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{{trope}}
[[File:0320x240.jpg|link=Scooby
{{quote|''"When you look at [[Superman|Clark Kent]] when he's working at the Daily Planet, he's a reporter. He doesn't fly through the air in his glasses and his suit."''
|'''[[Kiss|Gene Simmons]]'''}}
{{quote|''The only advantage to wearing glasses is being able to do that dramatic removal. {removes glasses} Oh my God. I can't see a thing without these. No wonder I wear them.''
▲{{quote|''"When you look at [[Superman|Clark Kent]] when he's working at the Daily Planet, he's a reporter. He doesn't fly through the air in his glasses and his suit."''|'''[[Kiss|Gene Simmons]]'''}}
|'''Jim Gaffigan'''}}
▲{{quote|''The only advantage to wearing glasses is being able to do that dramatic removal. {removes glasses} Oh my God. I can't see a thing without these. No wonder I wear them.''|'''Jim Gaffigan'''}}
A good way to mark your hero as an intellectual is to, well, stick him on the far side of a pair of [[Nerd Glasses]].
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One strange side effect is that if a character does this enough times, they may stop wearing their glasses altogether. Rarely is the fact that the character may have ''needed'' the prescription in the first place brought up, it's usually [[Handwaved]] that they eventually got contacts. While the loss usually represents the character taking a step forward in their attitudes, fans who are into [[Meganekko|that sort of thing]] can find it frustrating.
Given that such characters will at some point be shown to be [[Blind Without'Em]], it may seem strange that removing their glasses renders the characters into [[Action Hero
There are other, more practical reasons for this trope, of course; it is, after all, not a bad idea to remove your glasses before doing things where they might fly off or get broken, and preventing unwanted reflections from the lenses becomes troublesome during [[Martial Arts Movie|martial arts]]. And then there's the fact that keeping any easily shattered material near your eyes during a fight is a [[Eye Scream|really bad idea]] (which is probably where the taboo against punching a man in glasses came from). And naturally, you might want to remove your glasses to fire your [[Eye Beams]].
Note that it isn't enough just to have glasses, you have to have [[Nerd Glasses]] for this trope to apply. Some characters have [[Scary Shiny Glasses]] or [[Cool Shades]], and they are most certainly not more powerful when
For the B-movie version, see [[Glasses Pull]]. As the examples show, inversions in which a character becomes more badass when they put their [[Nerd Glasses]] ''on'' (because now they can actually see clearly to fight) are also common.
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
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** Also done by Nanao Ise when [[Mad Scientist|Mayuri]] decides to stand in for his <s>daughter</s> science experiment/devoted slave Nemu at a meeting of the Shinigami Women's Association and refuse to leave, even when subjected to the [[Scary Shiny Glasses]]. Judging by his [[Oh Crap|face]], he got the message. Of course, this was after the vice-captains meeting was invaded by Byakuya standing in for Renji, a thoroughly creepy experience Nanao clearly wasn't prepared to experience again.
** In one of the [[The Musical|Rock Musical Bleach]], Aizen {{spoiler|before his [[Face Heel Turn]]}} does that when Ichimaru mocks the way he dances.
* Modern [[Meganekko]] [[Magical Girl
** Retasu/Mew Lettuce, ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]''.
** Noel/Aiiro Pearl Voice, ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]''.
** Ami/Sailor Mercury, ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]''.
*** Although she does have a pair of in-uniform [[Cool Shades]] to calculate stuff.
** Yuri Tsukikage, ''[[Heartcatch Pretty Cure]]''
** Hououji Fuu
* Reversed in ''[[Witch Hunter Robin]]'': again, while pyrokinetic Robin is certainly ''dangerous'' as is, she becomes quite a bit more ''effective'' in a fight after she's pressed into wearing glasses so she can, y'know, ''see'' to aim.
** Then she discovers the true nature of her powers, becomes a deity, and takes them off.
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* Justified in ''[[Gunslinger Girl]]''. Claes' handler's last request of her before quitting the Agency is to be kind and gentle whenever wearing her glasses. Considering she's a cybernetically-enhanced assassin, you can imagine how bad things will go for any [[Mooks]] nearby when she takes them off...
** In a later manga story new girl Petra "borrows" them while Claes is in the bath. She regrets it immediately when Claes sees her wearing them. Fortunately, Claes goes back to normal once she has them back.
▲* Fuu from ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'' wears [[Meganekko|enormous glasses]], but the last stage of her evolving armor (which elevates her to Magic Knight status) magically tucks them away and improves her eyesight. She even mentions this the first time she becomes a Magic Knight.
* In ''[[Soul Eater]],'' Dr. Franken Stein tends to get [[Badass]] when his glasses come off.
** Strangely enough, his are often of the [[Scary Shiny Glasses|scary and shiny short]], so it's a little bit of a variation.
* In ''[[
* In the Chinese/western manga ''[[Et Cetera]],'' the villain of half of volume 2, Mr. Alternate, wears his monocle when being awesome and evil, and when he's pretending to be a train usher.
** Actually, he always wears the monocle. {{spoiler|After his [[Heel Face Turn]]}}, when he's asleep, all the time. It's not just part of his train usher outfit. In fact, I don't think he's ever taken it off.
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* Inverted for Natsumi in ''[[Nicoichi]]'', who puts on glasses during work to conceal her usual bumbling nature and project a no-nonsense, professional demeanour.
* This happens with Nagato Yuki in ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'', when her glasses fall off during the fight with Ryoko, and she never puts them on again {{spoiler|except in the [[Alternate Universe]]}}, [[Ship Tease|probably because Kyon said he liked her better without them]] in a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]].
{{quote|'''Kyon:''' I don't really have a [[Meganekko|glasses fetish]].
'''Yuki:''' What is a 'glasses fetish?' }}
* [[Inverted]] in ''[[Kirameki Project]]'': When it's time to get serious during the climactic battle, the glasses get put on.
== Comic Books ==
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** I suppose we should mention Cyclops while we're at it. Given that the glasses used to hold back his [[Eye Beams]], taking them all the way off usually meant something was gonna get broke in a hurry.
*** Seldom demonstrated but awesome when it is: Cyke's visor, and shades as Scott Summers, are used to control the shape and strength of the blast even when he's actively using his powers. You don't fully understand until you see him take them off all the way and open his eyes fully. When that happens, "something" isn't gonna get broke - ''everything'' will get broke. For this reason, it's a weapon of last resort. However, if you absolutely have to get a [[Humongous Mecha|Sentinel]] off your lawn, it'll get vaporized. And if Juggernaut's trying to destroy a dam, you'll {{spoiler|actually push him back a little... but eventually get your ass kicked anyway. Still, it ''looked'' awesome.}}
* Roffa in ''[[The Trigan Empire]]'' was a fighter pilot in [[Nerd Glasses]] (!). One day he took his glasses off to make a dramatically scowling gesture at the map and never put them on again. His geekiness decreased from then on too, in a few subsequent stories he seemed to have [[Took a Level
* Daniel aka Nite Owl of ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' usually wears his glasses but doesn't in his Nite Owl guise. A classic example is when he and Silk Spectre were mugged, Daniel took off his glasses before kicking the gang's ass.
== [[
* Hanae in ''[[Pretty Cure Perfume Preppy]]'' loses her glasses
* Three times, in ''[[With Strings Attached]]'':
** First, after John gets [[Winged Humanoid|wings]], he takes his glasses off to fly because he's terrified they'll fall off in mid-air. Eventually he ties them around his head. And eventually he gives them up altogether when he has his eyes permanently healed.
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== Film ==
* ''[[Stuart Saves His Family]]''. Subverted. When Stuart takes Mia's glasses off, she's ''less'' attractive and squinting, and says, [[Meganekko|"Let's put the glasses back ''on''"]].
* ''[[Rocky (film)|Rocky]]''. Played straight with Adrian.
* The moment when Brad Majors whips off his glasses while confronting Frank N. Furter early in ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'' is clearly a subversion, as it does nothing for his hero status and only foreshadows his glasses-less state after being seduced by Frank later in the film.
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** Ed and Jack are about to bust some perps, both carrying shotguns. "I forgot my glasses!" "Your WHAT?! Well just don't shoot me, ok?"
* Parodied in ''[[Spaceballs]]'', wherein Dark Helmet opens his helmet numerous times, revealing that he's wearing glasses underneath (and that he's Rick Moranis).
* Classic war movie ''[[The Dam Busters]]'' has the Giles variant of this trope right in the final
* Another classic war film, ''[[The
* The protagonist of Jim Jarmusch's ''[[
* Inverted in ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' film, where Allan Quatermain must put on his glasses to snipe people at long distance with his rifle because, well, he's gotten old and his eyes aren't what they used to be. At the end of the movie, he goes to do this again only to find his glasses have broken in the initial struggle, so Tom Sawyer has to take the shot.
* Inverted in the beginning of ''[[Terminator
* Played dead straight by [[Punny Name|HudMaSpecs]] in ''[[Free Jimmy]]''.
* A strange and sad example is in ''[[Pan's Labyrinth]]'' when Dr. Ferreiro dies. He admits to [[Complete Monster|Vidal]] that he [[Mercy Kill
* Played straight in ''[[Brick]]'', which has Brendan take off his glasses before he gets into fights.
* In ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'' Sean takes his glasses off before {{spoiler|he grabs Will by the throat and chokes him, promising to kill him if he ever spoke ill of his deceased wife.}}
* In the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' saga, when he's not in a macho attire fighting [[Those Wacky Nazis|nazis]] or looting ancient treasure sites, the title character is a calm bespectacled archeology college professor.
* Sort of inverted in ''[[The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension]]''. We know Buckaroo is smart, but when he puts on his red-rimmed [[Nerd Glasses]], he's really kicking the brain into overdrive (or showing off, since one of those times is a press conference). This is because of interference from the producers; they insisted that no action hero would wear glasses, despite director and co-creator W.D. Richter's desires. The compromise made between Richter and the producers was that Buckaroo could wear his glasses in three scenes in the film.
* In the second ending of ''[[Clue (film)|Clue]]'', {{spoiler|Mrs. Peacock [[Large Ham|dramatically]] removes her glasses upon being exposed as the murderer.}}
* ''[[My Girl]]'': [[Tear Jerker|"Where's his glasses?! He can't see without his glasses!"]]
* ''[[Spy Kid|Spy Kids 3: Game Over]]'': Inverted. In Level 3, just before the [[PvP]] duel, [[The Big Guy|Arnold]] explains to [[The Hero|Juni]] that he entered [[Lotus Eater Machine|Game Over]] for the "[[The Cake Is a Lie|untold riches]]" given to those who defeat the [[Final Boss|Final]] [[Humongous Mecha|Boss]] in order to save his family from poverty. The duel starts, and Arnold puts on his goggles and proceeds to ''[[Curb Stomp Battle|kick Juni's ass in a way that would make]] [[Chuck Norris]] [[Curb Stomp Battle|jealous.]]''
* ''[[They Live!]]'' is an Inversion. They need to be wearing the glasses to see
** And they're also all out of [[Chew Bubblegum|bubble gum]].
== Literature ==
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* ''[[The Machine Gunners]]'' has an instance of the practical use of this. [[The Bully|Boddser Brown]] wears glasses, and Chas McGill insists he takes them off before the two start fighting, so Chas can't be blamed for breaking them.
== Live
* ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'': Middle girl Jan gets glasses in the third-season episode "The Not-So-Rose-Colored Glasses" and wears them (for the most part) for the rest of Season 3, and much of the time in Season 4. She is seen with glasses exactly once in a Season 5, after which it appears Jan's astigmatism is cured.
** On another episode, Marcia helps a girl become pretty. When her glasses are brought up, the girl mentions that she has contact lenses at home, but never wears them. How very convenient, but [[Fridge Logic|begs the question]] on how the girl's parents spent a large chunk of change on contacts for their daughter (this is the 1970's, after all), then simply let her not wear them. The same issue comes up in the film [[The Princess Diaries]] and is handled almost the same way.
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* Rupert Giles, librarian, sorcerer and member of the Watchers' Council, in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Giles admitted that he gained the nickname "Ripper" during his rebellious youth, when he had delved into black magics and demon summoning. Calling special attention to the trope, in the episode "The Gift", following a large heroic action sequence, Giles ''puts his glasses back on'' before he delivers a [[Coup De Grace]] in cold blood, effectively refusing to be a hero as he commits a [[Shoot the Dog|necessary but reprehensible act]].
** In the Sixth Season, Xander and Willow mention in passing that Giles's habit of taking off his glasses and cleaning them was both a silent signal that he disapproved of what the Scooby Gang were doing, whether this be goofing off or doing something morally grey, and also a way of averting his eyes in the latter case so he could claim to have no knowledge of what they were doing.
* In ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', Mr. Bennet uses his glasses much like Giles, whipping them off or putting them back on every time he makes a big decision. And Sylar, a [[Serial Killer]], doesn't need
** In recent episodes, Sylar's glasses seem to have become more symbolic. When he's wearing them he's Gabriel Grey, the nice watchmaker he used to be. When he takes them off, he's the evil Sylar.
*** Only after he stole Claire's power.
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** Also subverted within the show, as on many occasions the team can be seen wearing eye protection when going into a firefight, including post-spectacles Daniel.
* ''[[NCIS]]'': At the end of an episode in which geeky coroner's assistant Jimmy Palmer has been fretting about being unable to do anything to stop a bad guy who shot at him, he gets his chance when he removes his glasses and then ''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|rams his car into the guy's truck]]'' with a maniacal grin.
* In ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** Romo Lampkin even steals her glasses during the Baltar trial for the purpose of making her look less intelligent/sympathetic.
*** Romo himself takes off his [[Sunglasses
** Don't forget about Admiral Adama. Whenever he took off the glasses, he would end up doing rash things. It was only when he put the glasses back on that he started seeing things clearly.
* In ''[[The Office]]'', Michael takes a stand against the new boss Charles, who remains calm and professional until he has finally had enough. He takes his glasses off and prepares to throw Michael out of the building, causing Michael to flee in terror.
* [[Lightning Bruiser|Eliot]] from ''[[Leverage]]'' tends to wear glasses every now and then, but mostly averts the trope by not always bothering to take them off when he's getting into a fight.
* In ''[[Criminal Minds]]'', {{spoiler|George Foyet}} ditches his [[Nerd Glasses]] after he's revealed as [[Big Bad|The Reaper]].
* Parodied during a dream sequence of
* When [[Dwayne Johnson|Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]] came back to the WWE in February 2011, after his triumphant entrance, he removed his sunglasses, referred to himself as "Dwayne", and thanked the fans for supporting him when he left the WWE to go to Hollywood and expressed his heartfelt appreciation...and then the sunglasses went back on and The Rock, The Most Electrifying Man in All Entertainment, was back.
== Music ==
* "In a Different Light" by Doug Stone is about an office worker who has a sexual fantasy about a female co-worker, who always comes to work wearing thick glasses, her hair in a bun and otherwise looking like a schoolmarm. He imagines her as a completely hot babe who has taken off her glasses, lets down her hair and either gets naked or wears a sexy dress. Even
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** Could actually be ''foreshadowed by the random encounter music.''
*** Specifically, ''Yeah/Naked truth lies only if you realize/Appearing in nobody's eyes till they sterilize''
* The [[Those Two Guys|very minor character]] {{spoiler|Riko Kanada}} does this to great effect in [[Princess Waltz]], {{spoiler|revealing that she's ''not'' a minor character after all, but the [[Heel Face Turn
** Not to mention that the ever so epic musical piece "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI7uN_9wdPg Battlefield of Steel]" playing in the background turns this into a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] as well, especially if you think back and realize that they've been hinting ever so gently at this the entire time.
* Guile's pre-fight intro in ''[[Street Fighter]] IV'' employs this, but it's only a mild form of this trope (he pulls off his aviator sunglasses and sticks them in his back pocket). His friend Charlie Nash in the ''[[Street Fighter]] Alpha'' series is the straighter example of the two, though.
** Charlie is actually a subversion, because his glasses are purely cosmetic.
* In ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom|Marvel Vs. Capcom 3]]'' [[Resident Evil|Wesker]] takes his shades off whenever he does a [[Limit Break|hyper combo]].
** In ''[[Resident Evil 5]]'', he takes them off before fighting with Chris and Sheva...only to chuck his shades at them as a distraction before [[Flash Step
* Shiki Tohno from ''[[Tsukihime]]'' is a crowning example of this. In the game (and spin-offs), he needs his glasses to see {{spoiler|reality without the "lines of death" on all objects, which determine striking points to eliminate them from existence. Seeing the lines puts a lot of strain on him, so he keeps the glasses on all the time}}. Needless to say, he only takes off the glasses when he turns into a complete badass, represented as {{spoiler|Shiki Nanaya}}. This change in personality is a result of {{spoiler|his family heritage, as he is actually descended from a line of psychic monster killers. His blood boils when he detects supernatural threats like demons or vampires, causing him to lose control}}. A good example of this is when he {{spoiler|cuts Arcuied Brunestud into a bunch of bloody chunks in the course of only a few seconds. She later has to use a massive amount of her power to restore herself, rendering her much more susceptible to the enemies in the series}}.
** {{spoiler|If he takes off his glasses, it means he IS going to kill you, no matter who you are, or how powerful you are. If there is a single way possible to kill you, he will cut you, and you will die. This is so much, that one bad ending is reached by taking off your glasses. Why? Because you're not SUPPOSED to fight seriously!}}
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== Web Comics ==
* Brent Sienna of ''[[PvP (webcomic)|
* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'' Othar Tryggvassen, [[Gentleman Adventurer]]!, removes his "glasses" ''once'', and in a [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080125 non-canon chapter]. Seeing his eyes for the first time was quite... surprising.
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100317 Now done in canon, as well.]
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* Subversion: ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'': "Worst Episode Ever". Milhouse takes off his glasses before attacking Bart, but puts them back on when he realizes that he can't see without them.
* ''[[Family Guy]]'': In the episode "Don't Make Me Over," she's-so-ugly Meg gets a makeover, which involves her shedding her glasses. (Meg becomes only bearable to look at, although it's played up as her becoming very attractive.) By episode's end, she decides she's happier being the girl that kissing reminds you of licking an ashtray, and reverts to her glasses-wearing, homely self.
* Reversed in ''[[The Fairly
{{quote|'''Arnie''': (nasal nerd voice) I can see! ([[Action Hero]] voice) [[
* Done straight and to great effect in ''[[Gargoyles]]'' - faced with an invasion by several angry gargoyles, Owen Burnett calmly takes off his glasses, puts them in his pocket, and adopts a martial arts stance. The fact that he isn't remotely capable of fighting a gargoyle hand-to-hand ({{spoiler|not as Owen, anyway}}) does not make the moment any less [[Badass]].
* Averted in ''[[Metalocalypse]]'', as Charles does not remove his glasses to fight, though he does undo his necktie before he first fights the Metal Masked Assassin. ({{spoiler|When he's blugeoned into unconsciousness by the Assassin the second time around, his glasses remain bent and broken on his face as he lies lifeless.}})
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[[Category:Glasses Tropes]]
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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