Quivering Eyes

During times of emotional stress, a character's eyes, or just the reflected highlights in them, will shake perceptibly. The aim is usually to show someone on the verge of tears; as in, their eyes are pricking, or tears are welling, or something difficult to show otherwise. This is not usually a comedy trope, and can in fact mean that things have turned very serious. It may presage a Sparkling Stream of Tears if the situation gets worse. It can also indicate extreme happiness or love. Pretty hard (but not impossible) to replicate in Real Life. Best not to try, really.

Compare with Puppy Dog Eyes, with which it can combine for devastating effect.

Examples of Quivering Eyes include:

Anime and Manga

• In Berserk, this almost always happens anytime Griffith gives his trademark beast-stare to anyone, or looks them in the eyes at all.
  • Also happens a lot to Casca when she's feeling emotional (and that's almost always, as she's generally either raging or sobbing at all times).
• Naruto uses this trope, quite often Played for Laughs.
• Happens plenty of times in Princess Tutu, sometimes ending with the character breaking down.
• God knows how many times this happens in Elfen Lied, considering that nearly every female character has been broken at one point or another.
• Akane Tendo in Ranma ½, every time Ranma does something that goes beyond their normal bickering and really hurts her feelings.
• Happens to Lelouch of Code Geass when Suzaku springs on him that Nunally will be the next Governor of Area 11.
• All of the girls in Candy Boy are prone to this, but Yukino really takes the cake.
• Sousuke from Full Metal Panic! does this, most noticeably in TSR, when Gauron tells him that he had Kaname killed.
  • Gauron himself does this during the time when he hijacks the Tuatha de Dannan, when he realizes that Kaname managed to regain control of the submarine. And in another instance, he ends up doing this in The Second Raid, on his death bed, while he's taunting Sousuke and yelling for Sousuke to hate him, in the hopes of Sousuke killing him.
• Done regularly in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou, but a specific mention should probably go to the end of episode 22, where this happens to the normally emotionless Yasuaki once he starts to consider himself useless.
• Happens to Faye Valentine in the last episode of Cowboy Bebop.
• Very often in Sailor Moon.
• Hanaukyo Maid Tai. Often occurs with Puppy Dog Eyes, particularly in the first series.
• This is used in emotional scenes in Saint Beast, such as Maya throwing a tantrum over Kira wanting to leave heaven and Rey and Luca promising to always fly together.

Film

• Frank Langella does this a couple times in the 1979 version of Dracula.

Literature

• In the Kadambari of Bana (ca. A.D. 600), "thy twin eyes announce a cause of great joy, for they are dilated, their pupils are tremulous, and they are bathed in tears of joy,..."

Western Animation

• Used by the cuter characters in My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic. Observe.
  • "Aren'tcha gonna stay for brunch...?
• Bubbles in the episode "Uh-Oh Dynamo"
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: One-time character Red, Eduardo, Mac, and Bloo at various times used this.
• Dipstick does this briefly in the One Hundred and One Dalmatians episode "Twelve Angry Pups".
• Vince uses this trope in the Recess episode "Legend of the Big Kid".