History Main / BlindWithoutEm

* ''LightNovel/SorcererStabberOrphen: Revenge'': This is a RunningGag with new character [[TokenMiniMoe Licorice]]. The first episode alone has her gushing to a statue she thinks is Orphen after she drops her glasses.

* ''Fanfic/DateALiveAlteredTimeline'': [[LightNovel/DateALive Nia's]] vision gets blurry if she isn't wearing her glasses.

* Without this trope, the famous ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'' episode "Time Enough at Last" would have lost some of its zing. It's almost reverse FridgeHorror, though, because you realize that eventually he'll think to stumble his way into an optometrist's and find a pair that works reasonably well. He could also have just found himself a magnifying glass.

* In an episode of Series/ISpy, our heroes have to escort a middle-aged mathematician who can't see for a good deal of the episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' reveals that Randall's sinister squinting is a case of this. Mike points out this his camouflage ability would make him very scary, but his glasses ruin the effect, so he ditches the glasses to gain a perpetual squint. Though "blind" is an exaggeration, since he doesn't seem to have much trouble seeing after that point (contact lenses do exist in that world, so maybe he got himself a pair). On the other hand, a constant headache from everything being out of focus could explain his surly personality.

** Also, in the episode "[[''Art/TheStarryNight'' Starry, Starry Night]]", Aurora the telescope is blind without her eyepiece, mistaking the aquarium for a big-screen TV, Lambie for a dog and Chilly for Stuffy, who she thinks is a porcupine. As in the case of Hallie, this is reinforced with point-of-view shots, which indeed shows what she sees as a blurry mess.

** Also, in the episode ''Starry, Starry Night'', Aurora the telescope is blind without her eyepiece, mistaking the aquarium for a big-screen TV, Lambie for a dog and Chilly for Stuffy, who she thinks is a porcupine. As in the case of Hallie, this is reinforced with point-of-view shots, which indeed shows what she sees as a blurry mess.

[[folder:Storytime Animation]]
* The main topic of Brewstew's "Eye Doctor" video
* illymation states in "times I should've realized I was autistic" she needs glasses all the time to see anything at all.
* Kelsey Animated displays this trope in her trilogy detailing the events of having her stroke when she struggles to navigate the hospital without her glasses.
* lulicorn's "I needed glasses for years and never knew."
[[/folder]]

* Riruka Dokugamine from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. She refuses to wear her glasses due to vanity. Actually downplayed: her nearsightedness is brought up only once, in a dark room when Ginjo refuses to turn the lights on, and she shows no obvious signs of needing glasses at any other point.

* ''Manga/TheDisappearanceOfNagatoYukiChan'': While this isn't a problem for her ''LightNovel/{{Haruhi|Suzumiya}}'' self, the alternate universe Yuki Nagato very much suffers from this, to the point where she can't make out Haruhi on first meeting her from a few feet away.

* Subverted for the ''Film/ChildrensPartyAtThePalace''. The premise is that the characters from over 100 years of British children’s literature have to embark on a quest to retrieve the [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen]]’s handbag, which has her reading glasses needed to read her closing speech. Without those specs, then Her Majesty can’t read the speech ([[spoiler: turns out the speech itself was also in the bag]]). The Queen, however, isn’t completely blind without them, just farsighted.

* The version of the Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane appearing in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' claims to be this, as demonstrated in a scene where he jumps out in full costume at [[spoiler:Dream and John Dee]], followed by an apologetic pause to take off his mask and put his glasses back on.

* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': In a series where the majority of glasses-wearing characters [[PurelyAestheticGlasses don't need them]] for vision problems, Estonia is a notable exception, as character notes mention his poor eyesight without them. As he's a {{Nerd}} with a penchant for computers, it could overlap with NerdGlasses. They also help conceal his expressions, as he's said to always have a lot on his mind.

* Subverted in Ronnie Barker's SitCom ''Clarence'' (not to be confused with [[WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}} the animated series of the same name]]). Clarence claims to be this, but in fact he's pretty much blind ''with'' 'em as well. HilarityEnsues.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Connie Maheswaran has eyesight so bad she couldn't even make out Steven's face from a few feet away while he was trying on her glasses in "An Indirect Kiss".This gets fixed by the end of the same episode when Steven accidentally fixes her vision with his [[SuperSPit healing spit]] from [[IndirectKiss a shared juice box]], but she keeps the frames anyway so her parents don't find out. She does stop using the frames when she reveals to her mom that she can see without her glasses.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Everyone's individual prescription differs, but one constant is people with decent vision's impression of blind without 'em. For most people, having your glasses off is just blurry, but not necessarily to the point they can't operate in general. While walking down the street a person without their glasses may not be able to read "stop" on a stop sign, but they can see the big, blurry red thing and can tell they're at an intersection, so the fact that it's a stop sign isn't much of a logical leap. The blurriness is just like an out-of-focus camera, only it's stereoscopic -- some blurs are closer than others.
** Nearsightedness ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia Myopia]]) is when you can focus on things that are close to you, but the farther away things are the more blurry they become. This is the most common reason for vision correction.
** Farsightedness ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperopia Hyperopia]]) is when you can't focus on things right in front of your face -- but your ''distance'' vision is clear. This is more rare than nearsightedness.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astigmatism_%28eye%29 Astigmatism]] is a defect in the shape of the lens or cornea that prevents a sharp image from being projected on the retina, making vision blurry regardless of distance - although they may also have a 'sweet spot' where everything is clear. The unusual shape of their eyeball also makes it very difficult to prescribe contact lenses for them.
* That said, while you may be able to function to some extent without your glasses, actually ''finding'' the [[DroppedGlasses dropped glasses]] can very easily invoke this trope. They're small, often dark-coloured, and blend in with so many things. Many people who have very bad eyesight without their glasses try to keep a spare or old pair in a drawer where they can be easily found to expedite finding their lost current pair of glasses.
* It's very common for people to have different vision levels in each eye. In extreme instances, the brain will respond by ignoring the signal from the weaker eye, resulting in functional blindness in one eye.
* One of the tests required to obtain a driver's license in practically every jurisdiction is a vision test. If you require the use of glasses or contact lenses to pass the test, your license will make note of that fact (usually with a code appended to your license number, or a printed endorsement on the license stating "Corrective Lens" or something similar). For a driver with vision restrictions, driving without correction constitutes a moving violation and will get you ticketed.
** Shows up every season of Series/CanadasWorstDriver; it's mentioned only when a driver fails to fullfil this.
* Creator/ChristopherLambert has Myopia and is almost entirely blind without his glasses. Since he cannot wear contacts, he is often forced to act while unable to see anything clearly (making the fact that almost all his roles require fighting or some form of strenuous physical activity all the more impressive). This is also the reason behind his trademark intense gaze as he is really just trying to see what's in front of him.
* Actor Creator/JamesSpader has such poor eyesight that in any film where he doesn't wear glasses--which is most of them--he can barely make out the face(s) of the other actor(s) in the scene with him.
* It's actually surprisingly common for people who need vision correction but don't have contact lenses to go without their glasses, [[TheGlassesGottaGo if they don't like the way they look with them on]]. It's the little things that usually tip off the people around them - not noticing obvious signage, etc.
** In a surprising aversion, most glasses-wearers (particularly those with Myopia) see '''better''' while underwater without their glasses; plus, in most cases, also see better than "normal"-visioned people. This has to do with the different refractive index of water vs air. This is part of the issue with why prescription goggles are far less popular than prescription sunglasses. It's also why many competitive swimming clubs have a timing clock installed underwater, in addition to one sitting on deck--many swimmers have a far better chance of reading a time clock 10 yards away on the bottom of the pool than a clock sitting on deck at the same distance.
* UsefulNotes/HarryTruman had wanted to attend the MilitaryAcademy at [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks West Point]] as a young man, but his eyesight was so bad they couldn't take him--he could hardly see a thing without his glasses (his left eye was so bad it was beyond the threshold of legal blindness). When UsefulNotes/WorldWarI started, he wanted to join the Missouri National Guard, but realized that he'd face the same problem--so he memorized the eye chart before being told to take his glasses off and ended up a captain in the artillery, i.e. [[{{Irony}} the branch of the Army dedicated to shooting at things really far away]]. He was actually quite successful[[note]]This is probably easier than it sounds, especially for the time - artillery strikes are usually made against targets far beyond the range of even perfect vision, requiring someone to watch through binoculars or telescopes, and the rest is just math--for which Truman had a head, and was in any case ably assisted by some very fancy [[ClockPunk mechanical computers]].[[/note]].
* John Kipling had extremely poor vision without his glasses, and was turned away from the Army in WWI. At his insistence, his father, Creator/RudyardKipling, pulled strings to get him a commission anyway. He died at the Battle of Loos.
* Creator/KatyManning (Jo Grant in ''Series/DoctorWho'') wore thick glasses when off camera. On camera, she was prone to crashing into the scenery or other actors. You know how the Doctor always takes his companion by the hand and runs with her? It started with Jo Grant, because Creator/JonPertwee needed to guide his essentially blind co-star. At one point, Creator/RogerDelgado does the same, which ends up looking like a PetTheDog moment for the Master.
* Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, is blind in his left eye and has little peripheral vision in the other
* Famously, UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt knew how blind he was without his glasses and [[CrazyPrepared had multiple back up glasses attached to his coat]] when he took his volunteer Rough Riders to Cuba so that he'd always have a backup in case he lost his current pair. His eyesight was so poor that, even with glasses, he could only reasonably read large fonts, a fact that wound up saving his life when a thick pocketbook containing a campaign speech slowed an assassin's bullet enough to protect his vital organs.
* Film composer Franz Waxman scalded his eyes when he was three years old, permanently impairing his vision and forcing him to wear thick glasses for the rest of his life.
* Creator/ElijahWood. Even though his [[WhatBeautifulEyes round, bright blue eyes]] are his most striking facial feature, he's horribly nearsighted and is never without glasses or contact lenses. The {{irony}} has not escaped him or his ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' co-stars, as explained in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u05hcDVKSIk this]] behind the scenes video.
* American tenor Jan Peerce, who sang with the Metropolitan Opera in the mid-20th century, was so nearsighted that, whenever he was offstage, he had to wear glasses with lenses that were, in his own words, "as thick as the bottom of Coca-Cola bottles."
* Creator/JohnnyDepp's CoolShades are actually specially tuned glasses to help correct his incredibly poor vision in his right eye. He's essentially blind in his left eye glasses or no glasses.
* Stephanie Beatriz of ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' is very nearsighted and also has severe astigmatism, but can't wear contact lenses. Because of this, she can barely make out the faces of her co-stars while acting and confesses to often missing her mark because she has trouble making it out, despite the crew using bright-pink tape to try and make it stand out as much as possible.
* Ananda Mahidol/[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Ananthamahidon]]/King Rama VIII of UsefulNotes/{{Thailand}} was extremely short-sighted. This was one of the facts that made suicide an unlikely explanation for his mysterious death -- when his body was found he wasn't wearing his glasses, but his eyesight was so bad he couldn't have accurately aimed and fired a gun without them.
* Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui got famous during the Usefulnotes/OlympicGames for twice [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPq2h6INqLA not discovering her results until the post-run interview]]. Given that when receiving her medals [[https://exame.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/size_960_16_9_fu-yuanhui1.jpg?quality=70&strip=info she worn glasses]], it became clear Fu couldn't read the scoreboard from the pool.
[[/folder]]

* Kelsey Animated displays this trope in her trilogy detailing the events of having her stroke when struggles to navigate the hospital without her glasses.

* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', Jeff describes himself as "really nearsighted". So, he's probably blind without 'em, but never loses his OpaqueNerdGlasses.

* Mr. Herriman on ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' is blind without his ''[[HighClassGlass monocle]]''. Though when he hears Bloo and looks ''very'' closely, we [[PaintingTheMedium through his perspective]] as he spends [[DownplayedTrope an extended time focusing his poor sight on the troublemaker to see him clearly enough.]]

* Mr. Herriman on ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' is blind without his ''[[HighClassGlass monocle]]''.

* Ignis Scientia in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' claims that his vision is "passable without corrective lenses", but given that he's a party member in a [[WorldOfBadass Final Fantasy game]], the context of "I won't need to waste time digging out my spares when we're fighting a PhysicalGod" should be taken into account. During a sidequest, they get snatched by a wild chocobo; Noctis observes that he'd ''never'' seen Ignis without his glasses, and Ignis observes that without them, he could barely make out Noctis' face. [[spoiler:[[FunnyAneurysmMoment Later in the game]], he goes '''completely''' blind.]]

* Actor Creator/JamesSpader has such poor eyesight that in any film where he doesn't wear glasses--which is most of them--he can barely make out the face(s) of the other actor(s) in the scene with him..

** Maylene the maid is so farsighted she doesn't need a sight on her sniper rifles. However, that makes ordinary tasks as a housemaid rather difficult. She's BlindWithoutEm, barely functioning with 'em.