Slasher Smile: Difference between revisions

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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.

While the [[Cheshire Cat Grin]] is a staple of the [[Trickster]], generally one of the good guys, the Slasher Smile is the staple of the [[Ax Crazy]], unless said hero is a particularly dark or vicious [[Anti-Hero]]. Only expect to see a "nice" hero with a Slasher Smile if they've been possessed or suffered a major [[Freak Out]] or if they have been taken over by their [[Super-Powered Evil Side]]. Also, a devious [[The Chessmaster|Chessmaster]] or [[Magnificent Bastard]] is unlikely to look like this - it's too obviously evil, and they prefer the subtler [[Psychotic Smirk]].

While the [[Cheshire Cat Grin]] is a staple of the [[Trickster]], generally one of the good guys, the Slasher Smile is the staple of the [[Ax Crazy]], unless said hero is a particularly dark or vicious [[Anti-Hero]]. Only expect to see a "nice" hero with a Slasher Smile if they've been possessed or suffered a major [[Freak-Out]] or if they have been taken over by their [[Super-Powered Evil Side]]. Also, a devious [[The Chessmaster|Chessmaster]] or [[Magnificent Bastard]] is unlikely to look like this - it's too obviously evil, and they prefer the subtler [[Psychotic Smirk]].

No, the Slasher Smile is more appropriate for the [[The Dragon]], the [[Mad Scientist]], and most especially [[Serial Killer|Serial Killers]], but it can happen with any character who is gleefully violent and/or fits any "wild crazy person" stereotypes. Beings who hunt and eat victims we are supposed to identify with will also often have Slasher Smiles... in their case, it means "Hello, lunch!"

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

** Heck, even the Woobie, Crona, has a few!

* The various [[Blood Knight|Blood Knights]] in ''[[Samurai Deeper Kyo (Manga)|Samurai Deeper Kyo]]'' often have this in their faces while really enjoying a fight. Top dog Onime no Kyo combines it with [[Red Eyes Take Warning]] ''and'' the [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]] to create a visage unparalleled in its ominousness.

* The various [[Blood Knight|Blood Knights]] in ''[[Samurai Deeper Kyo (Manga)|Samurai Deeper Kyo]]'' often have this in their faces while really enjoying a fight. Top dog Onime no Kyo combines it with [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]] ''and'' the [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]] to create a visage unparalleled in its ominousness.

* Jessie from ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|Pokémon]]'', in her crazy moments. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTHp22vLBpo Here's an example] (Tracey Gets Bugged, episode 97)

* Gyororo from ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]''.

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* Killua from ''[[Hunter X Hunter (Manga)|Hunter X Hunter]]'' gets [http://www.onemanga.com/Hunter_X_Hunter/21/13/ one], holding not a knife, but the [[Beat Still My Heart|still beating heart]] of his latest victim, so I think it should count...

* At the end of the ''[[Weiss Kreuz (Anime)|Weiss Kreuz]]'' OAV, Ken Hidaka perfectly calmly prepares to kill the man who tried to set up the deaths of his entire team. Then he actually pulls the trigger.

* Lelouch of ''[[Code Geass (Anime)|Code Geass]]'', [[Magnificent Bastard|of course]], right after he successfully orders a collective suicide with his handy-dandy new [[Evil Eye|geass]]. Being [[Despair Event Horizon|only]] [[Royally Screwed Up|semi]]-[[Evil Laugh|crazy]], he otherwise reserves it only for special occasions (such as having just added another few digits to his kill count).

* Lelouch of ''[[Code Geass (Anime)|Code Geass]]'', [[Magnificent Bastard|of course]], right after he successfully orders a collective suicide with his handy-dandy new [[Evil Eye|geass]]. Being [[Despair Event Horizon|only]] [[Royally Screwed-Up|semi]]-[[Evil Laugh|crazy]], he otherwise reserves it only for special occasions (such as having just added another few digits to his kill count).

** This is also the apparent default expression for any Geass thralls ordered to kill someone. [[Fridge Horror|Including themselves]].

*** V.V. has one during most of the time he's piloting the Siegfried against the Black Knights during their attack on the Geass Order.

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* ''[[Corpse Bride (Animation)|Corpse Bride]]'' has Barkis Bittern use this constantly cause he's an evil bastard and some of the dead people when they go to the land of the living.

** Barkis's smile seems more of a [[Psychotic Smirk]] -- but the rotting dead's grins could definitely qualify, at least when they first arrive.

* Ratigan of ''[[The Great Mouse Detective (Disney)|The Great Mouse Detective]]'' sports a huge one after he's convinced he's [[No Holds Barred Beatdown|mauled Basil to death.]]

* Ratigan of ''[[The Great Mouse Detective (Disney)|The Great Mouse Detective]]'' sports a huge one after he's convinced he's [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|mauled Basil to death.]]

* Ursula of ''[[The Little Mermaid (Disney)|The Little Mermaid]]'' does this a few times during the final battle. Heck, her alter-ego Vanessa even pulls one off when she throws a pin at a mirror with enough force to knock it back while gloating about her inevitable victory.

* Gaston sports one at the start of his fight with the Beast in ''[[Beauty and The Beast (Disney)|Beauty and The Beast]]''.

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* ''[[The Big Bang Theory (TV)|The Big Bang Theory]]'''s Sheldon has a particularly [[The Un-Smile|disturbing smile]] that prompts his friends to say they're there to congratulate their friend, not kill [[Batman]].

** Disturbing, yes (Howard: "Oh...crap, that's terrifying"), but also a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]].

* [[Doctor Who ~~(TV)~~|The Master]] often wears this expression. In his last story, Ainley!Master had fangs to boot. Simm!Master perfected a dishonest politician's smile in his first episodes. After that, he got [http://dwimages.iimmgg.com/image/f2f95f78d9b97221a2577e46cea6ba35 even creepier.]

* [[Doctor Who|The Master]] often wears this expression. In his last story, Ainley!Master had fangs to boot. Simm!Master perfected a dishonest politician's smile in his first episodes. After that, he got [http://dwimages.iimmgg.com/image/f2f95f78d9b97221a2577e46cea6ba35 even creepier.]

** {{spoiler|As did Davros in his moment of triumph in the 4th series. Well, NEAR-triumph.}}

* ''[[Reba (TV)|Reba]]'': Van's "winning smile" is incredibly creepy, and he's completely oblivious to it.

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** This is due mostly to the fact that both are Tarkatan (well, Mileena is half Tarkatan) and thus have pointy teeth too big to be covered by their lips.

* The Happy Mask Salesman of ''[[The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]'' almost always combines this with [[Eyes Always Shut]]. When he ''stops'' smiling and his eyes open, he shows his other expression:unimaginable rage.

** Memorably done in ''[[The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'', by Midna in a flashback sequence. In fairness, she was a bit of a bitch at the time, but grew out of it with some [[Character Development]].

** Memorably done in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'', by Midna in a flashback sequence. In fairness, she was a bit of a bitch at the time, but grew out of it with some [[Character Development]].

** Cole from ''[[The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks]]''.

{{quote| "So why don't you go polish up that train of yours? Not that it matters much..." *insert smile* "The thing will be useless before long..."}}

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**** And from Jeph's Livejournal: [http://www.questionablecontent.net/random/friends.png FRIENDS]

* Jenny Curtiss uses this to convince her boss in [http://techfox.comicgenesis.com/d/20020703.html this] scene from ''[[Twenty First Century Fox (Webcomic)|Twenty First Century Fox]]''.

** The author even hangs a [[Shout Out]] lampshade on it.

** The author even hangs a [[Shout-Out]] lampshade on it.

*** Which leads us to...

* Florence Ambrose from ''[[Freefall (Webcomic)|Freefall]]'' often [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1500/fc01453.htm falls prey] to [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff400/fv00354.htm this by accident] when trying to be friendly, probably because she's a genetically engineered anthropomorphic wolf.

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* ''[[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?"

** Mordecai, a [[Career Killers|killer-for-hire]] who has a [[Four Eyes Zero Soul|hard time with emotions]], managed to unsettle Viktor when his [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=29 attempt] at a seductive smile turned into [[Slasher Smile|one of these]].

** Mordecai, a [[Career Killers|killer-for-hire]] who has a [[Four Eyes, Zero Soul|hard time with emotions]], managed to unsettle Viktor when his [http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=29 attempt] at a seductive smile turned into [[Slasher Smile|one of these]].

* [[Sociopathic Hero|Ken]] from ''[[No Need for Bushido]]'' has a memorable one going [http://noneedforbushido.com/2009/comic/358/ in the last panel of this comic]. It's worth noting that he also has one both in the strip before that one and two strips after. Those poor [[Mooks]]...

* Nina in [http://www.eeriecuties.com/d/20091111.html this] [[Eerie Cuties]] strip.

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== Real Life ==

* 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 (Film)|The Dark Knight Saga]]'''s Joker is commonly referred to as a [~~http://en.~~wikipedia~~.org/wiki/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.

* 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 (Film)|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.

* [[Jack Nicholson]].

** [[The Shining|"Heeeeeeere's]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7JB68sLGY8&feature=related Johnny!"] (that tends to happen when you play those roles).

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[[Category:Older Than Print]]

[[Category:Slasher Smile]]

[[Category:Trope]]