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Thousand-Yard Stare: Difference between revisions
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Note that this trope describes the stare/facial expression itself, and not what causes it or anything related.
"Thousand-yard-stare" is believed to have originated in [[World War One]], and was coined for the faces of battle-weary soldiers. Named for the perception that such stares really do seem to be able to see very far ahead. Eyes cross a little when focusing on something reasonably close, but eyes not looking at anything will behave like eyes looking at something very far away. [[Dull Eyes of Unhappiness]] can look similar to this, but they're chronic while this trope tends to be transitory.
See also [[Heroic BSOD]], for what usually goes hand-in-hand with this. Not related to the '[[Flash Back Back Back|Thousand Yard Stare of Impending Flashbacks]]', an affliction near universally shared by the characters of ''[[Lost]]''.
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== [[Anime|Anime and Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'', Chiyo does this whenever Yukari's driving is mentioned since she barely survived it.
* Tsukune Aono of ''[[Rosario
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', Mustang and Hughes discuss it during the Ishbalan war. Hawkeye approaches, and Mustang laments that Hawkeye has the stare too.
** I thought they just talked about all of them having ''killers' eyes''....
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* [[Trigun|Vash the Stampede]] is prone to this expression when pushed far enough. Even leaving aside his [[Heroic BSOD]] after Legato's death, he will do this while ''smiling'' sometimes.
** Nothing emphasizes his isolation from humanity better or more tragically than a sad-Vash thousand-yard-smile, especially if he's doing something like hugging Miss Elizabeth while she breaks down over his not being evil, after trying to blow up the town to kill him.
* [[Rurouni Kenshin]] starts doing this when his angst level picks up late in the manga, though his first uses are after taking absurdly heavy damage in the Shishio arc. Maxes out during his especially persistent [[Heroic BSOD]] and [[Ten-Minute Retirement]] to the slum of despair. Scares the hell out of everyone in its first major appearance right after Enishi formally declares his Jinchuu.
** A less pitiful-looking version was also employed back when he was Hitokiri Battousai, aka Teenage Kenshin, and attempting to put off his moral crisis and shellshock for as long as possible so as to fulfill his duty.
* In ''[[Naruto]]'' victims of the [[Cold-Blooded Torture|Tsukuyomi]] generally end up like this.
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** Joker himself gets to do the stare after {{spoiler|shooting a sniper as a [[Mercy Kill]]}}.
* One of the soldiers on leave in ''[[Band of Brothers (TV series)|Band of Brothers]]'' (the whole episode focused on various soldiers dealing with the sudden change from battle to civilian life) has this.
* Commonly, the expression on some of the characters in ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'' (indeed, the beginning graveyard scene ends with this).
** [[Enforced Method Acting]]: The entire cast was run rugged, interminable military exercises - ''except'' Matt Damon (who plays Pvt. Ryan). It even made the cast ''resent'' Damon, which was entirely the point.
* WWII veteran and b-movie star [[Audie Murphy]], who saw many of his comrades in arms killed and is credited with personally killing, wounding or capturing more than two hundred Axis soldiers, had a particularly bleak and distant stare, which director [[John Huston]] put to good use in [[The Red Badge of Courage]]. Murphy developed a warmer and somewhat more animated screen persona around 1953, perhaps due to the birth of his beloved son Terry, but he never really lost the [[Thousand-Yard Stare]].
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* [[The Ace]] does this after being [[Broken Ace|broken]] in the ''[[M*A*S*H|Mash]]'' episode "Heal Thyself." While [[Out, Damned Spot!|compulsively scrubbing away invisible blood]].
* Some (canonical) DVD specials from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' have noted this about Rory Williams. He spent almost two thousand years guarding a box as an immortal centurion. It happened in a defunct timeline, but he still has the memories, which he must suppress for his own sanity, though as the Doctor points out "Sometimes you catch him just staring..."
** He mentions that he can remember all two thousand years he stood guard, but he can't always remember it.
* In [[Horatio Hornblower]], Archie does this mostly in Series One. Being ruthlessly tormented by a shipmate followed by {{spoiler|being presumed dead, imprisoned by the enemy, and punished painfully for escape attempts}} and then getting caught up in someone else's war where the chances of survival/victory are extremely low will have an impact on a person.
== [[Music]] ==
* Referred to in the song "Assassing" (sic) by Marillion.
* Shown in the music video for "Ghost of You" by [[My Chemical Romance]], much of which is set during the landings at Normandy during [[World War II]]. The music video ends with a shot of the lead singer's stunned eyes.
* Referred to more humorously in [[Tom Smith]]'s "Rich Fantasy Lives"
{{quote|"That waitress at Pete's who took so long to seat you and left you to stand in the doorway. With her stringy red hair and her thousand yard stare, in her mind, she's the princess of Norway."}}
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* In an episode of ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' the eponymous sponge blanks out after receiving an improbable order. Mr. Krabs explains it as the thousand yard stare to Squidward, that he had seen it during the war.
* [[Donald Duck]]'s stuck with one at the end of "Up A Tree", after Chip n' Dale blew up his house into smithereens.
* Used in ''[[Adventure Time]]'' frequently. Finn gets one in Susan Strong when he contemplates being the last of his kind for too long. He gets another one in "Marceline's Closet," when he sees Marceline naked.
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