Slasher Smile: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"A smile that would frighten the blind."''|"Three Might Be Duende", [[They Might Be Giants (band)|They Might Be Giants]]}}

 

 

 

The Slasher Smile is the evil sibling of the [[Cheshire Cat Grin]]. In general, the difference is in the eyes of the character. If the eyes sparkle, or are mischievously wicked, it's a Cheshire Cat Grin. If, however, the eyes are clearly crazy or malevolent, it's a Slasher Smile. If the grinning person is [[Knife Nut|holding a knife]] or [[An Axe to Grind|an axe]], it's best to assume the worst.

 

Contrast [[Dissonant Serenity]] for a calm mood which isn't the slightest bit more reassuring. When the smile is merely creepy, it's [[The Un-Smile]]. May be part of the fear behind the [[Monster Clown]].

 

{{examples}}

* Harry from ''[[Outlaw Star]]'' gives a creepy one when Gene figures out he's been trying to [[Mind Rape]] Melfina and another when talking to Melfina about how they're [[Not So Different]].

* ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'': Birds. And Mukuro as well. Hooo Boooy...

* Anemone from ''[[Eureka Seven]]'' displays a few of these when she fights.

*''[[A Certain Magical Index]]''

** Accelerator is always seen with an evil smile when he is enjoying a good fight or a massacre, possibly because his awesome powers often makes the fights boring. He's also seen with a slasher smile in the opening credits to season 2 of the anime. (Examples of his "bored" face include when an entire army tried to beat him, {{spoiler|when the Misaka sisters tried to fight him}} and {{spoiler|when Mikoto Misaka tried to attack him}}.)

* Agito of ''[[Air Gear]]''. He has this whole shark fang thing going on.

*** It gets worse. Apparently he has that expression ''24/7''. It's only hidden by the sand armor.

** Naruto also (by himself) displayed ''two'' slasher smiles in the 101 episode of the anime. And some of the smiles he makes when he's about to do(or just finished) a prank can have traces of this.

*** Chapter 574: Sasuke shows another Slasher Smile. And it is creepy. [http://www.mangareader.net/naruto/574/15 Just look.]

** This is pretty much Orochimaru's and Hidan's default expression.

** Zetsu seems to have this whenever he's battling someone.

*** And now {{spoiler|Allen}} doesn't even need the 14th Noah [http://www.mangareader.net/dgray-man/204/15 to do this.] Somehow, he manages to make such smiles ''even worse.''

** And the when the Earl is pissed off, the preexisting Slasher Smile goes [[Serial Escalation|so far off the deep end]] that hiding under the bed begins to seem like a very attractive option. [http://www.mangareader.net/210-15225-12/dgray-man/chapter-134.html Meep?]

** Road Kamelot does this sometimes as well too, especially when she starts to get too much fun out of tormenting the main characters.

* [[Perpetual Frowner]] [[Evil Counterpart|Vicious]] from ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' rarely smiles. This only makes it spookier when he flashes a particularly chilling slasher smile right as he's picking up the [[Anti-Hero]] lead ''[[Neck Lift|by the neck]]'' and ''throwing him through a stained glass cathedral window''.

* Michiko from ''[[Michiko to Hatchin]]'' sports one right before she breaks through a police roadblock.

* In ''[[Soul Eater]]'', Maka gets one of these when she {{spoiler|[http://randomc.maximum7.net/image/SOUL%20EATER/SOUL%20EATER%20-%2021%20-%20Large%2007.jpg goes completely nuts while fighting Chrona]}}.

** They seem to be the stock expression for mad characters; it's [https://web.archive.org/web/20161027062939/http://www.onemanga.com/Soul_Eater/69/01/ weird] to see ''Justin'' sporting one, especially with that visor obscuring his eyes.

** Even the Moon has a Slasher Smile in this series

* In ''[[Zatch Bell]]'', we have [https://web.archive.org/web/20161027062942/http://www.onemanga.com/Zatch_Bell/158/18/ this little beauty] from Zophise.

* Haguro and Ryuuko of ''[[Wolf Guy|Wolf Guy Wolfen Crest]]'' revel in this.

** Minene also sports a kill grin as her default expression, though unlike Yuno, she keeps her cool most of the time.

* This is Koko Hekmatyar's default facial expression in ''[[Jormungand]]''. Though she rarely does her own dirty work, the fact that she is a [[Arms Dealer|dealer of death]] makes this appropriate.

** Heck, in the anime Yukino gets an epic *series* of different slasher smiles in a rampage after {{spoiler|Tsubasa}} presses her [[Berserk Button]].

* Kohta Hirano, from ''[[Highschool of the Dead|High School of the Dead]]'', often dons one when fighting "Them". Contradicts nicely with his [[Beware the Nice Ones|usual personality]].

* Kagura from ''[[Gintama]]'' [http://gallery.minitokyo.net/view/418521 gets one] when her Yato side kicks in harder than she can control.

* Sayaka from "[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]". After being pushed past her [[Despair Event Horizon]] she is seen smiling and [[Laughing Mad|laughing]] while [[No Kill Like Overkill|tearing into a witch with her sword]]. While covered in blood. While her best friend watches on. [[Break the Cutie|Poor girl.]]

* The first episode of ''[[Persona 4: The Animation]]'' has Yu with a (completely heroic and yet still disturbing) slasher smile on his face while summoning Izanagi for the first time.

 

* [[The Joker]] from ''[[Batman]]'' had this expression [[Frozen Face|glued on his face]]. His "Joker Venom" induces the expression in those exposed to it.

** The literary example, ''[[The Man Who Laughs]]'' by [[Victor Hugo]], which is commonly cited as inspiration for [[The Joker]], involves a man whose face is horribly mutilated so that he cannot stop smiling and how his psyche is twisted by this. In order to maintain the grin throughout the movie, actor [[Conrad Veidt]] had to get metal hooks in his mouth to pull back his cheeks. Nevertheless, the character is a really nice guy.

**** In [[Frank Miller]]'s ''[[All-Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder]]'', the Dark Knight himself has one in both his costumed and civilian identity, especially when thinking about his young ward, age 12. [[Squick]].

* [[Anti-Hero]] example: The Midnighter, in ''[[The Authority]]''. He [[Sociopathic Hero|loves his job]] and he isn't afraid to show it in the scariest manner possible.

* The Juggernaut enjoys his role as an unstoppable engine of destruction.

* Grimjack sports one whenever he is in a fight. The smile is a involuntary tick that he developed as a child gladiator where he was known as "The Grinner." Also, combat is the only time you ever see him smiling.

 

* ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'': Oogie Boogie constantly and Jack has one as his default.

** How did you forget about [http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu159/Wibey/The%20Nightmare%20Before%20Christmas/Shock%20Lock%20Barrel/970406457a5625864977l.jpg Barrel?]

* In ''[[The Lorax (film)|The Lorax]]'', at the end of the [[Villain Song]], "How Bad Can I Be", the Once-ler has one after shouting the last lyrics, "HOW BAD CAN THIS POSSIBLY BE?!"

* ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]'': When {{spoiler|Rourke}} has a pretty awesome and crazy slasher smile when he tries to kill Milo with a fire axe. You can clearly tell the guy has gone batshit insane.

* The "Here's Johnny!" scene from ''[[The Shining]]''.

* Alex from ''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'', whenever he gets deep into the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v90KPJ6n4Ew&feature=related old ultraviolence. (forms at around 1:10)]

* Loki gets frighteningly good at these during ''[[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]]'' to reflect his more...[[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|unhinged]] mental state since ''[[Thor (film)|Thor]]''.

 

* A few Death Eaters display this, as does Snape on occasion and Voldemort of course in the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' series.

* [[Coraline (novel)|Coraline]]: Done by the Other Mother, when she's not busy being a [[Stepford Smiler]].

* In Robin Jarvis' ''The Deptford Mice: The Dark Portal,'' a rat called Smiler had a Slasher Smile on his face all the time...because he'd been rude to his superior as a child, and said superior had [[Family-Unfriendly Violence|cut off his lips]].

* Both Carcer and Mr. Teatime of Terry Pratchett's ''[[Discworld]]'' books are described as smiling like this ''all the time''. The drawing of Mr. Teatime in ''The Art of Discworld'' perfectly illustrates this. Marc Warren does a good job with this in the TV adaptation, too.

** Then there's [[Our Werewolves Are Different|Angua]], who at one point must have been smiling because "her mouth was open, and [[Oh Crap|all of her teeth were showing]]".

* A rare heroic version: [[The Big Guy|Ivarian Borenson]], of [[The Runelords]] fantasy novels, is known for his chilling laughter and grin as he fights, which makes him feared even amongst warriors who have far more endowments (strength, stamina, speed, and so on taken from other people) than him. Not so much out of a love for killing, but [[Genre Savvy|because it works far better at frightening other people than a war cry,]] so he got himself into the habit of laughing instead.

* In [[Devon Monk]]'s [[Allie Beckstrom]] novel ''Magic in the Blood'' the villain does this while making demands on Allie.

 

* ''[[Oz]]'': Displayed among the [[Complete Monster]] characters like Shillinger, Adebisi, the Aryans, Timmy Kirk, Claire Howell, etc. [[Manipulative Bastard]] Chris Keller and Ryan have done this too. Even Beecher, when he was crazy in Season 2.

* An episode of ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' flashes back to the point in her past where Xena went from ruthless but otherwise sane and rational warlord to utterly psychotic rampager; she has one of these grins on her face when she snaps a Roman soldier's neck, but it's her ''eyes'' that are the most disturbing.

* ''The Stand'': [http://parkinglotconfessional.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/creepy-randall-flagg.jpg Randall] [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_t8MirDiMGHI/SMCIE4KEy8I/AAAAAAAAATk/_Gzjy1AC0sY/s400/RandallFlagg.jpg Flagg]

 

* [[Michael Jackson]] turns to the camera with cat eyes and a creepy smile at the end of his Thriller music video.

* One of the detective's {{spoiler|other selves}} in the music video for [[Blind Guardian]]'s "Another Stranger Me." The band's singer also has a Slasher Smile at one point.

Until I lose myself }}

 

 

* [[Randy Orton]] doesn't smile often, butwhen he does....

* [[Batista]] could be like this as well, both as a face and as a heel.

* [[Chris Benoit]]. Especially unnerving, considering what happened to him.

 

 

* Umbridge in ''[[A Very Potter Musical|A Very Potter Sequel]]'' pretty much perfects this trope. The two most notable times being when she's accusing Cho of being perfect and after she fires Lupin and Harry tells her to "do your worst".

 

* The Piraka of ''[[Bionicle]]'' all have giant Slasher Smiles plastered on their faces.

** The story points out that their frowns are ''worse''.

 

* Hihidaruma/Darmanitan from ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]''. Just think about what is going through its mind.

** [[Action Bomb|Electrode]] along with Gengar and its relatives, Haunter and Gastly, too. [[Everything's Better with Monkeys|Aipom]] has one that manages to be kind of cute.

* In ''[[Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg]]'', any crow enemy will always have a ''massive'' Slasher Smile on its mug.

 

* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has the Jägermonsters (clawed, fanged, monstrous [[Super Soldier|super soldiers]]) - and most of them are on the ''good guys''' side.

** Our heroine, while not a violent person, is also prone to sporting a scary grin when she's in [[The Madness Place|in the throes of a bout of mad SCIENCE!]] And when she does, the ''Jägermonsters'' stay the hell out of her way...

** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081105 Gil, too], when he's in a ''really'' bad mood. Or when he knows something bad is going to happen... to you.

** Hell, pretty much ''all'' the Sparks do it any time they go into [[The Madness Place]]. Along with the changing speech bubbles, it's the biggest visual cue.

* Played for laughs in ''[[Questionable Content]]'' when Dora puts her foot down on Faye being friendly to customers, and the best she can manage is scaring them off with what Dora calls a [http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1215 "horrible rictus."] The title of the strip is even "[[The Dark Knight Saga|Why So Serious?]]"

** Dora sports one of her own [http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1323 here.] The broadsword doesn't hurt, either.

** [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0611.html This issue] as well.

* Joel of ''[[Concession]]'' sports a prime example [http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20090317 here].

* ''[[Lackadaisy]]'' trouble boys [[Lovable Rogue|Rocky]] Rickaby and [[Hidden Depths|Calvin]] McMurray both possess [http://lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=49 alarming] [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/comic.php?comicid=78 smiles]. This is one of Rocky's [[Cheshire Cat Grin|primary expressions]], but for quiet, unassuming, Calvin, it generally doesn't show unless he's [[Ax Crazy|pumping]] [[Laughing Mad|someone]] [[Put the Laughter In Slaughter|full of lead]].

** "I thought this was my sincere smile. Isn't this my sincere smile?"

{{quote|'''Ebby''': I've seen Schlock made [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2010-10-23 that smile] before, sir. It's creepier on you. }}

 

* Tez On Toast from ''[[Kate Modern]]'', for whom this expression may as well be a smile of recognition. Truly chilling.

* The Tails Doll Short, which can be found [http://comickpro.deviantart.com/art/Tails-Doll-79228090?offset=50#comments here]. You will never, EVER look at [[Sonic the Hedgehog|Tails]] the same way again.

* [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dr-nagyfi-rich%C3%A1rd Dr. Nagyfi Richárd]{{Dead link}} often sports a version of this.

 

* The twin kittens in ''Best Ed'' give these all the time, the only time they DROP their smile is at Buddy the Squirrel, who gives an [[Oh Crap]] moment whenever they do.

* {{spoiler|William Dunbar}}, of all people in '' [[Code Lyoko]]'' displays this while in Lyoko while {{spoiler|possessed by XANA after the ending of the third season.}} This is helped by the fact that he is given a [[BFS]] to use as weapon while backed up by Monsters.

** Also, "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU, PATRICK!!"

* [[The Joker]], in [[Justice League (animation)|all]] [[Batman: The Animated Series|of]] [[Batman Beyond|his]] [[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|appearances]]. His good guy counterpart gets one of these in ''Brave and the Bold'', too.

** In a more comedic example, [[Stalker with a Crush|The Kanker Sisters]] were prone to these too.

** So was [[Enfant Terrible|Sarah]].

* Try to name someone in [[The Venture Brothers]] who '''hasn't''' done one yet.

 

* In [[Norse Mythology]], Loki was often depicted with one of these (in some versions, due to a bet gone wrong Loki often had ''scars'' on his entire lip as well.

* [http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/60436 Smile.dog's] nightmarish grin is like this.

** That last image may be [[Nightmare Retardant]]. It's an edited photo of the cockmongler.

*** It's only [[Nightmare Retardant]] if you actually knew who the cockmongler was before hand. Otherwise?

* Play the [[Luna Game]], [http://i2.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/005/722/TheLuna.png Never sleep again.]

 

* Actor [[Jack Black]] can be seen doing this trope in a wide number of photos.

* The "literally smiling from ear to ear" disfigurement smile as evidenced by characters such as Kakihara in Ichi the Killer, Gwynplaine (of the aforementioned The Man Who Laughs), and ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]'''s Joker is commonly referred to as a [[wikipedia:Glasgow smile|"Glasgow]] [[Glasgow Grin|smile]]" and is not a terribly uncommon humiliation injury by gangs. The actor Tommy Flanaghan sports one of these courtesy of being jumped outside a pub in his younger days.

* Pittsburgh Steeler receiver Hines Ward is known for two things. The first is blocks so vicious and they made a new rule to try to keep him from hurting people. The second is almost always smiling. No matter how hard he gets hit, or how hard he hits someone, he gets up smiling like a lunatic.

* Mug shot of the Tucson, AZ shooter, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130329084454/http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/01/11/Jared_Loughner12_244x183.jpg Jared Loughner], who killed six people and injured fourteen.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Madness Tropes]]

[[Category:Obviously Evil]]

[[Category:Smile Tropes]]

[[Category:Older Than Print]]

[[Category:Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant]]

[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]