Scary Shiny Glasses/Anime and Manga

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


It's Gendo!

Examples of Scary Shiny Glasses in Anime and Manga include:

  • America (of all people) sports these in one episode of Axis Powers Hetalia - granted, it was from the perspective of Canada and he was holding a chainsaw, but we promise it makes sense in context.
  • In times of stress or extreme exasperation, the Scary Shiny Glasses are seen on Yomi in Azumanga Daioh.
    • And Mr. Kimura's glasses are always shiny. Appropriately enough, he's usually creepy.
  • Nice in Baccano!! has these in a scene where she and the rest of Jacuzzi's gang come to save him from a couple of thugs. The scariest thing is that you can see her one good eye over the top of the glasses, and the overall effect of the expression tells the thugs that they are well and truly screwed.
  • Kubo in Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu.
  • In the manga Battle Angel Alita/Gunmn, Desty Nova wears spectacles which are essentially opaque, hiding his eyes. Only in moments when his insanity clears does he actually remove them.
  • The Big O episode 18 "The Greatest Villain". Beck's glasses have this trait while he's showing off his hostage Roger Smith.
  • Shingo from Bio-Meat: Nectar. Subverted in that his glasses are shiny when he's trying to seem like a normal human being, or at least refraining from commenting. Goes away after the second timeskip when he's too busy carrying the weight of the world.
  • The only times Undertaker from Black Butler has been shown in shinigami form (in the anime), his glasses do this.
    • All of the shinigami get to do this at least once. Even Grell.
  • Black Cat has a Mad Scientist who has glasses that are occasionally shiny, particularly when he does the other common anime glasses trope: the three fingered pushing glasses up his nose gesture.
  • Roberta in Black Lagoon, whose glasses are fake. She uses them to hide her perpetual Death Glare.
    • Dutch, too. We literally never see him without his glasses.
      • In fact, the only time his eyes are visable behind his glasses is when he has a bit of a crazed look in them.
    • Eda.
  • Bleach:
    • Aizen Sousuke, originally portrayed as a well-mannered and nice guy, occasionally had scary shiny glasses, particularly when Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya learns of his treachery [dead link]. Later, though, his particularly devious plans are revealed, and he breaks his glasses.
    • Uryu Ishida's glasses shine when he ponders something, wants to hide his feelings or gets angry. His father, Ryuuken, is pretty much always pondering, keeping secrets, and being bitter, so his glasses are often shiny.
    • 8th Division lieutenant Nanao Ise in episode 55 when she's angry with her captain for leaving her behind while escaping from Captain Yamamoto.
      • She's actually scarier when she releases her glasses, but this only occurs in the Omake Shinigami Golden Cup. Even someone as sadistic like Mayuri pissed on his pants when he sees her releasing her glasses.
    • Ichigo's zanpakuto Zangetsu in human form.
    • Don Kanonji's glasses often become shiny when he's excited about one of his new ideas (which could be considered frightening). Oddly, sometimes only a quarter of each pane of his glasses glows.
    • Chizuru Honshou: when thinking about Orihime in episode 15, when she sees the beautiful female Arrancar guarding Aizen's floating fortress in episode 214, and while holding Orihime in episode 227
    • The Bount Ugaki while using his doll against the invading Soul Reapers in episodes 89 and 90.
    • The Arrancar named Szayel Aporro Granz, while facing off against Uryu Ishida and Renji in Las Noches.
    • Kisuke Urahara's assistant Tessai Tsukabishi has glasses that sometimes do this.
    • Gyokaku Kumoi in anime episode 181, after he tricks Ichigo and Rukia into interrupting Lurichiyo's wedding ceremony and getting in trouble with the Gotei 13.
  • Serial killer-slash-Yaoi Guy Adrian in the one volume manga Boys Next Door features these in his Creepy Child flashback scenes.
  • In Cardcaptor Sakura, Eriol's glasses go scary and shiny whenever he's being particularly diabolical. Generally occurs when he's creeping on his fellow fifth graders.
    • During the Beach Episode Sakura's friend Naoko tells a ghost story and her glasses go shiny while telling it.
  • As per the description, Aion of Chrono Crusade fame seems to wear these glasses simply to achieve this effect; his eyesight seems to be perfectly fine. Later in the manga when his plans, motivation and backstory are revealed (and he becomes much more sympathetic), he loses the glasses. (The anime adaptation kept him as a Card-Carrying Villain, so he keeps the glasses throughout.)
  • The unnamed Apocryphos disguising as a Cardinal from the church in D.Gray Man.
  • November 11 from Darker than Black boasts Scary Shiny Glasses for a moment during his introductory scene, while he's busy killing some gangsters who tried to double-cross him.
  • Soichiro Yagami does this in Death Note when somebody suggests that Sayu and Matsuda might be getting married.
    • It's also a trademark of the highly unpleasant Demegawa.
  • In Detective Conan, Conan's glasses often go shiny when he's thinking hard, plotting, or experiencing a flash of inspiration.

"Edogawa Conan...tantei sa."

  • Digimon Adventure 02 has Ken. While he's the Big Bad, his villainous outfit is topped off with shades that often do the Scary Shiny thing while he's plotting something.
  • Kurata from Digimon Savers, in which the shiny glasses are used as a label reading " This guy is evil. Really damn evil. So evil we should call him Hitlermon, seriously."
  • Earlier in the Digimon series, Yamaki of Digimon Tamers is almost never seen without his trademark dark red shades (even at night or indoors in a darkened room). Interestingly, while he does take them off to say goodbye to the Tamers and give them a communications device, thereby sealing his Heel Face Turn, he goes right back to wearing them for most of the series even though he's on the good side; in fact, though his intentions have changed, his voice and exterior stay just as menacing.
  • In D.N.Angel, both Satoshi and his (adoptive) father occasional have shiny glasses.
  • Ovan in .hack//Roots
  • Kurama from Elfen Lied to showcase that he is a cold, emotionally tormented individual.
  • In the Manga series Et Cetera, the villain Mr Alternate does this a lot in his first two pages, though mostly an inverted version. The first time, all you can see is a smirk, his monocule, and a spyglass he's useing. Second, both eyes are visible, but nothing else but the outline of his monocule. Lastly, the non monoculed face is covered by a sheet of paper, his face visible. Throughout this, when his pupils are visiible, they are just round circles, not colored in.
  • Dr. Kabapu from Excel Saga does this in his introduction and most of his appearances which covers up his Hellish Pupils. Also occasionally occurs with Koshi Rikdo, Dr. Shiouji, and Lord Il Palazzo (although his glasses are smaller than usually used with this trope).
  • Takami from Eyeshield 21 develops this while using psychlogical warfare in the match between Ojou and Deimon. It doesn't match his personality well, honestly; He's one of the series' most obvious Determinators, and he really cares about all the other players. Bizarrely, this has never happend to him before, even though he always wears glasses. Even when he's playing football.
  • Kuzuki in Fate/stay night's anime adaptation.
  • FLCL
    • Episode "Fooly Cooly".
      • Mamimi gets Scary Shiny Eyes briefly just before rubbing herself against Naota.
      • Haruko gets Scary Shiny Goggles twice during her "run in" with Naota.
    • Episode "Marquis de Carabas". When Naota's father is offering his booklet to Ninamori his glasses glow.
  • Shou Tucker, the "Sewing Life Alchemist", from Fullmetal Alchemist. On the other hand, Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes' occasionally-Scary glasses function entirely backwards, showing his eyes only when a Plan is being Formed.
    • This might actually be more in line with the "concealing one's soul" angle, though - most glasses on the characters are Shiny only during bouts of Obfuscating Absentmindedness, and the effect only subsides when they reveal their true, hypercompetent nature.
    • When he is not busy being a ditzy Cloudcuckoolander, manga Hohenheim switches to Scary Shiny Glasses mode and becomes a competent, badass, and threatening Determinator. Also used to great comic effects to emphasize the weirdness of his body language, as he makes scary revelations and silly comments with an impenetrable face and hidden eyes.
    • Scar did this occasionally back when he wore sunglasses more.
    • An interesting aversion with General Grumann. Normally, his eyes are invisible behind his glasses, which coupled with his smile, gives him a benevolent, harmless look. When his eyes are visible, they are cunning, which reveals his true nature.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: All of the scientists during King Bradley's flashbacks, who have been responsible for training him and other potential subjects to become ideal leaders of Amestris since their births. The light reflected from the scientists' glasses cover their eyes, most notably the lead, gold-toothed scientist. A powerful effect meant to symbolize their descent into depravity and evil, the light in their glasses symolically shuts them off from humanity.
    • The Gold Toothed Doctor embodies this trope. So much so that you don't even see what his eyes look like normally.
  • Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu. Shinji Kazama's otaku glasses turn this way when he starts describing the effects of the biological weapon that's been accidentally released in the classroom.
  • Tomu Shirasagi of Gamble Fish often has these.
  • Ayane Isuzu from Gate Keepers 21.
  • Kitagawa in Genshiken does this on occasion.
    • Anybody with glasses in Genshiken, although this is less Scary Shiny Glasses and more either "Hide your Feelings" glasses or "Hide your identity" glasses.
  • Ghost in The Shell has a version of this where not only is the Yakuza boss talking calmly without looking at whom he is talking to, his glasses are shining with the reflection of the porn movie he is watching. (Yes, he is watching a porn movie while talking to the police.)
    • The Major wears these occasionally, usually just to take them off with a cool gesture moments later.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Regene's glasses shine ominously for several moments as he awaits the arrival of Wang Liu Mei and Hong Long, to whom he then leaks Veda's coordinates.
  • In Gundam Wing, Lady/Colonel Une's multiple personality disorder hinges on whether she has her shiny scary glasses on or not.
  • Hanaukyo Maid Tai
    • The Meganekko maid Ikuyo Suzuki.
    • Taro's grandfather in La Verite episode 1.
  • Parodied with Haruko from Hayate the Combat Butler. Light is reflected off her glasses in a manner that resembles a laser. She can use these lasers to burn up pieces of paper.
    • Also played straight in a Shout-Out to Gendo Ikari in the first episode, where Hayate's boss at the bicycle delivery service poses in exactly the same way.
  • Hellsing does this a lot with Alucard, Integra, Anderson, Rip, occasionally Walter, and a few others. It fact, Hellsing thrives on this trope for horror effects. Owning a pair of glasses or shades seems to mark most of the important characters. Admittedly, though, some lesser characters have these.
    • Alucard ditches his glasses for the most part after the first half of the series (people complained that they made him look like a knock-off of similar characters.) Strangely, he can still do this -without the glasses. Admittedly, he may just have glowing pupils.
    • Alucard subverts this in that his eyes are only revealed when he's letting loose. First one, then both, then he becomes a goddamn cloud of eyes.
    • Several others? The Major is actually scarier when his glasses go clear. Because then, you can see the madness behind them.
  • In Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, it happens to Irie occasionally. Considering his other personality traits, it's played for laughs.
  • Principal Chieko Sannomiya in I! My! Me! Strawberry Eggs.
  • Parodied with the Genre Savvy Megane Kakeru (whose name is a Japanese pun on "to wear glasses") in Inazuma Eleven. He uses this trope seemingly attempting to look Badass, but fails miserably at it. It doesn't help that he's a short, skinny kid. Nor does the fact that he's been known to cry over someone else stealing his role as Combat Commentator.
  • Murata Ken in Kyou Kara Maou has scary shiny glasses when he's being devious or withholding information from the other good guys. Also Saralegui, who has a shiny moment when he's thinking, but takes his glasses off when he mentally manipulates others.
  • Mikan-Sensei from Ladies versus Butlers!, especially when she's right behind some unsuspecting troublemaker.
  • An early example is Musuka from the film Laputa: Laputa: Castle in the Sky, whose dark glasses display glints of light passing across them, particularly to emphasize when he says or does something particularly devious.
  • Subverted in The Law of Ueki by Kobayashi, who is often arguably scarier (and more badass) when you can see through his glasses. When the Scary Shiny Glasses effect disappears, you know something big is either about to go down, or just did. The subversion is made even stronger by the fact that he's actually quite friendly and easy to get along with (unless your name is Inumaru, of course).
  • Zera from Litchi Hikari Club is not the only character who wears glasses but only his shine omniously as if to indicate that he may very well be a complete monster.
  • In Love Hina, Keitaro's glasses (and to a lesser degree, Naru's) go Shiny at times when they are deep in thought or experiencing intense emotion—a milder version than the scary, sinister usage.
  • Quattro is introduced with these in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and naturally she's the most psychotic of the Numbers.
    • Yuuno manages to pull it off pretty well in season 3 as well, albeit with definite Nerd Glasses traits.
  • In Mahoromatic, both Suguru Misato and his school teacher Shikijo-sensei.
  • Haruna from Mahou Sensei Negima tends to get a humorous version of these on occasion. Usually when she goes on a To the Pain style rant when her friends try to leave her out of something.
  • In My-HiME, Ishigami when he's being evil and Yukino when she's hiding something.
  • Mr. Prospector's glasses on Martian Successor Nadesico go all scary-shiny when he's being a Corrupt Corporate Executive, and lack this feature as he gets more sympathetic. Meganekko Hikaru's glasses are always transparent, because she's both too adorable and too straightforward for this trope to apply.
  • Zack Temple in the anime of Mega Man Star Force, but only for a second. Mainly just to show he's a jerk despite being geeky.
  • Shuichi Takamizawa of Midori no Hibi uses his glasses to hide his figurine Otaku obsession. The lenses will crack to show that his emotions are becoming too much to contain, then appear undamaged when he has control again. When he's being sincere but still scary, one lens will clear while the other is opaque.
  • Kabuto Yakushi, Naruto. What's noteable here is how frequently he pushes them up as if they were Nerd Glasses (sometimes over 4 times in less than a minute) but still maintains his twisted, sadistic, mysterious demeanor.
    • Not to mention Shino, whose eyes (or, according to some theories, lack thereof) are a fairly well-discussed topic among the fandom.
  • Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion, who combines this with a Kubrick Stare and clasped hands to devastating effect. (In a pretty obvious thematic nod, his original pair of glasses broke when he rescued Rei, and he took to wearing his sunglasses at all times afterward.
    • In the manga version, the readers - and implicitly Shinji - began to see Gendo's eyes behind his glasses more often as we learned more about him.)
    • The truly frightening part is that Gendo looks even scarier without glasses then he does with them on
    • In Rebuild 2.0, Ritsuko and Mari spend some time doing this too.
    • For whatever reasons, photoshops of Gendo's sunglasses and steepled fingers onto random people and characters became something of a meme, popularly called "The Gendo Pose"
  • Hazuki Fujiwara in Ojamajo Doremi has done this.
  • Eros in the manhua The One. Also Fei Hong as the female version.
  • Captain Kuro on One Piece. Lampshaded when Kaya gives him a new pair for his third anniversary as her butler, and he other attendant says they've been fitted so they won't keep slipping off and reflecting light because of the angle.
    • Sanji also gets one in the Alabasta Arc, in which he dons a pair as his alias, Mr. Prince.
    • In the most recent episode of the anime, Kuma pulls this off too, though in his case it's more like Scary Shiny Focusing Lenses than actual glasses.
    • Admiral Kizaru. He has the power of the Pika-Pika Fruit, making him a "Light Man". That also means he can kick at the speed of light, as well as generally become light and make light-based explosions. Having said that, when he uses his power, his glasses literally become shiny as a the pirate shits his pants for a brief split second before he kicks you. If it even takes that long. Pirates, beware!
  • Kyouya Ootori in Ouran High School Host Club.
  • In Overman King Gainer,Gainer does this near the series finale.
    • The bookstore owner in Episode 2 also demonstrates these.
  • Rei from Pani Poni Dash sports these when sufficiently peeved off.
  • Three examples from Patlabor: Officer Shinshi, Mister Utsumi, and Utsumi's henchman Kurosaki.
  • In Pokémon, Max occasionally does this when he's pulling Brock away from a beautiful woman. He's not evil, just really annoyed. And annoying, but that's another story.
    • Later, Conway. Subverted by the fact that Conway is otherwise a pretty normal guy (ignoring the fact that he likes to 'investigate' people - usually girls - and can breathe underwater) and an extremely knowledgeable Pokemon trainer.
      • Well, Conway had some sort of weird device in his mouth to breathe underwater (yes, I'll notice that, and not the fact he's spying on Dawn in a bikini...).
    • Lorelei, though only in the Pokemon Special Manga. In fact, all of her appearances, major or minor, keeps her eyes hidden behind the glare from the glasses, even when standing by the battle between Lance and Yellow. Ironically, the battle is happening in a cave.
      • Note that after her Heel Face Turn during the FR/LG arc, you can see her eyes almost all the time.
    • In the opening of the tenth movie, the first time we see Tonio's face as he is reading the diary, his glasses have a yellow glare, making him look frightening, but then he moves his head and we see him for the kind-looking guy he is.
  • In Prétear, Sasame tends to have his glasses whited-out when he's having a face fault moment...which isn't this trope. However, when he stands on top of the roof, wind blowing dramatically through his clothing and glasses shining as he questions himself about his willingness to attack the woman he loves, then has a Face Heel Turn in the next scene he appears in, it's definitely this trope.
  • In The Prince of Tennis, Inui's already thick Nerd Glasses shine when he's pondering something important, gathers information, or gets mischievous with his Inui Juice. In the manga, the shine is constant; we don't see his eyes, ever, until a good long way in. Other guys with glasses (Tezuka, Kite, Oshitari) also get shiny glasses sometimes.
  • Autor from Princess Tutu is first introduced with a cameo in episode 15, where he appears with whited-out glasses. He has a cameo in every single episode after this up until his true introduction with each time his glasses appearing to glow more and more as he seems to become more and more irate. When he's introduced properly in episode 21 (and we start to get to know him), his glasses barely flash at all—and later, during times of weakness and vulnerability, his glasses actually are knocked off his face.
  • Dr. Ono Tofu from Ranma ½ goes into shiny-glasses mode whenever he encounters Kasumi Tendo, on whom he has (apparently) a deep, all-encompassing crush. He's far from evil, but he spaces so badly during these "attacks" that he can hurt people quite severely, completely by accident.
    • Genma Saotome, of all people, actually pulls this off a couple of times in the anime. And he plays it straight.
  • Yomiko Readman from Read or Die (yes, really). Sometimes Nenene in ROD the TV too. In Anita's flashback, Yomiko's glasses actually glow like headlights.
  • Anthy Himemiya from Revolutionary Girl Utena.
  • In Romeo X Juliet, Lancelot demonstrates this at least once, definitely showing how scary they can be, lurking in the shadows.
  • Dr Jian-yi Nii in Saiyuki is damn good at this. Even when he's backlit, he manages. Now that's talent.
    • Also often used by Tenpou Gensui in Saiyuki Gaiden. Somewhat amusing, since he is actually the past life of good guy Cho Hakkai.
  • Professor Tomoe from Sailor Moon S. In fact, we most often seen him as a silhouette with scary shiny glasses.
    • And Ami on occasion, often when her teammates are interrupting her study time with something she thinks is unimportant.
  • Hypnos from Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas.
  • Lain's father from Serial Experiments Lain does this quite a lot, particularly to depict how alienated Lain gets from the real world. Different from most cases as the effect is more the glow of a computer monitor than the shine of a reflective surface.
  • Dr. Franken Stein of Soul Eater does this; as someone with a Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate; he's pretty much required.
    • Yumi Asuza also does this on occasion, when disagreeing with Stein, and intimidating her colleagues and boss. Also, a few times, Ox Ford's glasses are Scary Shiny.
    • Stein is an interesting case; when he's being incompetent and goofy, his glasses are opaque, but if he shifts suddenly to being serious, one or both eyes become visible. Of course, he plays it straight about as much as he inverts it.
      • When he shifts to goofy, they're not really 'shiny'. They're more Nerd Glasses.
  • Marcoh the X-Law from Shaman King uses this a lot.
  • Itsuki Midoriba from SHUFFLE!, normally only when he's being mischievous.
  • Mr. Stewart from Sonic X
  • Super Robot Wars K uses this to frightening effect, where the screen goes black, and his glasses (the only thing visible) begin to appear and disappear, and each time they get a little bit closer...
  • Yuki Nagato of Suzumiya Haruhi, does this at times.
  • Tasuke Yasuda from Tenshi na Konamaiki.
  • Also occasionally seen on Yoshou and Noboyuki in Tenchi Muyo!. While it does make them seem briefly intimidating, as they're otherwise very unassuming (especially Bumbling Dad Noboyuki), it counterproductively makes the resemblance between them even more uncanny, which is strange because Yoshou is Noboyuki's father-in law.
    • But still related to him; Word of God says that Yosho has taken more than one wife during his time on Earth, and Noboyuki is his descendant through one of his earlier spouses.
  • Kyoko "Anko" Tohno from Tokyo Majin gets this, usually when a scoop is involved.
  • Kitamura from Toradora! does this on occasion, notably when helping the student council president plan the school culture festival. The effect is often more comical than intimidating.
    • This looked a lot less comical and a bit more sinister, to be honest.
  • Push Vash the Stampede from Trigun hard enough, and he'll put on his Scary Shiny Glasses. If you were the poor bastard who pushed him into this mode, you are absolutely screwed, as this is when he drops his Obfuscating Stupidity and becomes a true force to be reckoned with. The only thing worse than Scary Shiny Glasses mode for Vash is when he's pushed far enough for him to enter "Eyes of the Diablo" mode, in which case you are completely, utterly screwed beyond all hope. Although he still won't kill you.
  • Furoko Tsukumo, mother of Teen Genius Susumu, wears these to show her status as Designated Antagonist on Wandaba Style, or perhaps to hide the fact that her eyes are filled with Shoujo eye sparkles.
  • Brad Crawford from Weiss Kreuz.
  • As mentioned in the page quote, Yamazaki from Welcome to The NHK can indeed do this without a light source. Usually he doesn't have these at all, though.
  • Muraki from Yami no Matsuei; in the anime, it's sometimes coupled with his glass eye glowing when he's about to get nasty with someone.
    • Tatsumi, especially when Tsuzuki is spending too much money on sweets.
  • Anehara Misa from Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou sometimes has this when serious, otherwise she's Meganekko.
  • In the manga Yotsuba&!, Jumbo's glasses sometimes go shiny, but it's more or less inversely to how scary he's being. The one exception is when he forgets himself and accidentally slaps Yotsuba on the back, sending her tumbling across the room.
  • Yoriko from You're Under Arrest does the shiny-glasses routine whenever she tells scary stories or is up to something especially devious.
  • Amon Garam Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, at least after he embraces The Dark Side.
    • Daitokuji-sensei in the second half of season one, coinciding with Eyes Always Shut.
  • Sawako Yamanaka-sensei from K-On! displays Scary Shiny Glasses and a gravelly voice whenever her death metal persona takes the forefront.
  • The Big Bad in season 3 of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? wears Scary Shiny Goggles. The Reveal about the nature of his organization happens when they finally come off.
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