History Main / TheUnblinking

* L from ''Anime/DeathNote'' never blinks, to emphasize his off-putting appearance and highly observant nature. [[spoiler:The one time in the series his eyes noticeably close is when he dies.]]

* Darth Maul in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' of the villainous variety. He only blinks once: after Obi-Wan bisects him.

* Lady Kesa, the LadyMacbeth figure in Creator/AkiraKurosawa's ''{{Theatre/Macbeth}}'' adaptation ''Film/ThroneOfBlood'', never blinks. This adds to her creepiness as she urges her husband on to murder.

* ''Literature/TheCurseOfM'' has Doctor von Rached, who blinks so rarely that it creeps out his [[PlayingWithSyringes patient-prisoners]] and even some of the staff. [[spoiler:His [[ChildByRape children]] inherit the trait, which is one reason some people suspect he's actually their father.]]
* ''Literature/BreakingDawn'': Referenced after Bella becomes a vampire and has to learn how to act human again; one of the tips she gets is to remember to blink at least three times per minute.
* ''Literature/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy:'' One of the few external signs that Ford Prefect is an alien is that he doesn't blink very much, though he does it if he's surprised enough.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. In "The Invasion", the Doctor notices something odd about CorruptCorporateExecutive Tobias Vaughn. [[spoiler:He's been given a cybernetic body by the Cybermen, whom he's in league with.]]

* In ''Series/TheDropout'' the series about the Theranos scandal, Elizabeth Holmes is shown to avoid blinking as much as possible when talking to people. Combined with her artificial contralto (both traits present in her real-life counterpart) it makes her come across as robotic.
* In ''Series/{{Wednesday}}'' the titular character almost never blinks. This is done to unnerve the audience and make Wednesday seem creepier.

* In ''VideoGame/BearWithMe'', unlike the other characters [[HumanoidAbomination The Red Man]] has no blinking animation.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* "Ninja" Brian Wecht from Music/NinjaSexParty and WebVideo/GameGrumps is known for this. For example, he once [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQGPNWTBbj0 ate a hot pepper]] and stared at the camera for more than 3 minutes without blinking once! ("Ninja Brian only blinks when you do.")

** In the rap battle between two serial killers, UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper and [[Film/SilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter,]] neither one of them is seen blinking. The latter's case is a nod to his film.

** UsefulNotes/RobertOppenheimer doesn't blink in his battle with ComicBook/{{Thanos}} - it adds to the ThousandYardStare.
* Daniel from ''WebAnimation/CampCamp'' never blinks, which adds to his creepy [[spoiler:cult leader]] vibe.
* Youtuber Kennie J.D. brings up the trope when talking about one of the characters in the movie [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DouhpIp9nig Teeth.]]
-->'''Kennie:''' I knew he was a weirdo because ''he doesn't blink enough for me!'' The theory I have is that evil people don't blink enough because they're thinking of all the evil sh*t they wanna do, so they don't remember to do basic human functions. Think about it. When have you ever felt comfortable with someone staring at you without blinking?

* In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', Dipper claimed that Mabel's new boyfriend Norman "never blinks". He eventually comes to the conclusion that he is a zombie [[spoiler:only to be proven wrong when he was revealed to be a bunch of gnomes instead]].

* In the 1961 British horror movie ''The Snake Woman'', the title character never blinks as part of her snake-like qualities (that and the whole shedding skin and [[ScaledUp turning into a cobra]]). When she was born, the fact that the baby had cold skin and never blinked raised a cry of BurnTheWitch by the requisite TorchesAndPitchforks mob.

* The 1964 British sci-fi ''Unearthly Stranger'', the main character begins to suspect that his wife is an alien due to a number of inhuman characteristics, one of which is not blinking. To further confuse things, she does blink on several occasions, as if she suspects he's onto her.

* While Judge Doom of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' wears dark glasses nearly all the time, Creator/ChristopherLloyd decided to not blink in shots where his eyes are visible. [[spoiler:This is a clue to his true nature as a Toon in disguise.]]

* In ''Series/TheDropout'' the series about the Theranos scandal, Elizabeth Holmes is shown to avoid blinking as much as possible when talking to people. Combined with her artificial ContraltoOfDanger (both traits present in her real-life counterpart) it makes her come across as robotic.

* Darth Maul in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' of the villainous variety.

[[folder:Film -- Animation]]

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

A character who never blinks or ceases blinking for a particular extended period. A relatively subtle way of invoking an UncannyValley effect, usually to enhance a character's creepy, inhuman or evil nature. May be used as a "tell" that a character is a vampire, a robot, or otherwise not human, but unblinking characters may just be very creepy humans.

* L from ''Anime/DeathNote'' never blinks, to emphasize his off-putting appearance and highly observant nature

* The titular characters of ''WesternAnimation/RaggedyAnnAndAndyAMusicalAdventure'' are a more benign example; the trope here is used to highlight the fact that the characters are dolls.

* ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'': The animators made Sephiroth never blink, in order to convey that he had become a HumanoidAbomination that merely ''looked'' human but very much was not.
* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShell1995'', The Major never blinks, since she is a full body cyborg. This is especially noticeable in one long, unbroken shot of her head on that lasts well over a minute.

* L from ''Anime/DeathNote'' never blinks, to emphasize his off-putting appearance and highly-observant nature

* Kaa from ''Film/TheJungleBook2016''. While it's justified in that snakes can't blink anyway, the way the scene is framed and the emphasis on her [[HypnoticEyes eyes]] makes the whole thing that much more noticeable and off.

A character who never blinks or ceases blinking for a particular extended period. A relatively subtle way of invoking an UncannyValley effect, usually to enhance a character's creepy, inhuman or evil nature.

* Kaa from ''Film/TheJungleBook2016''. While it's justified in that snakes can't blink anyway, the way the scene is framed and the emphasis on her [[HypnoticEyes eyes]] makes the whole thing that much more noticeable and off.
* In ''Film/DarkShadows'', Barnabas Collins never blinks, which makes sense since he's a vampire. All instances of Creator/JohnnyDepp's blinking were removed digitally to add an UncannyValley factor to the character.
* In the 1961 British horror movie ''The Snake Woman'', the title character never blinks as part of her snake-like qualities (that and the whole shedding skin and [[ScaledUp turning into a cobra]]). When she was born, the fact that the baby had cold skin and never blinked raised a cry of BurnTheWitch by the requisite TorchesAndPitchforks mob.
* The 1964 British sci-fi ''Unearthly Stranger'', the main character begins to suspect that his wife is an alien due to a number of inhuman characteristics, one of which is not blinking. To further confuse things, she does blink on several occasions, as if she suspects he's onto her.

* While it doesn't apply to the character normally, [[StalkerWithACrush Rebecca]] from ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' has a song where she never blinks, "I'm Just a Girl in Love". It's about her [[ObsessionSong romantic obsession with Josh]] and how [[BlatantLies she has no issues to address]], and the creepy unblinking smile through the whole thing helps sell the mania and the slightly off feeling of the song. When Trent sings his own version of the song, he doesn't blink either.

* In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', Dipper claimed that Mabel's new boyfriend Norman "never blinks". He eventually comes to the conclusion that he is a zombie [[spoiler:only to be proven wrong when he was revealed to be a bunch of gnomes instead]].

* In ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'', Miaya Gekkogahara never blinks, which along with her never speaking a word adds to her uncanny aura. We find out in episode 4 that this is because [[spoiler:she's actually a robot controlled by Monaca]].

* Kaa from ''Disney/TheJungleBook2016''. While it's justified in that snakes can't blink anyway, the way the scene is framed and the emphasis on her [[HypnoticEyes eyes]] makes the whole thing that much more noticeable and off.

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * Kaa from ''Disney/TheJungleBook2016''. %% Incomplete example - is Kaa creepy/inhuman/evil?

* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'', The Major never blinks, since she is a full body cyborg. This is especially noticeable in one long, unbroken shot of her head on that lasts well over a minute.

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]