Basic Trope: A usually stoic character tries to smile, but it ends up being creepy.

  • Straight: Bob, who has never been seen smiling, finally does, but it heads straight into the Uncanny Valley.
  • Exaggerated: Bob, who has never been seen smiling, finally does, but his smile is High Octane Nightmare Fuel.
  • Downplayed: Bob, who has never been seen smiling, finally does, but it looks somewhat creepy until he gets it under control.
  • Justified: Bob, while attractive in real life, is just not very photogenic.
    • Bob can smile just fine when he has something to smile about. Faking a smile, on the other hand...
  • Inverted: When She Smiles.
  • Subverted: Bob slowly smiles, and it seems to be heading into the uncanny valley, but becomes cute smile.
  • Double Subverted: ...Then it keeps going into Nightmare Fuel.
  • Parodied: Bob's Smile is so horrible to look at, everyone around him loses bladder control.
  • Deconstructed: Bob was in a horrible accident years ago, and the facial nerves and muscles didn't heal right.
  • Reconstructed: There is nothing that Bob wants to smile about anyway.
  • Zig Zagged: Bob's smiles can either be this or When She Smiles, often without rhyme or reason.
  • Averted: Bob's smile is in no way creepy.
  • Enforced: ???
  • Lampshaded: "Is that a smile or did you lose a fight with a weed whacker?"
  • Invoked: "We want to use Stoic Bob in a joke. I wonder how..."
  • Exploited: The Five-Man Band uses Bob's creepy smile to distract a guard so they can sneak in somewhere.
  • Defied: Bob just smiles.
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: ???
  • Played For Laughs: Almost always.

Back to The Un-Smile