Dull Surprise: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

A vague, wispy look of emptiness given by a character that's supposed to convey intense emotional shock, horror, or revelation. Typically the character stands looking vacant with their jaw dropped and is supposed to look like they're astonished about something, but really looks like they've been binging on sedating narcotics for several hours beforehand.

"Dull Suprise" is used so often in cheap work because it's an easy expression to draw. A good artist can be very expensive and in the world of comic-books and animation, you typically get the quality you pay for.

 

 

The ''exact'' opposite of [[Chewing the Scenery]]. See also [[That Makes Me Feel Angry]]. Contrast [[Frozen Face]] (if the character's face literally ''cannot'' emote), [[Emotionless Girl]], [[Kuleshov Effect]].

== Anime & Manga ==

* Kira in ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' sports this when {{spoiler|Meer Campbell}} dies and everyone is crying and he just looks like he just smoked a bunch of pot. Considering that Kira's cry is notorious for [[Narm|sounding like a dying horse]], the viewers got off lucky.

** One theory is that the artist was so good at drawing cars, he decided to use the same methods on human beings.

* [[Deadpan Snarker|Kyon]], of the ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'' series, mentally criticizes Itsuki of this in the SOS Brigade movie. Strange in that since his normal persona is at least something of an act, and a pretty good one at that. Even Kyon has trouble figuring out what he really thinks about anything.

** In ''[[Nyoron Churuya-san]]'', everyone except Churuya and Achakura have one same monochromic expression.

*** That is, they all look like this: [[Emoticon|-_-]]. ''All the time''.

* This happens a lot in ''[[Gantz]]''. One the most obvious examples is [http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9506/001wv.jpg this panel] from chapter 303.

** Certain animators [[Off-Model|drew like this]], particularly [http://www.lolhelensucks.com/temp/leer.jpg Yusaku Takeda].

* Every character [[Tsutomu Nihei]] has ever drawn. His most famous stoic is [[The Stoic|Killy]] from ''[[Blame]]''!, who is quite well known for having the emotional range of a broken toaster.

* Many characters in ''[[Ubel Blatt]]'' look like they're in perpetual [[Dull Surprise]], although there are a few times where they do show some emotions but that tends to be most of the older cast or when the younger cast are very angry.

* Chief Kushima shows remarkably little emotion for a man whose arm has just been torn to shreds by a metal cable in the first episode of ''[[Real Drive]]'', despite of not yet having a cybernetic body at this time.

* Ulquiorra Cifer from ''[[Bleach]]'' is pretty much the '''physical embodiment of this trope'''. The closest he gets to an expression besides line face is during battles where he's shocked, which is expressed by just barely widening his eyes. If it wasn't for dramatic speed lines or speech bubbles with exclamation marks you may not even catch that his expression changed at all. {{spoiler|Even when he's about to be nuked by Ichigo's hollow form after being caught off guard, all he does in response is stare blankly at him and say "do it".}}

* Winry Rockbell's Japanese voice actor in the second anime adaption of [[Fullmetal Alchemist]] has this problem. She does fine when she is in [[Genki Girl]] mode, but it's most noticeable in the "dramatic" scenes, such as when Winry {{spoiler|finds out who her parents' killer is, and that he is trying to kill her childhood friends, too}}. What should have been a [[Tear Jerker]] falls flat as the actress only gets the first emotion (shock) across, instead of also showing her hysterical when it finally sinks in and just a hint of anger in it when {{spoiler|she picks up a gun and is about to shoot Scar}}.

** And Don Figueroa's "new style" in the Ongoing tops it by giving all his Transformers (or at least the ones with visible mouths) a gnarling sneer perpetually frozen on their faces.

* During the ''[[Spider-Man]]'' story arc "The Other," an entire issue is devoted to Mary Jane's shock and grief at Peter's apparent death. Whom did Marvel hire to draw this emotionally-charged issue? Pat Lee, who is notorious for this sort of thing. Cue 20 pages of Mary Jane looking far more stoned than grief-stricken, even if you want to believe that she was in shock the entire time her expression didn't change at all.

** He also mocked the Quasi-[[Trope Namer]] seen above.

* The [[Spider-Man]] Newspaper Comic Strip restarts Peter and MJ's marriage, hand-waving their time apart as all "just a dream". Upon the revelation that he is married to a hot nubile redhead wearing nothing but a loose bath towel... [http://splashpage.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/052609_spider-man-full.jpg Peter gives a look like he's not sure whether or not he needs to sneeze.]

* The comic book version [[Anita Blake]] reacts this way to everything. No matter how shocking, horrific or terrible the event, she reacts basically by opening her mouth slightly and looking perturbed.

* At one point in in the "ill-conceived" DC series ''[[Amazons Attack]]'', Batman looks down and frowns slightly while saying, "An '''Amazon''' attack, a deadly '''bee''' weapon. Bees. My god." Made into a running joke by Linkara.

 

== Fan Fiction ==

 

 

* Fifty years ago, critics would probably be praising his "manly restraint" or some such, but it can be argued that actor [[Keanu Reeves]] has this in ''all'' of his movies, but it's most noticeable in ''[[The Matrix]]'' trilogy (which is apparently why the Wachowskis hired him).

** For the scenes within the Matrix, this was done deliberately by all the actors at direction from the Wachowskis to help create a sense of disconnect caused by Morpheus and the others knowing the Matrix isn't real. Admittedly this is somewhat undermined by the whole "Your mind makes it real" speech.

*** Especially obvious since [[World of Ham|everyone else is gleefully hamming it up.]]

*** The worst instance of this is when he is waiting for Dracula's carriage to show up, and before it does, finds himself surrounded by rather hungry looking wolves. By looking at the "fear" on his face, you'd think he was surrounded by pigeons. Also, "BYUUUUDAPEST."

*** Reeves playing [[The Stoner|a stoner]]? May be a case of typecasting.

** Reeves' best acting ever may have been in the otherwise not great 2008 remake of ''[[The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'': he plays an alien whose affect is chilly and inhuman, and is wonderfully natural in the part. [[Deceptively-Human Robots|Readers may draw their own conclusions.]]

<!-- commentquit adding natter bitching about Keanu Reeves. It's not funny, it's annoying. -->

* ''[[The Room]]'', with Tommy Wiseau. It is not difficult to imagine every line of his in the script, except questions, ending in a period, given his flat, mostly-unaffected delivery. He sounds bored even when his character is supposed to be outraged.

{{quote| '''Johnny:''' Oh, HI, (fill in the name)! ('''''Endlessly''. Even to a ''dog''.''')}}

{{quote| '''Johnny:''' "I did not hit her. It's not true. It's bullshit. I did ''noooooooot''. Oh, hi, Mark."}}

** This is best demonstrated in the sequence right before his last scene, when he trashes his apartment [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLs-PkfUS2g while wearing the same blank expression he'd been using the entire movie.]

* The 2005 film version of ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'' had Matthew McFayden (Darcy) doing this.

** Mister Darcy has a consistent problem with this in various film versions of the book. The reason seems to be that in the book, he starts out disdainful and cold to the point of rudeness, and different actors struggle with how to play him so that he can be accepted by the audience in a romantic role despite coming off as a jerk less than an hour ago.

* Jennifer Lawrence does "dull surprise" extremely well in both ''Winter's Bone'' and ''[[The Hunger Games]]'', although to be honest, it's kind of in character and can also be translated as "grim concentration" in both cases.

* Sterling Hayden in ''Suddenly''.

* [[Nicolas Cage]] alternates between [[Dull Surprise]] and being a [[Large Ham]]. Usually switching at the wrong times.

* Téa Leoni's performance in ''[[Deep Impact]]'' just screams this. Or rather, vaguely suggests it.

** This seems to plague both Routh and Bosworth in all of their roles.

* [[Tim Roth]] in ''[[Little Odessa]]''.

** It seems Tim Roth is better at [[Lie to Me|reading expressions]] than making them. At least he does ok [[Planet of the Apes|as a chimp]].

** He can do expressions just fine: see ''[[Four Rooms]]''. "The Misbehavers" segment averts this trope ''hard''.

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMkxVmLHIMk Oh, my stomach. Ah, I'm being eaten alive.]

** Interestingly enough, [[Kristen Stewart]]'s first big role was the main character of ''[[Speak]]'', who is in what is essentially a year-long [[Heroic BSOD]]. Supposedly it's a great movie, [[Emotionless Girl|and her lack of emotive acting might have helped in that sense]].

*** She's the same in ''[[Adventureland]]'', where she is seriously depressed. Doesn't as well when she is having her breakdown and she looks as if she got some onion in her eye.

*** [[Robert Pattinson]]. While many think his body is made of marble, others think it's just his expressive-as-stone face.

*** [[Taylor Lautner]] seems to possess only two emotions: bored and constipated.

* [[Jason Statham]] has two distinct moods: Scowling while beating people up, and scowling while beating people up with his shirt off.

* Hayden Christensen in almost everything he's ever been in, but '''especially''' in the [[Star Wars]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwRDUBQA9jE prequels.]

** Ironically Darth Vader has more range and expression than Anakin, and he is sealed in a suit where no one can even see his face!

* Orlando Bloom. Although he'll probably strike a heroic pose at the same time, just to mix things up. The one time Bloom showed genuine emotion is his grin when Jack Sparrow commented "[[Nice Hat]]" to him in ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''.

** Early into ''[[Kingdom of Heaven]]'', Balian murders a priest (his own half-brother in the extended version) in the heat of the moment. Even during this act of passion, Bloom's facial expression is that of mildly confused curiosity.

** Particularly notable in ''Philosopher's Stone'' when Hagrid tells him "yer a wizard". He might as well have said "yer a Pisces".

* Edward Burns in ''[[A Sound of Thunder]]''. [http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/A_Sound_of_Thunder_2005.aspx?Page=2 Just check the pictures of this recap] (who describes him as "only slightly less stiff than the fossilized bones of the dinosaurs they hunt").

* Clive Owen wears the same dully surprised face for the entirety of ''[[King Arthur]]''.

** [http://roflrazzi.com/2008/09/30/clive-owen-clive-owen-facial-expression-1-of-1/ Not just in that movie.]

* [[Steven Seagal]]. In Italy, and possibly, elsewhere, TV advertised a series of Steven Seagal films with this line (translated):

{{quote| "His facial muscles are firm, but leg and arm muscles moves like lightning".}}

* William Hurt in the 1998 ''[[Lost in Space]]'' movie. The robot displayed more emotion than him. Hurt's dull performance could be summed up in just one line:

{{quote| "I love you, wife."}}

** And when {{spoiler|his family is killed by the planet debris}}, he's so dull the music has to do the acting for him.

** Actually, almost the whole cast suffered from this, save Gary Oldman's [[Ham and Cheese|Dr. Smith]], Lacey Chabert's Penny, and the [[No Indoor Voice|robot]].

* [[Harrison Ford]]'s terrible narration in the theatrical cut of ''[[Blade Runner]]''. It was added due to [[Executive Meddling]], and it really shows, since the rest of his acting is fine.

** Supposedly Ford was forced, pretty much at gunpoint, to do the narration, so he did it in the dullest, most unenthusiastic voice possible, in the hope that it would be rejected. He wasn't best pleased when they ended up using it anyway.

* Hurd Hatfield in the 1945 ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]''. The voiceover is saying he's seized with terror and panic, and he just looks kinda bored. Even when he {{spoiler|murders Basil}}, he seems like he's thinking about what kind of sandwich he wants to make later.

** Fred Clark, at [http://slacktivist.typepad.com Slacktivist], has credited Cameron's acting style to his having learned to act as a child actor in a family sitcom: child actors in such shows learn, primarily, a) to mug and b) to wait until someone else has delivered a line. "[http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2009/02/lbtm-the-worst-mankind-has-ever-seen.html Watch CamCam's reaction] and see if ''you'' can spot one. CamCam isn't talking, so CamCam isn't acting."

* According to [[Sergio Leone]], in the '60s, [[Clint Eastwood]] had "two facial expressions: one with the hat, and one without it". His acting style evolved a lot since then.

** Legend has it that Leone once explained Eastwood's appeal by saying that "when Michelangelo looked at a block of marble, he saw David; when I looked at Eastwood, I saw a block of marble." Leone was initially drawn to Eastwood by his restrained performance as Rowdy Yates in ''Rawhide'', and the two men worked hard to perfect this for ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]''. His character's trademark wardrobe - the poncho, the cheroot, the hat - were all intended to de-emphasise the character's humanity, and of course ''he had no name''. Except for Joe.

** See this for a comparison of the show and the movie: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/148/duuuuuuuuuuuuh.png/

* ''[[Kill Bill]]'' - This is precisely the expression that [[Uma Thurman]] had upon waking up from her coma, so shocked that she sat straight up in bed, emphasized by the freeze-frame.

** Daryl Hannah isn't exactly well-known for emoting in her acting. However, [[Tropes Are Not Bad|this works]] for her character in ''[[Kill Bill]]'' because this makes her a lot more ruthless and threatening. An example is her apathy to {{spoiler|[[Michael Madsen]]'s death by black mamba (the snake, not the Bride)}}

** She, in fact, took this to the meta level by requesting that the filmmakers cut anything that might add characterization to Laurie outside of acting, such as her smoking, profanity, stammering, etc. Dull Surprise applied to thematics as well as delivery is a terrible thing to behold.

** Matthew Goode, as Ozymandias, provides a more mild but still persistent problem. In particular, the comic's ebullient "I won!" (accompanied with raised fists and a shot of Alexander The Great in the background) is replaced with a near-whisper indistinguishable from any of his other lines.

* As an example of [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], Javier Bardem exhibits little to no emotion as the [[Complete Monster|ruthless]] Anton Chigurh in ''[[No Country for Old Men]]''. Naturally, he's a lot more intimidating, and won an Oscar for his performance.

* Gwyneth Paltrow in ''[[Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow]]'', everyone else in the movie [[Ham and Cheese|had fun with their role]] but not her.

* [[Elizabeth Moss]] in ''[[Get Him to The Greek]]''. [[Justified Trope]]: she's clearly using it to portray her character - an intern - as so overworked and drowsy that she ''cannot'' express emotions normally.

* Michael Pitt in damn near everything.

** It's worse when you learn his character in ''[[Terminator Salvation]]'' wasn't supposed to be a emotionless robot.

* Possibly every role ever played by Camilla Belle. Her entire acting range is a blank stare...and nothing else.

* [[Emily Browning]] in ''[[Sucker Punch]]'' - though mostly justifiable in that she's clearly scared or baffled through the major part of the film.

* Played to great effect in the 1979 ghost story "The Changeling" and George C. Scott. He's [[Seen It All|seen so much weird shit]] by the time he's in the well that he seems almost bored when the medal makes its appearance.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Ashley Scott in ''[[Jericho]]''. Sometimes she tries to cover this up by holding her hands over her blank face. With mixed success - many times this has simply ended up looking like she's sniffing her fingers, not a major improvement.

* ''[[Ghost Whisperer]]''. Watching Jennifer Love Hewitt do this has been the source of many a [[Narm|narmy]] moment. It really doesn't help that they end about half the scenes with a nice big close up of her so desperately struggling to make a facial expression, any facial expression.

** What with it being Jennifer Love Hewitt, [[Male Gaze|try and guess what the other half of the scenes had a close up of]].

** To be fair, West was a) acting with a mask hiding most of his face; b) supposed to be the straight man to the massive hams who played the villains; and c) as Batman, supposed to take all this stuff in his stride. He memorably averts [[Dull Surprise]] towards the end of the film when Catwoman's mask comes off.

** She finds out her boyfriend is a double agent, then sees him get killed, then he packs his suitcase and moves into her brain. Later she finds out that {{spoiler|she was a [[Tyke Bomb]] guinea pig in Walter and William Bell's drug experiments.}} If she had a normal emotional range it would be a miracle.

** But then, it's called subtlety (it's all in the eyes, baby!) It works very well for a character as subdued as Olivia, but viewers have become so used to actors [[Chewing the Scenery]] that it's probably hard to recognize and not mistake for woodenness.

** On the other hand, her emotional problems are a plot point in Season 2. The trauma of being a human guinea pig wrecked her emotionally and taught her to channel any fear into anger. We meet an alternate universe version of Olivia who is much more emotional, confirming that it's a deliberate acting choice.

** This is more a problem with her co-star, Joshua Jackson, who literally has two modes: Deadpan Snarker, and just deadpan. This is especially visible in Season Three, when his character has to deal with a whole bunch of emotional problems about half-way in.

** It's glaringly obvious when he's in a scene with someone who can actually ''act''--Jack Coleman, Cristine Rose, [[Christopher Eccleston]], [[Zachary Quinto]], David Anders, [[Hayden Panettiere]], and on into the sunset (fortunately he never had a scene with Mr. Muggles). Watching his interactions with his on-screen brother Adrian Pasdar is especially painful. One comes across as dangerous, calculating and creepy, the other appears lobotomized. Oooooh dear.

** He simply inherited it from his on-screen father, Robert Forster, who apparently decided that Arthur Petrelli was too powerful to have any emotion on his face or in his tone when delivering his dialogue. He doesn't even seem bored, just... monotone.

{{quote| "That's strange. That cat just told me to leave."}}

* Kim Kardashian playing an accused murderer's girlfriend on ''[[CSI New York|CSI:NY]]''. Borderline [[Narm]].

* The ''entire'' cast of ''[[Sunset Beach]]'' veered from this trope to [[Large Ham]].

* Ellen Muth (Georgia Lass) in ''[[Dead Like Me]]'', in ''every'' scene. Serves perfectly to define Georgia Lass character.

{{quote| '''Scully:''' I saw your face, Mulder. There was a definite moment of panic.<br />

'''Mulder:''' You've never seen me panic. When I panic, I make this face. [Remains expressionless.] }}

* Almost the whole cast of ''[[The Secret Life of the American Teenager]]''.

** Martin once gave a similar (non)-reaction after returning from the spa. When asked why he didn't smile or anything after receiving good news, his response was that he thought he was smiling.

{{quote| '''Taub:''' Here's my impression of Foreman on the happiest day of his life. ''(dons a completely flat expression)'' Now on the saddest day of his life. ''(does the same face)''}}

* The Olsen twins, sharing the role of Michelle on ''[[Full House]]'', were at times painful when they got old enough to have actual lines. In all fairness, they ''were'' very young at the time, but it went on to dog their later work as well, and was a major contributing factor in the complete failure of their one and only theatrical starring feature, ''New York Minute''<ref> (they were billed below Steve Guttenberg and Kirstie Alley in 1995's ''It Takes Two'')</ref>, which only grossed $14 million dollars during its whole box office run. Both twins, now adults, have turned to other careers.

* One of the many, many problems with the recent UK remake of ''[[The Day of the Triffids]]''. Dougray Scott as the hero was a particular offender, delivering lines like "we have to warn everybody" with all the urgency of someone reminding their wife to pick up milk on the way home.

** The fact that it would be completely in-character for him to actually say that suggests this may have been deliberate.

** Nor will this be the last time he opens a package to find it contains {{spoiler|a body}}.

** This is definitely atypical for [[Nathan Fillion]], who can (and does) act a wide range of emotions. Even his normally dull expression in ''[[Drive]]'' is revealed to be an act (you do ''not'' want to meet the real Alex Tully).

* [[The Danza|Jason London]] as the titular character in the Hallmark miniseries of [[Classical Mythology|Jason and the Argonauts]]. From being told that his uncle killed his father to nearly drowning, he has the same nauseated look.

{{quote| '''Jordan:''' Oooow, the pain, it's excruciating. ''(all grumbled with her mouth barely even moving)''}}

** Interestingly, despite Teal'c often trying to be emotionless, it was often clear from his face alone what he was feeling at the moment. Also, as seen in interviews, [[Christopher Judge]] is much more lively off-screen (described by [[Amanda Tapping]] as a "jackass").

* Adorably subverted on Fox's ''[[Raising Hope]]''. Typically TV babies just stare or appear agitated, bored, and fussy, but the twins playing Hope always seem to be genuinely fascinated by what's going on around her (them). Their reactions always seem to fit the scenes.

* John Laurinaitis reacted to [[CM Punk]]'s GTS the same way he does everything, by staring blankly at what's directly in front of his face.

** Making his reaction to being knocked out less [[Oh Crap]] and more [[Here We Go Again]].

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9czv1l4gUY Really?]

 

* ''[[Shadow of Destiny]]'' has fairly limited facial animations, so most of the characters look like this at some point, but Eike spends virtually the entire game in a state of [[Dull Surprise]]. It doesn't help that his English voice is fairly monotone.

* ''[[Silent Hill]]'' characters have this tendency given the limitations in the graphics; many fans consider the fourth game's protagonist Henry Townsend to be the worst offender.

** Henry is particularly bad because he has ''no personality'', to be brutally honest.

** JC Denton's deadpan delivery is a constant source of (intentional) hilarity, producing some immortal lines in the process:

{{quote| '''Jock:''' [[Large Ham|Oh my God, JC! A BOMB!]]<br />

'''Denton:''' '''[[Narm Charm|A bomb.]]''' }}

* Despite being an expert at [[Parrot Exposition]], Solid Snake (of ''[[Metal Gear]]'') is usually expressive enough with his face and body to avoid this even with graphics limitations - except in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]: The Twin Snakes'', which had really freakishly awful facial expressions. Snake's gormless, changeless expression in that game is referred to by fans as 'Mildly-Annoyed Confusion', and combined with his [[Parrot Exposition|mindless repetition of things that other people say]], and with his [[Informed Ability|180 IQ which is repeatedly mentioned in the manual]] and [[Unwitting Pawn|never demonstrated in the canon ever]], it hits [[Memetic Mutation|legendary]] levels. Mind you, 'Mildly-Annoyed Confusion' pretty much sums up Solid Snake's personality for 90% of the game.

** Similarly, there's ''[[Metal Gear]] 2: Solid Snake'', where his one facial expression was [[media:fMSX0031.jpg|this]]. It's somewhere between terrified, baffled and annoyed. <ref>If that's the kind of thing he has to put up with through the whole game, though, then it's no wonder.</ref>

* The main character in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' always looks sort of mildly interested in dialogue mode, complete with nodding or raising an eyebrow occasionally, which works for much of the time but not when something dramatic is going on.

** [[Fridge Brilliance|He's just unsurprised because it happens to him so often.]] And he's far too suave to panic about it.

** However, all of the classes (even the Pyro, whose face is obscured by an all-encompassing gas mask) are very expressive with their feelings, their emotions ranging anywhere from sadistic glee (when they're doing well) to [[Oh Crap]] (when they aren't).

* Your [[Mission Control]] in ''[[Persona 3]]'', Fuuka Yamagishi, narrates pitched battles in an incredibly flat, stilted manner. She's a bit better outside of combat, but there are still times where her voice actress is clearly valiantly struggling to keep the emotion down.

** Happens again in ''[[Persona 4]]''. {{spoiler|Shadow Mitsuo's}} voice is flat and stilted. {{spoiler|Mitsuo's shadow is intended to represent his inner emptiness.}} Unlike the previous game, it's perfectly justified and not at all due to the failings of the VA.

* Dr. Hanson in ''[[Star Craft 2]]''. Even the sight of [[Our Zombies Are Different|Infested Terrans]] gets a painfully unconcerned response.

* Nearly everyone in the first ''[[Baten Kaitos]]'' game, thanks to the phoned-in voice acting. Xelha, in particular, seems to have trouble expressing any strong emotion.

** Similarly, ''[[Arc Rise Fantasia]]''. Special mention to the character whose voice actor seems to have put his full emotive talents into sounding vaguely Brazilian, resulting in a sort of silly-clearly-fake-accent-monotone.

* In ''[[Killer 7]]'', Mask de Smith says things like, "Yeah, I'm here to kill Mr. Fukushima" with all the gravity of, "Yeah, I'm here to do the dishes". This was probably intentional, given that Mask, like the rest of the ''Killer7'', is a professional assassin.

* In ''Dead Mountaineer's Hotel'', Alec Snevar sounds like his actor was literally reading the script; there is basically zero effort put into making the character sound realistic.

 

 

== Webcomics ==

** In a tutorial on drawing facial expressions, Tracy Butler of [[Lackadaisy]] specifically included a "Buckley face" as an example of bad art.

* ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'': Bob's standard default expression is eyes wide with his mouth in a tiny O shape. This perhaps reflects the fact that he's constantly encountering new weirdnesses, but has become too used to it to ever look more than mildly startled.

* Pretty much anything produced by [[Filmation]].

* ''[[My Little Pony]]: [[Spinoff Babies|Once Upon A My Little Pony Time]]''. ''Slightly'' more emotional than most of the examples here, but only in the sense that the ponies' expressions, in emoticon terms, are limited to "happy" and "sad".

* Mildred from ''[[Scaredy Squirrel]].''

* A great example in The ''[[Justice League]]'' comes from [[The Joker]] of all people. When an explosive he had planted in Las Vegas seemingly fails to go off, The Joker watches a video replay in super slow motion that reveals {{spoiler|that The Flash had carried the device to the outskirts of town ''while it was exploding''}}. The Joker's only reaction was uttering a subdued "Huh."