Watson's tan and traditionally blond hair.
In Episode 10 of Final Stand of Death, Melanie's eyes were originally this color before her "operation", which resulted in Icy Blue Eyes.^[context?]

Literature

James Potter had these. He was a good guy and very brave and loyal but he seemed to have had a cruel and arrogant streak too.
Eddie Dean of The Dark Tower, also easily described as "mercurial, unpredictable, and ultimately trustworthy."
- Don't forget from junkie to Badass cowboy.
The titular character of Jane Austen's Emma is described as having "the true hazel eye."^[context?]
Wedge Antilles! Hazel eyes that generally look brown, fine brown hair. Kind of a background character in the movies, though he does appear in and survive all three. Much more important in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, where he becomes a Reasonable Authority Figure. He's a bit too quietly complex a character to be summed up quickly, but he does have a strong sense of duty to the Rebellion/New Republic.
Keladry of Mindelan and George Cooper in Tamora Pierce's Tortall series have hazel eyes, and both are very good (if stubborn) people.
Gilbert Blythe in the Anne of Green Gables saga has "roguish hazel eyes" and begins the series as Anne's infuriating pest before becoming her worthy (and reliable) soul-mate.
- Their oldest son, Jem, and their youngest daughter, Rilla, are also noted to have hazel eyes.
At least two of Neil Gaiman's protagonists have this eye color, such as Coraline and Richard Mayhew.^[context?]
Holly Short of Artemis Fowl has these. Along with her auburn hair and dark skin, it's probably supposed to reflect that, as an elf, she's in touch with nature.

Live-Action TV

Speaking of people named James, Star Trek‍'‍s James T. Kirk is hazel-eyed and could be said to be the epitome of being both unpredictable and reliable.
- The eye color scheme is a bit inverted in the new movie; Bones (blue-eyed in the original series), who is a reliable crewmember and friend yet can be quite mercurial, has hazel eyes (though it probably wasn't any intentional symbolism; Karl Urban just happens to have hazel eyes). Meanwhile, Chris Pine, playing the new and much more - er - erratic incarnation of Kirk, has bright blue eyes, planting him squarely in the blue-eyed, golden-haired hero category.
The X-Files' Mulder has hazel eyes that tend to change color a lot: in some instances, they seem brown, other times green, and in some episodes blue.
The Eleventh Doctor gets hazel eyes. Unpredictable? Check. Reliable? Check.
Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) on Glee has immense hazel eyes. Naturally, she can be trusted with anything, but woe betide he who commits an injustice in front of her. This may be enhanced by a latent Fiery Redhead streak.
The Big Bang Theory’s Penny has hazel eyes (although they are usually depicted in Fanon as green). Exceptionally fitting for her character, as she is a mundane among a group of geniuses. It has also been hinted at on many occasions that she has greater potential than she believes.
Psych: Shawn Spencer has hazel eyes, but he is anything but mundane. Genius intelligence covered over by a Peter Pan personality and frequent trips into the absurd (arguably in a good way).
Early Edition: Gary Hobson has hazel eyes. He is also very laid back, somewhat nervous at times, and would probably be happy simply running a bar if it wasn't for that paper.
Once Upon a Time: Snow White, her daughter Emma, and grandson Henry share them.^[context?]

Music

Kelly Clarkson released a song "Behind These Hazel Eyes" on her 2004 album "Breakaway".^[context?]
"Hazel Eyes" by The Darkness, found on their second album "One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back."^[context?]
"Turning Japanese" by The Vapors begins with the lyrics, "Your eyes are hazel/Your hair is brown..."^[context?]

Theatre

In the musical version of The Secret Garden, it is mentioned many, many times that Mary has hazel eyes, the same color as her aunt Lily's, Colin's mother. There's even a song about it, which is arguably the best song in the show.
Harrison Ford has eyes that look different depending on the lighting, but at the end of the day, they're hazel.^[context?]

Video Games

Alistair from Dragon Age seems to have hazel eyes; that is, in many shots, they seem brown, while in others (particularly in drastic lighting, such as in camp), they seem much lighter and distinctly gray-green. Appropriate, given his constant remarks about his own incompetence despite (or perhaps because of) being heir to the throne.
Bang Shish igami and Makoto Nanaya from BlazBlue both have Hazel Eyes. Both of them are Plucky Comic Relief with hidden potential, too. Bang is the resident Badass Normal who has recently been found to possess a Nox Nyctores, and Makoto is so far the only person to successfully thwart Ha za ma.

Web Comics

Gamma of Gunnerkrigg Court presumably has hazel eyes. It's hard to be sure, since they only appear on two occasions when she has Mind Control Eyes; the first time they appeared pale green, and the second time, they were sort of a muted brownish green color.

Western Animation

Marge Simpson's eyes are hazel. This is only relevant because Homer forgot what color they were as the b-plot of an episode. Marge hid them from him until he finally remembered. Of course, we'd never know this, because Simpsons characters irises are never drawn, even in extreme close up, except for exactly one shot in this self-same episode when it's relevant.^[context?]
Stella from Winx Club. The pixie Chatta, as well.^[context?]
Mater from Disney/Pixar's Cars has hazel eyes that often appear green with orange inner rims.^[context?]
Bonnie from Toy Story 3.^[context?]
An early draft to the South Park movie stated Kenny had hazel eyes. It's been retconned, though, into Blue Eyes.^[context?]