History Main / BlackEyesOfEvil

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] from ''The New Batman Adventures''.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': Evil Predacon Blackarachnia has black eyes, [[spoiler:and after she undergoes a HeelFaceTurn and her Predacon shell programming is removed, her eyes become a different color]].

* Subverted with Jake in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. He's not evil, usually...When he thought he was evil, his eyes went swirly.

* Evil witch Shokoti, a OneShotCharacter from ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' and a really scary character, had these. Skeletor also evokes this trope visually, although it actually seems to be the case of ''lack of'' eyes.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}''. Aqualad's eyes are solid black, but he's a good guy. When under the influence of evil mind control, his eyes turn red.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphema Hyphema,]] better known as an "eight ball hemorrhage", where blood pools inside the eye and blacks out one's vision.
* In 2007 the first case of scleral tattooing was reported. This procedure makes it possible to [[EyeScream tattoo the whites of your eyes black]]. Possible side effects include: a permanent black eye as the ink migrates into tissue surrounding the eyeball, terrible headaches, blurry vision, seeing black specks (basically [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floater floaters]] made of ink), extreme light sensitivity, glaucoma and even blindness.
* On a non-{{squick}}y note, it's a matter of light, shadow, and positioning to appear to have these, if only for a moment, with both eyelids and eyebrows shadowing the eyes themselves. This can look creepy, especially in non-flash photographs.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rom%C3%A9o_Dallaire Roméo Dallaire,]] FourStarBadass of the [[UsefulNotes/CanucksWithChinooks Canadian Forces]] mission in Rwanda, described the genocidal Interahamwe militia as having eyes so black, no light could be seen in them (or something along those effects).
[[/folder]]

* Shivers the Clown from the ''Fear of Clowns'' duology has a disorder that causes his eyes to appear almost completely black.

* In the manga version of ''Anime/TheBigO'', Beck gets this after attacking Roger with the Gigadeus and getting blown away by a Chrome Buster. It's especially creepy as the chapter is structured in such a way that it's hard to tell if it's AllJustADream or not (the imagery is ''trippy'' for the series), and [[spoiler: the part with Beck's eyes turning black is just a line and a full shot of Beck's head taking up a whole page. The last page. Which you have to ''turn the page for''. And comes out of nowhere, but was hinted at as Beck kept asking Roger what Big O was showing him.]]

* ''Literature/TheBarbarianAndTheSorceress'': Barnabus gets black eyes when uses his [[BlackMagic sorcery]]. When [[spoiler: his slave, Kira, uses sorcery against an EldritchAbomination he's summoned, her eyes turn black as well.]]

* The Ra'zac and Lethrblaka from the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle''. {{Averted}} by the black dragon Shruikan, who Eragon originally assumed would have these since most dragons have eye colors close to that of their scales. His eyes, however, are a [[CreepyBlueEyes startling blue]], which Eragon describes as ''worse'' by the madness visible within them.

* In ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'', Dahlia has these, foreshadowing she's evil. It's part of her AnimalMotif.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** Some [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampire]] bloodlines have this as a trait. Others instead have pale white EmptyEyes with no pupils or irises, while others still have SuperNaturalGoldEyes. (It's implied that they may all have these glowing gold eyes, but only beings with divine souls, such as the [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] of ''Skyrim'', can actually see them.)

* In ''VideoGame/EmbricOfWulfhammersCastle'', this afflicts all those who [[spoiler: drink the demonic scotch.]] It also afflicts [[spoiler: Ecinacea, due to her having been replaced by an EldritchAbomination.]]

* Inverted with the [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe asari]], Liara, from ''Franchise/MassEffect''. If you choose to have her as your romance partner, her eyes will turn black while you're having a roll in the sack with her. Her eyes also turn black when activating telepathic linking powers - something observed in another asari, [[spoiler: Shiala, an asari Commando, who links with your character during the Feros mission]]. If you look closely, they aren't solid black, but have faint star-like lights in them.

* Artwork of the [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore American/European style]] of [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Robotnik]] usually depicts him with no eyes at all, with two pitch black eye-sockets instead. In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', the Boom Boos from the [[BigBoosHaunt haunted stages]] have a pair of black eyes which blinks every few seconds. When you hit them once, however, they will turn into the creepy, yellow-eyed, {{slasher smil|e}}ing Attack Boos.

* Babi Rusa, a cannibal hag, has all black eyes, in ''Webcomic/{{Witchprickers}}''. Interestingly, the comic's hero, Ilemauzer the bat, also has black eyes at first.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'':[[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] from ''The New Batman Adventures''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'': Whenever Percy confronts [[GottaKillEmAll a person listed on one of the barrels of his gun]], he gains black eyes with sinister orange irises. In addition to the smoke that surrounds him during these moments, [[spoiler:this is a sign of the increasing control that Orthax, the demon of vengeance that he unwittingly made a pact, has on him as he kills more targets]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'': Whenever Percy confronts [[GottaKillEmAll a person listed on one of the barrels of his gun]], he gains black eyes with sinister orange irises. In addition to the smoke that surrounds him during these moments, [[spoiler:this is a sign of the increasing control that Orthax, the demon of vengeance that he unwittingly made a pact, has on him]].

* All of the vampires in ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'' have black sclera and red eyes when their HorrorHunger takes over. The older vampires, namely [[FemmeFatale Chizuru]] and [[BigBad Sunako]], take this further and have solid black eyes. They still have pupils and what not, you just can't see them unless they glow.

* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': [[Characters/TheBoys2019TheSeven Stormfront]] has these overlapping with GlowingEyesOfDoom. When she's using her ShockAndAwe powers at high intensity, her eyes turn pitch-black with dots of majenta light in the center (which might or might not be reflections of the lightning bursts). And boy, is she anything ''but'' a VillainyFreeVillain once the audience gets their first glimpse of who she really is.

* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'':

** In one of the most effective applications of this trope, the show had the black oil. This living substance violated your organism through various orifices. Eyes turning black meant the substance took over.
** It was used with the surprisingly sympathetic MonsterOfTheWeek in the episode "Hunger".

* ''Series/SweetHome'': Infected people's eyes turn black when they come close to becoming monsters.

* The Outsider, the resident EldritchAbomination of ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' has completely black eyes. However, he's not so much evil as simply a disinterested entity who enjoys observing humanity and the chaos they can create, occasionally granting powers to rare individuals that gain his interest.
* The killer 'bots in ''Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' and its sequel usually have animatronic eyeballs, but sometimes just empty black space with tiny pinpricks of light to make it clear that [[HauntedTechnology they can still see you.]]

** {{Subverted|Trope}} with Severus Snape, whose eyes are consistently described as black -- in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', Harry's narration describes them as "cold and empty and and made you think of dark tunnels" in contrast to Hadrid's warmth. However, despite his unpleasant manners, behavior and history, Snape is firmly on Dumbledore's side.

* The Excrucians of ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'' have a variant on this. Falling stars drift through their otherwise-black eyes.

* Several examples from ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
** This was a symptom (along with greasy black tears) of the Phyrexian oil in ''Time Spiral''. Naturally, the people living in black-aligned places got the worst of it.
** In "Shadows of Innistrad" this is the mark of corrupted angels, especially Avacyn herself.
** In the [[CityPlanet city plane]] of Ravnica, there are [[OurAngelsAreDifferent several factions of angels]], and the ones inhabiting the CorruptChurch guild of Orzhov possess black eyes.

* The titular ''VideoGame/AoOni'' possesses these.

* Artwork of the [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore American/European style]] of [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Robotnik]] usually depicts him with no eyes at all, with two pitch black eye-sockets instead. In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', the Boom Boos from the [[BigBoosHaunt haunted stages]] have a pair of black eyes which blinks every few seconds. When you hit them once, however, they will turn into the creepy, yellow-eyed, {{slasher smil|e}}ing Attack Boos.
* While he is by all accounts a heroic character, ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'''s resident CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass, Sans, has this trope as one of his defining character tropes. When being serious, his eyes go completely dark, almost as if he is addressing the player directly.
* In ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'', the boss "Hell Orcha" has black eyes with [[RedEyesTakeWarning red pupils]].
* A few of the character designs for the mutant enemies in ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'' feature black eyes.

* In ''VideoGame/TheSuffering: Ties That Bind,'' the Creeper has black, doll-like eyes.
* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'': Jak's SuperpoweredEvilSide has these, as do Daxter's and [[spoiler: Skyheed]]'s.

* The character creator in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' gives a few faces with black eyes as an option.
* ''VideoGame/TheBureauXCOMDeclassified''. A seemingly human housewife has these in the E3 2010 trailer.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} 4'' mod Rise of Mankind, the leaderhead for Richleiu has, inexplicably, completely black eyes. While likely just a glitch, or an incomplete design, it does make him fairly creepy.
* OhCrap, it's the [[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations Proto]] [[http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t291/einprinz04_2007/wtfbadger.jpg Badger!]]
* Subverted with the Lady of the Forest from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''. Although she possesses pitch-black eyes, she is not evil, only inhuman. In fact, she wishes to end the curse that has been placed upon the werewolves of the Brecilian Forest, even though doing so will require her death.

* In ''VideoGame/EmbricOfWulfhammersCastle'', this afflicts all those who [[spoiler: drink the demonic scotch.]] It also afflicts [[spoiler: Ecinacea, due to her having been replaced by an EldritchAbomination.]]
* Your father, [[GodOfEvil Bhaal]], has many forms in ''Franchise/BaldursGate'', but one thing remains the same in all of them: his pitch-black eyes. In the same vein, [[spoiler:a couple of your [[DreamingOfThingsToCome prophetic dreams]] have you looking into a mirror or body of water and seeing your reflection with a PsychoticSmirk and the same black eyes]].
* If you are trying to reach the happy ending in ''VideoGame/AfraidOfMonsters'', you have to fight [[spoiler: your Doppelgänger]], who has completely black eyes.
* The [[http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/esprade/chara/alice.html Alice Clones]] from ''VideoGame/EspRaDe'' and the ''VideoGame/{{Espgaluda}}'' series.
* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' subverts this. Ammy is the hero, but has pitch black eyes. Can become terrifying if you look at her face when using the "Realistic Wolf" [[AndYourRewardIsClothes karmic transformer]].
* The Outsider, the resident EldritchAbomination of ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' has completely black eyes. However, he's not so much evil as simply a disinterested entity who enjoys observing humanity and the chaos they can create, occasionally granting powers to rare individuals that gain his interest.
* Most of the enemies in ''VideoGame/TheBreach''.
* The killer 'bots in ''Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' and its sequel usually have animatronic eyeballs, but sometimes just empty black space with tiny pinpricks of light to make it clear that [[HauntedTechnology they can still see you.]]
* In ''Haunted Legends 5: The Stone Guest'' anyone who's under one of the curses cast on various [[CreepyDoll voodoo dolls]] by the villain has a chalk-white face with dead black eyes that have cracks radiating out from them.
* The Bearminator, a huge polar bear, has some pretty scary black eyes in ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack'' and ''Videogame/CrashBash''.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** Some [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampire]] bloodlines have this as a trait. Others instead have pale white EmptyEyes with no pupils or irises, while others still have SuperNaturalGoldEyes. (It's implied that they may all have these glowing gold eyes, but only beings with divine souls, such as the [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] of ''Skyrim'', can actually see them.)
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', this is a trait of the Dremora, an intelligent race of [[OurDemonsAreDifferent lesser Daedra]] who are most commonly found in the service of [[DestroyerDeity Mehrunes Dagon]] as his [[TheLegionsOfHell Legions of Hell]]. (Other games give them [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]] or [[SupernaturalGoldEyes gold]] eyes instead.)
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline Online]]'', this is a trait of Scamps, the [[TheGoomba weakest]] and [[FunSize smallest]] known form of lesser Daedra. Other games have variously given them [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] or blank EmptyEyes.
%%* ''VideoGame/FancyIsland'': Some of the monsters have these, and a few bleed TearsOfBlood from them.
* The supernatural creature from ''VideoGame/WhiteNoise2'' has black eyes with yellow irises.
* [[MirrorMonster The Shade]], the demon behind the events of ''[[VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles Mystery Case Files: The Countess]]'', appears as a black version of lady Gloria Codington with pitch-black eyes with glowing white irises.

* Chloe from ''Webcomic/AngelDown'' has entirely black eyes due to an injury that also blinded her and scared her upper face. However, despite her implied [[HalfHumanHybrid demonic heritage]], she isn't evil, and is simply an EmoTeen.

* Bloody Mary from ''Webcomic/{{Flipside}}'' has these, though she does still have visible pupils, allowing us to ''somewhat'' connect with her as she transforms into TheWoobie.

* Babi Rusa, a cannibal hag, has all black eyes, in ''Webcomic/{{Witchprickers}}''. Interestingly, the comic's hero, Ilemauzer the bat, also has black eyes at first.

* Subverted in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. [[spoiler: Sollux winds up with these after a duel with Eridan goes badly, but he's actually much more relaxed now that he doesn't have to deal with his psychic powers anymore. As a half-ghost in the farthest ring, he has one eye that's solid black, and the other that's solid white, to indicate he's not entirely alive or dead.]]
** Later subverted again with [[spoiler: the incredibly kind Calliope, though [[NightmareFace the effect]] [[https://www.homestuck.com/story/5612 is a bit unnerving]]]].
* This was used in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' as part of the effects to show a particularly intense DeathGlare. It's also present on both [[EvilOverlord Lord Tedd]] and {{Te|enGenius}}dd when he activates his gauntlet.
* ''Webcomic/ATaleOfFiction'': Sneaky's eyes are always black, no matter how much shapeshifting he does. Subverted, though, because he's a nice guy and the protagonist. While shapeshifted into human form, he usually wears sunglasses to blend in.

* In ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' black eyes with red irises are an undeniable sign of being a Djinni-si, or "dead inside". Vampires are capable of hiding their "dead" eyes though. Also a bit of YMMV on whether that automatically makes one evil too.
* ''Webcomic/SpinaCage'' has a race of human eating faeries with completely blacked out eyes.
* In ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'', [[http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0270.html kobolds would be cute if their eyes weren't large, black, soulless eye sockets.]]
* ''Webcomic/MoonCrest24'': (Averted) Derek has what are basically black circles for his eyes with no sclera to speak of, but is far from evil.
* ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'': [[spoiler:Sakido]] gets solid black eyes when she [[TakingYouWithMe goes]] [[HulkingOut berserk]] while trying to get [[spoiler:Buwaro and Rhea]] [[EscapedFromHell out of Hell]], when she touches [[spoiler:Buwaro's]] [[AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome star pendant]] she regains partial sanity and (ironically) gets BlackEyesOfCrazy.
* In ''WebComic/{{Polandball}},'' when writers want to portray characters as scary or creepy, they may draw the character with all black eyes.
** Most of the time, this works in distilling fear into readers, because it is in jarring contrast with the completely ''white'' eyes they usually have.

* The Dark Queen's true form in ''Literature/SailorNothing''.

* The Lovercraftian [[http://grimreviews.blogspot.com/2008/12/zalgo-comic-chronicles.html ZALGO edits,]] which originated on Website/SomethingAwful.
* The nightmare "Whispers in the Dark" posted on the Website/NightmareProject.

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* [[BigBad Malachite]] from ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''.
[[/folder]]

* [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] from ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]''.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1556921687086010500
%% Previous thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1411918349063308900
%% Please do not change or remove either without starting a new thread.

* Creator/KenAkamatsu, rare in most anime and manga, which opt for RedEyesTakeWarning, prefers black eyes to make his characters in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' look scary. He's also quite fond of BlackEyesOfCrazy, too.
** Evangeline, in particular, does this whenever she wants to scare people.
** [[spoiler:Negi]] does it too, once his BlackMagic kicks in.
** And [[PsychoLesbian Tsukuyomi]] fits both tropes at once.
* Majin Buu (specifically Super Buu, Evil Buu and Kid Buu) of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' fits both this and BlackEyesOfCrazy to a T, having black sclerae and white (for Evil Buu) or red (for Super Buu and Kid Buu) irises.

* Lilith develops this in ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion]]''. Prior to that, in episode 23, Armisael had developed a Rei-like protrusion at one end, which also had Black Eyes of Evil.

* Alexander Gaidar and Tirawit Kokin both naturally have these features. And both are very scary guys.
* In the manga version of ''Anime/TheBigO'', Beck gets this after attacking Roger with the Gigadeus and getting blown away by a Chrome Buster. It's especially creepy as the chapter is structured in such a way that it's hard to tell if it's AllJustADream or not (the imagery is ''trippy'' for the series), and [[spoiler: the part with Beck's eyes turning black is just a line and a full shot of Beck's head taking up a whole page. The last page. Which you have to ''turn the page for''. And comes out of nowhere, but was hinted at as Beck kept asking Roger what Big O was showing him.]]
* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', when Gemini takes the form of a human, sometimes, one or both of its eyes transform back into Gemini's original solid black eye. Although not particularly disturbing on Gemini itself, when the eye is on a human...man, it's scary! In the anime, in the scene when Gemini is posing as Gray cackling evilly and transforming into Lucy, Gray's transformation face could qualify as a NightmareFace.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Aizen's chrysalis stage of his OneWingedAngel form resulted in jet black eyes - no irises, no pupils, not even any visible eye sockets. Nothing. Just black eye shapes on top of a flat face-like surface that didn't even look like it could have eyes (it had no nose or mouth or ears, for example).
** As Nodt's black eyes are creepy and black and seem to gain a strange pale sheen at the edges when he uses his power to give them an even more alien look. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a clue to the basis of his power which, in Vollstandig, targets the eyes of his victims.]]

* {{Evil Twin}}s in ''Oto x Maho'' have these.
* Jaki from ''Manga/{{Gamaran}}'' has heterochromia: one is normal, the other is black with a white iris. Later, Ryuho Kibe's sclerae turns black when he uses Juugan, a battle drug.
* In ''Manga/BungouStrayDogs'', it's stated by WordOfGod that the more evil (or hopeless) a character is, the darker their irises are.
* All of the vampires in ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'' have black sclera and red eyes when their HorrorHunger takes over. The older vampires, namely [[FemmeFatale Chizuru]] and [[BigBad Sunako]], take this further and have solid black eyes. They still have pupils and what not, you just can't see them unless they glow.
* Alluka Zoldyck from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' gets this when she turns into Nanika.

* Downplayed in ''Manga/{{Mahoraba}}''. The Occult Research Club President has ''almost'' entirely black eyes, with just a sliver of white at the outer edges. They still signify her Evil nature, which is more a case of being unholy than malicious.
* Averted with the ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' character that [[AscendedExtra would become Dr. Emil Lang]] in ''Anime/{{Robotech}}''. Although Dr. Lang owes his black eyes to [[TouchedByVorlons being touched by Vorlons]], he remains a personable character. In the aborted ''Sentinels'' animation, they did away with them and actually gave him normal eyes. They returned in recent comic book stories. In the original ''Macross'', Lang was a minor unnamed background character and his all-black eyes was simply one of the trademark quirks of Haruhiko Mikimoto's character designs.
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', a Ghoul's GameFace involves black sclera and [[RedEyesTakeWarning red pupils]]. These are known as "Kakugan", and used as a primary identifier of the species by authorities. Notably, [[HalfHumanHybrid One-Eyed]] Ghouls earn their name from only having a single Kakugan that marks them as half-breeds.
* Very common and used to great effect in the works of Tsutomu Takahashi. Of particular note is the main antagonist of ''Manga/HitoHitoriFutari'', Kouji Kubo.
* Morga, the first youma to show up in ''Manga/SailorMoon'' had these, adding to an already frightening monster.
* The Stardroids in ''Manga/MegaManMegamix''.
* In ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', the main protagonist's partner, Gammamon, sometimes displays these. When they show up, it's a sign that Gammamon is on the verge of evolving into [[SuperPoweredEvilSide GulusGammamon]].

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': Dream, a.k.a. Morpheus, also has completely black eyes, in which, at times, pinpricks of light like distant stars can be seen, as it is said that, by staring into his eyes, you can see the vast emptiness of eternity. He isn't evil, however, or not a typical villain at least, but he can be uncaring (to the point of cruelty) and takes very long to forgive a perceived slight.
* Marvel Comics Characters/TheSentry as [[SuperpoweredEvilSide The Void]].
* In the ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse'', Mickey has occasionally tangled with a trio of simian [[MadScientist mad scientists]] named Professors Ecks, Doublex, and Triplex, who each have distinguishing features to tell them apart. One of Professor Doublex's unique traits is that he has black eyes with white pupils.
* ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'': During the "Up Is Down And Black Is White" arc, a mobster figures out the best way to get under Frank's skin is to desecrate his family's graves. Frank takes his usual violence against criminals [[ExaggeratedTrope Up to Eleven]], and the art style makes it look like his eyes have gone completely black.

* ''ComicBook/RatQueens'' shows these when Hannah calls upon her demonic powers instead of her usual necromancy.

* The title character of ''ComicBook/{{Hillbilly}}'', Rondel, was born with an EyelessFace until a witch cut him some eyes. They appear as completely black holes in his face. He's actually the hero, but he's [[BadPowersGoodPeople got some sinister abilities]] and is more than a little bit CreepyGood.
** In the "Red-Eyed Witchery from Beyond" arc, Rondel is faced with an [[CameFromTheSky extraterrestrial]] curse that turns people into its [[RedEyesTakeWarning red-eyed]] minions. When trying to [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight fight off]] its mind control at the story's climax, he ends his BadassBoast with a defiant "And my eyes are black!"

* This is likely one of the things that makes the pink elephants in ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'' so disturbing. Not only are their eyes black, they appear to be [[EyelessFace empty sockets]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}''. When [[spoiler: Elinor]] turns into a bear, she still has human eyes. But the longer she stays a bear, her humanity starts to slip and she goes feral as her eyes become pitch black.
* The BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'', [[OurLichesAreDifferent the Horned King]], has pitch-black empty eye sockets as eyes by default, though they glow [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]] (with a black pupil) whenever he's darkly excited or ''very'' angry. In close-ups of his face, it is actually possible to see a very little white pupil in the middle of his empty black eyes.

* In ''Film/TheAxeMurdersOfVillisca'', everyone possessed by the ancient evil in the house has their eyes turn black.

* The BigBad of ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' books has these as part of being a Dream Walker. If that wasn't creepy enough, everyone knows when he's looking at them, even though his eyes are effectively black spheres. It's never explained.

* In ''Literature/TheElderScrolls'' novels, Sul describes [[spoiler: Umbra as having eyes "like holes into nothing."]] However, Vuhon's eyes are pure white, instead.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** The god Fate, except, in his case, they aren't actually eyes, but rather openings into a boundless void. While he's not evil, per se, he's an unpleasant, abrasive {{Jerkass God|s}} who usually serves as an antagonistic force to the protagonists (for the simple reason that he exists to enforce the most likely outcome, while heroes are defined by their ability to defy the odds).
** The eyes of Trymon, the villain of ''Literature/TheLightFantastic'', after reading seven of the eight spells of the Octavo.
** Vorbis, the villain of ''Literature/SmallGods'', has completely black eyes (described as a desert adaptation akin to wearing sunglasses inside your eyeballs).
** Mr. Teatime from ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' has an artificial eye that is portrayed like this, while his remaining natural eye has a shrunken iris the size of a pinhole.
* This is a sign of possession by some kind of alien superweapon in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novel ''The Fall of Yquatine''.
* {{Subverted|Trope}} by the Harshini in ''The Hythrun Chronicles'' -- they have obviously inhuman, solid black eyes, but are pretty much the nicest people you could possibly meet and, with the exception of {{Half Human Hybrid}}s, utterly incapable of so much as contemplating the thought of violence or malice. [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Hence why they're almost extinct at the start of the trilogy...]]

* Though the most prominent character with black eyes in the ''Literature/ModernFaerieTales'' books, Kaye Fierch, is not evil, a lot of the other [[TheFairFolk Fair Folk]] have black eyes and evil traits.
* The villain of ''Literature/HeartShapedBox'' has eyes that look like they were scribbled out with a black Sharpie; another character refers to the black blotches as "sunglasses of the living dead".
* Used in the short story [[http://www.creepypasta.com/that-night-in-the-mirror "That Night in the Mirror"]].
* In Lawrence Watt-Evans' ''Lords of Dus'' series, the eyes of the King in Yellow are always hidden in shadow by the hood of his robe, although, occasionally, a brief glint is seen.
* In ''Literature/TheDemonsLexicon'' and the books that follow it, the eyes of demon-possessed people turn black. Nick also has black eyes, [[spoiler:because he's a demon who's been possessing a human body since its birth]], but he's an AntiHero.
* The nameless [[PowerOfTheVoid unmagic mage]] in ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic Magic Steps]]''. Unlike the people who removed his legs and got him hooked on a powerful drug in order to make him help them with their crimes, he's not ''evil'', but he's certainly no longer sane and has become very inhuman.
-->''"When had all the white vanished from his eyes? Now it was like staring into two vast pits. She turned dizzy, as if she might fall, when she met his gaze."''
* The evil creatures in David Nickle's ''Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism''. The cover is especially creepy.
* [[spoiler: Gaithim]] in ''Literature/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned'' gets these as a side effect of [[spoiler: becoming a hoshek]].

* ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'':
** Valentine Morgenstern's eyes are described as black. He's also the genocidal BigBad.
** Thanks to the demon blood, [[spoiler:Sebastian/Jonathan]] had these at birth. Jocelyn was so repulsed by him she refused to care for him.
** [[spoiler:Amatis Herondale when under the influence of the Infernal Cup]].
* The Nightmare Queen in ''Literature/TerraMirumChronicles'' is recognized as a Nightmare for having these eyes.
* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Auf zwei Planeten'' by Creator/KurdLasswitz: The Martians' eyes can turn almost entirely black, but that is because they evolved on a planet much further from the Sun than Earth and so their pupils can dilate so much that they cover most of the visible parts of the eyeballs.
* In the world of ''Literature/AbrahamLincolnVampireHunter'' and ''Literature/TheLastAmericanVampire'', solid black eyes are part of a vampire's GameFace.
* In ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'', the eyes of users of '''Darke Magyk''' turn dark themselves.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
** People permitted to draw directly on the [[GodOfEvil Dark One]]'s power gain tiny motes of darkness that float horizontally across their eyes, becoming more and more numerous until their eyes black out entirely. TheDragon to the Dark One gains them by the end, at which point the power had driven him [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil completely insane]].
** On a more mundane level, the Aiel are often referred to with the epithet "black-eyed", especially when meant negatively. Actual Aiel usually have blue or hazel eyes, and anyone who's fought them would know this, whereas most people ignorantly take the term at face value.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] with the [[TheFairFolk Fae]] Queen Mab. Normally, she has MysticalWhiteHair and IcyBlueEyes and is ''plenty'' dangerous enough; when something personally offends her, she switches her [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow hair and eyes]] to dead-black, which usually means it's far too late to run.
** Used straightforwardly in the case of the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Red Court vampires]], which turn black when they are hungry. It's a glimpse of their true forms (humanoid bat-creatures) under the human disguises.
* Barnabus gets black eyes when uses his [[BlackMagic sorcery]] in ''Literature/TheBarbarianAndTheSorceress''. When [[spoiler: his slave, Kira, uses sorcery against an EldritchAbomination he's summoned, her eyes turn black as well.]]
* In ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'', the Ninth House, members of which typically have extremely dark, almost black eyes, isn't ''evil'', per se, but it is a shitty place to live. [[spoiler:{{Double|Subversion}}]] {{Subverted|Trope}} with the Emperor, who has pitch-black eyes and is a necromancer of incredible power, but he's a kindly father figure sort of character, [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubversion right up until it's revealed that]] he's a monstrous, manipulative, vengeance-driven, sadistic mass murderer, [[EvilAllAlong and has been the whole time]]]].
* ''Literature/TheBarbarianAndTheSorceress'': Barnabus' eyes turn black when he uses his [[BlackMagic sorcery]], [[spoiler: as do Kira's]], though in her case it's subverted as she's doing good.
* {{Subverted|Trope}} by Shane [=DeSoto=] in ''Literature/SuperPowereds''. Whenever he uses his ability to animate shadows into blades, his eyes go solid black. However, he's a really nice guy who tries everything he can not to use his power lethally, is polite and kind to pretty much everyone, and even apologizes for fighting Vince pragmatically in Year 2. But as he showed off in the Year 4 tests... [[BewareTheNiceOnes don't]] [[OneManArmy get on his]] [[CurbStompBattle bad side]].

* The obscure (but apparently cult-ish) 1988 SF-horror miniseries ''Something Is Out There'', starring ex-BondGirl Maryam D'Abo. Those who are being controlled by the evil alien cannibal parasite are shown to have pure black eyes.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman''

* ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'': [[spoiler:It is an established fact in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' lore that Ditto have BlackBeadEyes when they transform. However, in this movie, Ms. Norman the Ditto transforms into ''humans,'' so the eyes become very disturbing and an example of this trope (hence why Ms. Norman [[InhumanEyeConcealers has to wear big black sunglasses in all her human transformations]]).]]

** The god Fate, except, in his case, they aren't actually eyes, but rather openings into a boundless void. While he's not evil, per se, he's an unpleasant, abrasive JerkassGod who usually serves as an antagonistic force to the protagonists (for the simple reason that he exists to enforce the most likely outcome, while heroes are defined by their ability to defy the odds).

* In ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'', the Ninth House, members of which typically have extremely dark, almost black eyes, isn't ''evil'', per se, but it is a shitty place to live. [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubverted Double]]]] {{Subverted|Trope}} with the Emperor, who has pitch-black eyes and is a necromancer of incredible power, but he's a kindly father figure sort of character, [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubversion right up until it's revealed that]] he's a monstrous, manipulative, vengeance-driven, sadistic mass murderer, [[EvilAllAlong and has been the whole time]]]].

* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', whoever is possessed by Bizarro gets black eyes. Also occasionally the case for Comicbook/{{Brainiac}}'s or Comicbook/{{Darkseid}}'s victims.

** The god Fate, except, in his case, they aren't actually eyes, but rather openings into a boundless void.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

* In the Foundation's sister site, ''Wiki/TheWanderersLibrary'', they're [[http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/blackeyes alleged]] to be a symbiotic pairing of a spirit and a child that had a near-death experience.

[[folder:Mythology & Folklore]]
* This one {{Urban Legend|s}}, in which people claim to have encountered "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-eyed_children black-eyed children]]" (also known as "black-eyed beings" and "black-eyed kids", or just BEK), which are pretty much [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what you would expect]] -- {{creepy child}}ren with pure black eyes who are said to mean humans no good at all.
* TheGreys are generally depicted as having completely black eyes, though how evil they are varies depending on which UFO ConspiracyTheorist [[DependingOnTheWriter is telling the story]]. This is sometimes explained as a sort of "natural sunglasses" evolved to cope with the extra sunlight due to their homeworld having BinarySuns (often said to be the Zeta Reticuli system in UFO lore, [[ScienceMarchesOn though astronomers now consider it unlikely there are any planets there]]).
[[/folder]]

* Sonic the Hedgehog Dic Animation cartoons: Whether it's [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog Adventures]], [[WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM SatAM]] or [[WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground Underground]], Dr. Robotnik has black eyes with red pupils.

* Used with the Literature/NightLords of the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' 'verse. Each original member of the Legion has enormous pupils, along with irises and scleræ that are totally black. It gives them nearly perfect night vision: bright lights can cause tissue damage to their eyes along the lines of TearsOfBlood. {{Justified|Trope}}, since the Legion recruited all of its members from its homeworld of [[WretchedHive Nostramo]], where the human population lived in thousands of years of isolation and adapted to Nostamo's state of [[AlwaysNight perpetual darkness]]. [[note]]Almost the entire population were also {{Eerie Pale Skinned Brunette}}s, for the same reason.[[/note]] Within canon, this is a ZigZaggingTrope (being the only army in the Imperium who [[ColdBloodedTorture extensively utilized]] [[TheDreaded terror tactics]]), but played straight after their Primarch declared "ThenLetMeBeEvil". Generally averted in the tabletop game, where they all wear helmets, and [[FridgeLogic probably need them in most conditions]]. This is also averted with normal Space Marines descended from the Raven Guard. A defect in their gene seed causes most of them to become [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunettes]]. Also notable are the Cacharadons whose eyes are also completely black, and tend to be a bite more... [[AxCrazy violent and brutal]] than the other loyalist chapters.

* Excellently done in ''Film/DetectivePikachu.'' [[spoiler: It is an established fact in Pokémon lore that Ditto have BlackBeadEyes when they transform. However, in this movie, Ms. Norman the Ditto transforms into ''humans,'' so the eyes become very disturbing and an example of this trope (hence why Ms. Norman has to wear big black sunglasses in all her human transformations).]]

* ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'': As related by Dr. Loomis, the villainous Michael Myers has "the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes." We never get a close-up to confirm this description, but the space behind the eye holes of Michael's mask is always completely obscured by shadow, giving him a blank white face and solid black eyes.

* In ''Film/{{Ink}}'' (2009), the Key Master Incubus has eyes that are pure black and they occasionally flare white with interest.
* In ''Film/InvasionOfTheBeeGirls'' the titular monsters have compound black eyes.

* Possibly one of the earliest examples in film was in ''Film/TheMummysHand'' (1940), in which the mummy's eyes are completely black - an effect achieved by laboriously painting over the film in post-production.

* In Creator/OliverStone's ''Film/{{Nixon}}'', CIA director Richard Helms' eyes appear to turn completely black for a second due to a coincidentally-timed light reflection, right after Nixon muses that there are things worse than death, and right before Nixon continues that there's such a thing as evil. Needless to say, Helms' real-life relatives had some issues with that scene. Although Helms definitely was a ruthless bastard in real life, implying he was a soulless force of pure evil may have been pushing it. The scene was removed for the theatrical release and [[ReCut only viewable in the Director's Cut.]]

* ''Film/ScreamersTheHunting''. The FiveSecondForeshadowing that a [[TheyLookLikeUsNow human is a Screamer]], before [[RoboticReveal sharp cutting instruments come bursting out of their bodies]].

* Katherine Ross' doppelganger (intended to replace her after she's killed) in ''Film/{{The Stepford Wives|1975}}'' has blank black eyes. (They're supposed to be empty eye sockets, but there was a minor SpecialEffectFailure).

[[folder:Folklore & Mythology]]
* This one {{Urban Legend|s}}, in which people claim to have encountered "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-eyed_children black-eyed children]]" (also known as "black-eyed beings" and "black-eyed kids", or just BEK), which are pretty much [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what you would expect]] -- {{creepy child}}ren with pure black eyes who are said to mean humans no good at all.
* TheGreys are generally depicted as having completely black eyes, though how evil they are varies depending on which UFO ConspiracyTheorist [[DependingOnTheWriter is telling the story]]. This is sometimes explained as a sort of "natural sunglasses" evolved to cope with the extra sunlight due to their homeworld having BinarySuns (often said to be the Zeta Reticuli system in UFO lore, [[ScienceMarchesOn though astronomers now consider it unlikely there are any planets there]]).
[[/folder]]

* In ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'', Creator/NeilGaiman combines this with EyelessFace in the form of the Other World's inhabitants, who all have Black ''Button'' Eyes of Evil. They can be any colour according to TheFilmOfTheBook, but apparently, "black is traditional."

** Subverted with Severus Snape whose eyes are consistently described as black - despite his unpleasant manners, behavior and history, Snape is firmly on Dumbledore's side.
** Inverted with Hagrid ("a giant of a man with beetle-black eyes"), perhaps the most benevolent person in the series.

* The BigBad of Creator/TerryGoodkind's ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' books has these as part of being a Dream Walker. If that wasn't creepy enough, everyone knows when he's looking at them, even though his eyes are effectively black spheres. It's never explained.
* In Creator/GarthNix's early novel ''Literature/TheRagwitch'', the eponymous villain is described as having "black, black pupils." The horror.

* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':

* A sign of possession by some kind of alien superweapon in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures novel ''The Fall of Yquatine''.
* Subverted by the Harshini in ''The Hythrun Chronicles''-- they have obviously inhuman, solid black eyes, but are pretty much the nicest people you could possibly meet and, with the exception of {{Half Human Hybrid}}s, utterly incapable of so much as contemplating the thought of violence or malice. [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Hence why they're almost extinct at the start of the trilogy...]]
* Infected people transforming into the monstrous [[spoiler:vampires]] in Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro's novel ''Literature/TheStrain'' gain "dead black" eyes, among other things. In the case of a Goth-Metal singer, people didn't even notice at first, they thought he still wore his pale make-up and black contact lenses...

* The villain of Creator/JoeHill's ''Literature/HeartShapedBox'' has eyes that look like they were scribbled out with a black Sharpie; another character refers to the black blotches as "sunglasses of the living dead".
* Used in the short story [[http://www.creepypasta.com/that-night-in-the-mirror "That Night in the Mirror."]]

--> "When had all the white vanished from his eyes? Now it was like staring into two vast pits. She turned dizzy, as if she might fall, when she met his gaze."

** Thanks to the demon blood, [[spoiler:Sebastian[=/=]Jonathan]] had these at birth. Jocelyn was so repulsed by him she refused to care for him.

* Subverted in ''Auf zwei Planeten'' by [[Creator/KurdLasswitz Kurd Laßwitz]]: The Martians' eyes can turn almost entirely black, but that is because they evolved on a planet much further from the Sun than Earth and so their pupils can dilate so much that they cover most of the visible parts of the eyeballs.

* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', people permitted to draw directly on the [[UltimateEvil Dark One]]'s power gain tiny motes of darkness that float horizontally across their eyes, becoming more and more numerous until their eyes black out entirely. TheDragon to the Dark One gains them by the end, at which point the power had driven him [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil completely insane]].

* Zig-zagged in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' with the [[TheFairFolk Fae]] Queen Mab. Normally, she has MysticalWhiteHair and IcyBlueEyes and is ''plenty'' dangerous enough; when something personally offends her, she switches her [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow hair and eyes]] to dead-black, which usually means it's far too late to run.

* In ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'', the Ninth House, members of which typically have extremely dark, almost black eyes, isn't ''evil'', per se, but it is a shitty place to live. [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubverted Double]]]] [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with the Emperor, who has pitch-black eyes and is a necromancer of incredible power, but he's a kindly father figure sort of character, [[spoiler:right up until it's revealed that he's a monstrous, manipulative, vengeance-driven, sadistic mass murderer, [[EvilAllAlong and has been the whole time]].]]

* Shane [=DeSoto=] of ''Literature/SuperPowereds'' subverts this ''hard''. Whenever he uses his ability to animate shadows into blades, his eyes go solid black. However, he's a really nice guy who tries everything he can not to use his power lethally, is polite and kind to pretty much everyone, and even apologises for fighting Vince pragmatically in Year 2. But, as he showed off in the Year 4 tests... [[BewareTheNiceOnes don't]] [[OneManArmy get on his]] [[CurbStompBattle bad side]].