History Main / UncannyValley

JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith the video game ''VideoGame/UncannyValley'', the fifth anniversary ''Website/ChannelAwesome'' special ''WebVideo/TheUncannyValley'', or Uncanny Valley from ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug''.

--->'''Loomis:''' I met him fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left. No reason, no, uh, conscience, no understanding and even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes, the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... ''evil''.

* Harry Potter is creeped out by conjured items in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11364705/2/Barefoot Barefoot]]'' because of his ability to read the history of anything he touches. Conjured items only have a history of minutes or hours and it weirds him out, especially since he can often tell the history of something from before it was made (such as how old a tree was when it's wood was used to make a wand).
* ''[[FanFic/{{Bird}} Bird]]'' features Charnel, a woman who has been radically altered by a wetware Tinker into some kind of bio-mechanical doll-person. She is also stated by the author to be an expy of the [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Plain Doll]], so this makes a lot of sense. Charnel herself is fairly pleasant and benign, though unsettling at first.
* The fic ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/61354/1/brony-steve-makes-out-with-fluttershy/brony-steve-makes-out-with-fluttershy Brony Steve Makes Out With Fluttershy]]''. As part of a {{deconstruction}} of the typical WishFulfillment SelfInsertFic, the protagonist realizes that the cartoonish ponies look rather grotesque with their half-horse, half-human features. The author has also [[http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/109190/the-hie-uncanny-valley dedicated a blog post]] to this issue.
* In spite of being heroes, the main characters from ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'' creep most of people out because they can tell what those teenagers may look human but they're [[HumanoidAbomination something different and very dangerous]].

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/361829 The Gloaming]]'', a ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'' rewrite, vampires' status as an InhumanlyBeautifulRace falls into this -- upon meeting Alice, Bella thinks that she looks more like a porcelain doll than a normal person.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/8793565/chapters/20159878 How the Light Gets In]]'', following Laurel's death a funeral home prepares her body for viewing by family. Dean and Thea were both deeply unsettled by her appearance, likening it to a wax figurine. As Thea puts it "all the makeup in the world can't make a corpse look like anything but a corpse." She then has to desperately try to forget how Laurel looked in the morgue ''and'' funeral home, finding both appearances too disturbing.
* Loopers caught up in ''FanFic/TheInfiniteLoops'' will sometimes muse on how non-looping individuals and even nonawake versions of looping individuals are disturbingly static and predictable. On the flip side, young loopers or particularly competent nonloopers will sometimes view Loopers as strange eldritch forces inhabiting the bodies of their friends.

* In ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'', Paul's eyes turn golden after he's hit by lightning, which weirds Ringo out "because he looked so goddamned inhuman."
* Leviathan in ''Fanfic/ManehattansLoneGuardian'' has this effect on the city's residents, to them being a living mass of metal that looks and acts as if it were alive but clearly isn't. Between this uncanniness and her standard white undersuit making her look like a living doll, the pediophobic Ebony Evening in particular has a difficult time dealing with her.
* G1 ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' "twinkle-eyed ponies" get this treatment in ''Fanfic/AMightyDemonSlayerGroomsSomePonies''. As their eyes are just [[EyeScream unmoving gemstones]], their faces seem creepily emotionless no matter what their mood is.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Morphic}}'', this comes into effect in Chapter 13 after [[spoiler: Jean accidentally "evolves," causing her face and limbs to get out of proportion]]. The trope title is even stated word for word.
* In ComicBook/XMen fanfic ''FanFic/MutatisMutandis'', Northstar is basically described as vampirically beautiful. Rogue notices when she stares at Northstar's face for more than a few minutes, he looks so eerily perfect that he seems creepy and surreal.
* Everyone finds Kaworu unsettling in ''Fanfic/NeonMetathesisEvangelion'', whether it's his odd manner of speaking, unusual conversation topics, or constant smile. Furthermore, Maya is highly unnerved that in Sync tests his sync ratio never moves at all, something she finds completely inhuman as it would mean he's always focusing on the task to the exact same degree with the exact same success.
* Nebiros in ''New Dawn'' is already an outlandish looking demonic clown, barely even human looking, so it might count as an aversion, as he does not look human enough to qualify for the trope. [[spoiler: However, it is played straight with his speaking patterns. He talks as a whole like a young teenager, has no sense of personal space, views reality as a game and is oh so enthusiastic in a very child-like way about what he does. And, suffice to say, he does not see anything wrong with being a serial killer: "Because its so fun, watching em flail about like a fishy!"]]
* Although a lot of it is heavily [[DependingOnTheWriter dependent on the individual writer]] due to the [[RecursiveFanfiction general nature of these works]], many {{Deconstruction Fic}}s for ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureau'' depict the Newfoals (humans turned into ponies through a magical potion) as giving off this vibe to humans and natural born ponies.
** In ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauNotAlone'' and its sequel ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauConquerTheStars'', the newfoals are able to get sad, scared and even annoyed and frustrated, but they can't get angry or assert themselves. The natural born ponies are revealed to be unsettled by this, while the humans are just put off by how the newfoals possess their former human selves' memories and none of their original personality.
** In ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'', aside from being [[PerpetualSmiler perpetually smiling]], glassy-eyed {{Extreme Doormat}}s with no free will or individuality (to the point where many characters liken them to zombies), TCB!Trixie also points out that ''every'' single Newfoal, no matter how long it's been since they were ponified, is a blank flank, and she treats it as the unsettling icing on top of the creepiness cake. It's basically GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul taken up to eleven and then some.
*** To a lesser extent, Comet Tail in the Asia Side Story finds regular earth horses to be rather unsettling and strange looking, though she notes they are still just somewhat better than the Newfoals. Another character named Sergei references this trope by name.
** In ''Fanfic/TheNegotiationsVerse'', Twilight Sparkle inwardly admits that even when she still had complete faith in Celestia and wholeheartedly supported the conversion of humanity, the newfoals always rubbed her the wrong way with how they always seemed to be "''too'' nice" and constantly happy. Pinkie Pie even noted how fake their smiles looked before the war kicked off (though unlike Fluttershy, who defected to aid humanity, Pinkie didn't act on her own doubts about the conversion).
* Enforced in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheNightmareHouse'': The dancers in Lucy's nightmare have blue (later [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]]), pupilless blue eyes.
* Invoked by Vision in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/17293931/chapters/54117562#workskin Passion and Justice]]'', having perfected the ability to speak in a way that's just off kilter enough to sound calm but faintly terrifying, which he uses when interrogating someone.

* In ''Fanfic/ThroughADiamondSky,'' Jordan takes the doppelganger issue mostly in stride...but is never entirely sure what to make of her husband's double, Clu.

* ''Manga/DeathNote'' aims for this with L's design, with his [[LooksLikeCesare rather unhealthy, pale skin tone]], [[CreepyShadowedUndereyes huge eyebags under his bulbous eyes]], and his facial features and expressions overall being drawn in a more exaggerated way than the other characters. Given the numbers of fans L has, this backfired.

** In the ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' book ''Night Horrors: The Unbidden'', there's a genetic ailment called the Ractain Strain, actually the result of a semi-successful incursion by an Abyssal entity called the Ractain. Those possessing the Strain have leonine features, lobeless, flat ears, and a general sense of something being ''off''. This imposes a penalty to Social rolls, as people find them ''very'' offputting. (Taking [[HeadTurningBeauty the Striking Looks merit]] can help negate the penalty, as it makes the unusual features of being a Strain bearer look more exotic than creepy.) They ''especially'' bother werewolves, as their scent is completely wrong; as such, werewolves absolutely refuse to associate with Ractain Strain bearers, and thus they can't be wolf-blooded.

* The ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' roleplaying game ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'' puts a different spin on the Uncanny Valley. The player characters are {{artificial human}}s, ranging from [[OurZombiesAreDifferent reanimated corpses]] to [[{{Golem}} magically animated statues]], who appear human through the [[PaperThinDisguise thinnest]] of [[{{Glamour}} supernatural veneers]]. {{Muggles}} can tell the difference on some deep, fundamental level, meaning that spending too much time around them is enough cause to haul out the TorchesAndPitchforks.
** ''Saturnine Night'' gives us a more "routine" example with Dr. Robot Hughes, a scientist whose lifelong goal is the creation of successful sex robots. His previous attempts were all ''terrible'' failures due to the Uncanny Valley. Only when a ''Qashmal'' guided him to an unconscious Galateid did he manage to create one that actually worked - and that was because he'd unwittingly created a clone.
* A similar effect happens to [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem''. As they get older and lose touch with their [[KarmaMeter Humanity]], it gets harder for them to interact nicely with mortals. They forget to do things like blink, breathe, vary their vocal inflections or send off the other signals that humans unconsciously do without thinking. Even if they do make an effort to do all these things, vampires that have lost enough Humanity will appear like walking, talking corpses:
-->A Kindred with low Humanity can put great effort into acting like a living person. He can force himself to breathe and remind himself to blink now and then... but he can't fake that subtle, unconscious dance of nonverbal interaction. Mortals soon pick up on this. They cannot consciously spot the problem, but their instincts tell them that something is '''''very wrong''''' and they should '''''get away'''''.
** The Nosferatu clan gets this ''all the time'', no matter how high their Humanity. Some of them look just plain ugly, but others might look perfectly normal... but when they interact with other people, they may carry about them the sterile scent of a hospital ward, or a gaze like they want to see what the other person's guts look like. They always carry the idea that there's something ''wrong'' directly centered on them. There's even an entire [[PrestigeClass bloodline]] devoted to inverting the curse by [[BloodBath bathing in blood]] to improve their appearance... and even then, it doesn't work, because they become ''[[InhumanlyBeautifulRace too beautiful]]'' to be anything human.
** This is also the case in the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness. In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', a vampire has to spend blood in order to mimic a human, and the cost rises quickly with a falling humanity. Additionally, skin tones and monstrous features become more and more pronounced as a vampire forsakes humanity, and alternate moral paths which abandon humanity make vampires ''unable'' to spend blood to mimic human functions.
* Another World of Darkness example is the Ingamu from ''TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial''. Like all Beasts, they draw from a strain of fears, and their fear is of "the other." As such, there's a sense that they just ''aren't'' right... which is driven home by their Horrors, which often appear human but has something distinctly ''off' about them.

** The Elan race have this. Their skin is too perfect, their hair too red. This is because they are [[HumanoidAbomination aberrations]] that merely look human. This also justifies their -2 Charisma.
** Likewise, changelings in ''TableTopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' (the HalfHumanHybrid offspring of [[MageSpecies hags]]), at least in the lore. They're AlwaysFemale and conventionally attractive, but their otherworldly demeanor and minor deformities (like heterochromia) make them disconcerting to be around.
** In both cases, expect actual real-life people to react with a FreakinessShame, or at least mock the blatant attempts at letting players play a SoBeautifulItsACurse character, while still MinMaxing for low Charisma.

** The card Fleshmad Steed's flavor text sums up this trope pretty well.
--> ''More disturbing than the unknown is a distortion of the familiar.''

** In-universe, Blanks, people who are born without a soul. While they look and act like completely regular people, other people are subconsciously aware of their lack of a soul, and the sheer unnaturalness of it causes them to instinctively hate and fear Blanks. Even if being a Blank makes you immune to the Warp, [[BlessedWithSuck it won't do much good when you get lynched by an angry mob]].

* This is effectively what gives away upgraded Manei Domini agents in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. They are cyborgs who have been given a variety of implants, most of which are subdermal in nature. In theory any one high-quality implant is largely hidden, as is the case for standard characters who may need them. Too many, however, and they become subtly inhuman--agents with subdermal armor or strength enhancers have bodies that look more like a Rob Liefeld drawing than anything human, while agents with secret bio-weapon upgrades have odd patterns of head movement and speech because the location of the implants in their throats and mouths makes them sound 'off.' The tabletop roleplaying game ''Mechwarrior'' reflects this by forcing such affected characters to take unavoidable flaws that reduce their Charisma rating and make it harder to interact with others. This is helped by the fact that Manei Domini tend not to be the sanest of individuals to begin with, and all the cybernetic implants they receive [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul frequently cause further]] SanitySlippage.
* The Whateleys from ''{{TabletopGame/Deadlands}}'' are an entire family of uncanny valley residents, thanks to a combination of [[DealWithTheDevil demonic influence to gain magical powers]] and a family tree that's really more of a [[TangledFamilyTree family stunted shrub]]. Player character Whateleys in ''Reloaded'' take a noticeable Charisma penalty to represent that they freak everyone around them out. (Unless they're female, in which case they can choose to instead be "exotic" and get a Charisma bonus.)
* In the ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' book ''Night Horrors: The Unbidden'', there's a genetic ailment called the Ractain Strain, actually the result of a semi-successful incursion by an Abyssal entity called the Ractain. Those possessing the Strain have leonine features, lobeless, flat ears, and a general sense of something being ''off''. This imposes a penalty to Social rolls, as people find them ''very'' offputting. (Taking [[HeadTurningBeauty the Striking Looks merit]] can help negate the penalty, as it makes the unusual features of being a Strain bearer look more exotic than creepy.) They ''especially'' bother werewolves, as their scent is completely wrong; as such, werewolves absolutely refuse to associate with Ractain Strain bearers, and thus they can't be wolf-blooded.

** To commemorate the 50th anniversary of ''[[Magazine/ShonenJump Weekly Jump]]'', Oda drew Luffy alongside Goku from the ''Dragon Ball'' series. The problem is that Oda didn't even try to draw the latter to fit in his artstyle and ended up giving him ''[[https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/zweinsyagyftgsdxiu1t.jpg Luffy's face]]''.
** Nearly everybody in ''One Piece: Anime/BaronOmatsuriAndTheSecretIsland'' thanks to Mamoru Hosoda’s direction, Tatsuya Kushida (who worked on ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]'' and ''Anime/{{Akira}}'')'s animation combined with the [[TheUndead context]] of the story, which is very unlike One Piece (which is saying something). While the movie is still quite good, it's very unsettling to fans. DJ Kappa [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQLzLRft3-F4MTKVO4CVE_Uy2BnqHbPEKwuzQ&usqp=CAU in particular is exceptionally creepy]].
** Another movie example with ''Anime/OnePiece3DStrawHatChase'' the first and so far only entirely CG ''One Piece'' film. As technically impressive as the film is, it still brushes against this trope, as Oda’s stylised characters can be very jarring when put in 3D, especially [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/onepiece/images/5/58/Franky_Movie_11_Outfit.png/revision/latest?cb=20130624091657 Franky]] and [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/a1ffed3f4e185ca5c8c39133c6925f8a/tumblr_nc5yziNlvb1rtu6o1o6_r1_500.gif Brook]] and it also doesn’t help that characters have [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/4fd38b166ef2c1415fa84163e2aac892/tumblr_nc5yziNlvb1rtu6o1o2_r1_500.gif rather]] [[https://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqsmqjv1WT1qklm53o1_500.gif stiff]] [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/f6e67f5009ef9ad3b09bd976cc8bdd1c/tumblr_nc5yziNlvb1rtu6o1o3_r1_500.gif movements]]. [[CanonForeigner Canon Foreigners]], [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8f/97/6c/8f976c21e5caca2cfccd1437c6bc66d3.png Schneider]] and his dog [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EB21CB_WsAATGa9?format=jpg&name=small Buzz]] are particularly freaky looking. ''VideoGame/OnePiecePirateWarriors'' despite also being in 3D, doesn’t dip into the Uncanny Valley nearly as much.

* ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'': Bendy is drawn in a simple rounded 1930s art style, but has an [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/bendy-and-the-ink-machine/images/3/32/ArtDep3.png/revision/latest?cb=20180515154227 uncomfortably forced grin]] that clashes with the style just enough to look... ''wrong''.

* ''Fanfic/AlienSpeciesCrossoverReturnToLV426'': Because of his behavior, [[ArtificialHuman Pike]] falls into this. The other Marines are uncomfortable around him because he's [[TheStoic too still, too stoic, too disciplined]]. He doesn't relax, he seems ''incapable'' of relaxing, always at some form of attention. He doesn't chatter or joke around, [[TheQuiteOne he only speaks when spoken to and only replies with short, direct responses]]. [[HalfHumanHybrid Lise]] is a downplayed version; it's noted several times that there's something too perfect, too flawless about her beauty, that she's ''inhumanly'' beautiful, but it doesn't put anyone off.

* ''Fanfic/AlienSpeciesCrossoverReturnToLV426'': Because of his behavior, [[ArtificialHuman Pike]] falls into this. The other Marines are uncomfortable around him because he's too still, too stoic, too disciplined. He doesn't relax, he seems ''incapable'' of relaxing, always at some form of attention. He doesn't chatter or joke around, he only speaks when spoken to and only replies with short, direct responses. [[HalfHumanHybrid Lise]] is a downplayed version; it's noted several times that there's something too perfect, too flawless about her beauty, that she's ''inhumanly'' beautiful, but it doesn't put anyone off.

* ''Fanfiction/AlienSpeciesCrossoverReturnToLV426'': Because of his behavior, [[ArtificialHuman Pike]] falls into this. The other Marines are uncomfortable around him because he's too still, too stoic, too disciplined. He doesn't relax, he seems ''incapable'' of relaxing, always at some form of attention. He doesn't chatter or joke around, he only speaks when spoken to and only replies with short, direct responses. [[HalfHumanHybrid Lise]] is a downplayed version; it's noted several times that there's something too perfect, too flawless about her beauty, that she's ''inhumanly'' beautiful, but it doesn't put anyone off.

** Fukuro of [=CP9=] is just plain weird, thanks to his big round body and his vaguely disturbing, rotten-looking zipper teeth. Plus, there's the insistence of having him by voiced by a female seiyuu in the anime, which just adds to the uncanny.

** Most the villains and zombies in Thriller Bark go straight into Uncanny Valley territory, though it's ''mostly'' PlayedForLaughs. The tree zombie [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/onepiece/images/d/d4/MocDonald_Anime_Infobox.png/revision/latest?cb=20130604224554 is very creepy]] since it's got a human face stitched to a tree trunk. Hogback and Absalom are very off-putting, especially in Absalom's case since he's not a zombie but still has the mouth of lion and other "parts". Perona and Cindry are more attractive but still have their creepy moments. Finally, Gecko Moria looks like an outright monster despite being supposedly "human".
*** In a similar vein, we have the Homies from Whole Cake Island. While a lot of them are merely talking animals (something not unique to One Piece), others are [[AnimateInanimateObject talking inanimate objects]]. This, combined with the ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' aesthetic, results in an [[https://img.mghubcdn.com/file/imghub/one-piece-colored/827/16.jpg extremely]] [[https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DelayedCorruptAfricanfisheagle-size_restricted.gif eerie]] effect. Made all the more creepy by the fact Homies are actually made from people's [[SoulJar souls]].
** Duval's [[http://www.onepiecepodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Duvals_Original_Appearance.png original face]] is very uncanny before Sanji rearranges it. Of course, thanks to his personalty, he's still [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QLcWQkT2Q5o/maxresdefault.jpg pretty freaky]] even with his new face.

** Nearly everybody in ''One Piece: Anime/BaronOmatsuriAndTheSecretIsland'' thanks to Mamoru Hosoda’s direction, Tatsuya Kushida (who worked on ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]'' and ''Anime/{{Akira}}'')'s animation combined with the [[TheUndead context]] of the story, which is very unlike One Piece (which is saying something). While the movie is still quite good, it's very unsettling to fans. DJ Kappa [[https://i.skyrock.net/4238/87434238/pics/3247888404_1_9_5p26T2qA.jpg in particular is exceptionally creepy]].
** Another movie example with ''Anime/OnePiece3DStrawHatChase'' the first and so far only entirely CG ''One Piece'' film. As technically impressive as the film is, it still brushes against this trope, as Oda’s stylised characters can be very jarring when put in 3D, especially [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/onepiece/images/5/58/Franky_Movie_11_Outfit.png/revision/latest?cb=20130624091657 Franky]] and [[https://www.vankaizer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Mugiwara-chase-Brook.jpg Brook]] and it also doesn’t help that characters have rather [[https://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqsmqjv1WT1qklm53o1_500.gif stiff]] [[https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SkinnyShallowFalcon-size_restricted.gif movements]]. [[CanonForeigner Canon Foreigners]], [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8f/97/6c/8f976c21e5caca2cfccd1437c6bc66d3.png Schneider]] and his dog [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EB21CB_WsAATGa9?format=jpg&name=small Buzz]] are particularly freaky looking. ''VideoGame/OnePiecePirateWarriors'' despite also being in 3D, doesn’t dip into the Uncanny Valley nearly as much.

'''Kai:''' Maybe. But I do like that they'll never kick me, or throw me off, or trample me, or generally act like jerks towards me…