History UnintentionalUncannyValley / Literature

** A couple of novels have this apply to the Doctor, who is, after all, a HumanAlien. One instance is after he's [[{{Fainting}} fainted]] at a sideshow:

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/ShadowsInTheMoonlight", in [[DreamingOfTimesGoneBy Olivia's dream]], even the [[HalfHumanHybrid demigod son]] has an inhuman touch, but when his PhysicalGod father appears:
-->''the alloy of humanity that softened the godliness of the youth was lacking in the features of the stranger, awful and immobile in their beauty.''

* In Rick Griffin's ''Literature/{{Argo}}'', androids are usually designed to look like {{Funny Animal}}s to avoid this trope, so that humans would be less intimidated by them.

* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia'': [[invoked]] Discussed in ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', not as a vague feeling of uneasiness, but as a ''general moral rule'' in-universe:
-->'''Mr. Beaver''': There may be two views about Humans (meaning no offence to the present company). But there's no two views about things that look like Humans and aren't.\\
'''Mrs. Beaver''': I've known good dwarfs.\\
'''Mr. Beaver''': So've I, now you come to speak of it, but precious few, and they were the ones least like men. But in general, take my advice, when you meet anything that's going to be Human and isn't yet, or used to be Human once and isn't now, or ought to be Human and isn't, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.

* ''Literature/LunarChronicles'':

** Barty Crouch Senior has this when he's under the influence of the Imperius Curse, his face is gaunt and skull-like and Harry and Dumbledore think he is unwell. When he partially breaks though the curse, he acts completely unnatural flipping between two [[SplitPersonality personalities]]: one where he knows what happening and is panicked and the other where he is deluded but ironically acting more sane. Barty Crouch's son has some of this when he's revealed, but the movie where he's played by Creator/DavidTennant takes it UpToEleven thanks to his ManiacTongue.

* The titular antagonist ''Literature/{{IT}}'' in Creator/StephenKing's novel, the genesis of the MonsterClown Pennywise has this trope in spades. Even when he's not transformed and is just talking normally as the clown, IT stares intensely at the children in hunger, plus he has no shadow when the sun directly behind him all adding to the uncanny. It gets even more terrifying when at one point he has the face of Georgie Denbrough, in a scene that was ''thankfully'' left out of the two live action adaptions.

* The villainous Gray Agents of Sean Cullen's ''Literature/HamishX'' series of novels are described as being deep down in the Valley. They seem mostly human, but are completely expressionless, have golden eyes under the goggles they always wear, don't seem to feel pain, and each of their fingers has an extra knuckle.
* Name-checked in the ''Literature/MercyThompson'' novels. Mercy describes the vampire Marsilia as being in the UncannyValley, as she's unnaturally stiff and still and her facial expressions look like she tried to learn them from a book.
* Eldar are described this way in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''[[Literature/GreyKnights Hammer of Daemons]]''. The disgust is even InUniverse.
* The Vord Queen in ''Literature/CodexAlera'' ''tries'' to act human and look like a CuteMonsterGirl, but mostly just succeeds in making everyone, even Invidia, want to hide under a bed somewhere.

-->Look at her eyes. I don't think she's using them to see you with. They're just beautiful ornaments.

* Paolo Bacigalupi apparently has a ''[[AuthorAppeal fetish]]'' for girls who fall into this category. The most blatant is the titular character of ''Literature/TheWindupGirl'', so called because she walks in a jerky manner like a wind-up toy. In-story, this is considered remarkably beautiful, but it's somewhat difficult to visualize how this could avoid falling into the Valley in real life. In-story, it sometimes does. It was also a deliberate design feature to make sure that the main character and others like her couldn't be mistaken for unmodified humans.
* The human-animal things in ''Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau'' by Creator/HGWells. Just reading about those things is disturbing. Reading about how they're created even more so, as Wells goes into just enough detail about the processes to be even more freaky.
* The [[ImplacableMan Steel Inquisitors]] from ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' are described as earily inhuman despite being actual humans who [[SarcasmMode only]] [[EyeScream having gigantic nails embedded in their eyes]]! They also have a number of other such spikes in various places around their body (they're actually [[spoiler:a form of BloodMagic that gives the Inquisitors various extra powers]])), and the ones in their eyes are actually long enough to ''come out the back'' of their head. They often are depicted in a way that resembles a pair of goggles or teashade sunglasses, which invokes the trope in its own right.

--> It looked like as though it had been carved out of weatherwood by someone who only had the vaguest idea what human faces look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel.

* Played straight in Neal Asher's ''{{Cormac}}'' novels with the Golem androids. Early in the series most Golem androids are absolutely perfect in their humanoid design, with god-like strength and god-like beauty. Humans are usually pretty disturbed by them in their perfection because it makes the androids feel LESS human, since real humans aren't perfect. Furthermore most non-combat Golems have inhibitors which stop them using their joints in impossible directions and from using strength far greater than even an enhanced human. Subverted when later models have purposeful imperfections (moles, limps, idiosyncrasies) to make them feel more human (but are still quite capable of tearing people, and other androids, limb from limb).

* ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'': Utterson says that Mr Hyde's appearance gives the impression of deformity without having any. People who look at him dislike him immediately without quite understanding why, though by the end it's clear that his underlying evil causes the reaction rather than any physical property.
** Adaptations tend to just give Hyde a NightmareFace however.
* Occasionally this trope's effects are felt in Niven's ''Literature/{{Ringworld}}'' novels, as the many hominid natives fall short of being HumanAliens. Usually it's the ones that are already creepy (ghouls, vampires) which give people the willies when they move their shoulders more loosely than expected or are found to have too small a skull.
** Also part of the reason our AbusivePrecursors are so, well, abusive. Our social system is horrifically twisted due to its rejection of Protector-stage rulers, and we just ''smell'' so incredibly ''wrong''.
* Played with in the ''Literature/GaeaTrilogy'', in which a race of obviously-nonhuman alien centaurs, for reasons that make sense in context, sport genitalia identical to those of humans. This single feature's similarity invokes the UncannyValley effect ''because'' the rest of the body is so strange.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/ShadowsInTheMoonlight", in [[DreamingOfTimesGoneBy Olivia's dream]], even the [[HalfHumanHybrid demigod son]] has an inhuman touch, but when his PhysicalGod father appears:
-->''the alloy of humanity that softened the godliness of the youth was lacking in the features of the stranger, awful and immobile in their beauty.''
* Scott Westerfeld seems to have a talent for creating things that are Uncanny with a capital U.
** The Pretties from the books series ''Literature/{{Uglies}}''; they're literally perfect with symmetrical faces and all, and they all look very nearly the same. Then there's the specials who add a whole new level of creepy with their "cold beauty".
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''So Yesterday''. A special effects whiz explains that the human face is the hardest thing to animate convincingly because humans spend almost all of their time reading faces. If it's even a tiny bit off, we won't accept it.
* An interesting variation presents itself with Quasimodo in ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'':
-->... at last he [Quasimodo] said, shaking his heavy and ill-formed head,--
-->"My misfortune is that I resemble a man too much. I should like to be wholly a beast like that goat."
** To be fair to Quasi, Claude Frollo ain’t much better when it comes to this trope due to his SanitySlippage. Esmeralda describes just being the same room as him as “cold”, his face becomes frightening to her and others the more his lust takes over and Frollo’s inner conflict degrades his health. This likely a case of EvilMakesYouUgly.
* The titular antagonist ''Literature/{{IT}}'' in Creator/StephenKing's novel, the genesis of the MonsterClown Pennywise has this trope in spades. Even when he's not transformed and is just talking normally as the clown, IT stares intensely at the children in hunger, plus he has no shadow when the sun directly behind him all adding to the uncanny. It gets even more terrifying when at one point he has the face of Georgie Denbrough, in a scene that was ''thankfully'' left out of the two live action adaptions.
* Mostly averted in Creator/CLMoore's story "No Woman Born". When a noted dancer and actress has her brain transplanted into a robot body after an accident that nearly kills her, she is still able to convey the same sense of beauty, grace, and charisma as before, although she needed to practice moving and talking in her new body before presenting herself to the public. The scientists who worked on her new body decided to give her a blank metal face to avoid the almost-but-not-quite human effect and designed the body to be flexible enough to dance as gracefully she could before, and this is justified in that humans rely on auditory and kinesthetic cues such as voice, gait, and personal mannerisms for recognition, not just appearance. [[spoiler:Only at the story's very end, when she lets down her guard for a moment does her voice start sounding flat and robotic, instead of resembling her original body's voice.]]
* The short story ''Stairway to the Stars'' by Larry Shaw, has this concise explanation: "It -- he? -- looked almost like a man, and that only made the difference worse."
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
** Xizor's assistant Guri, a [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots human replica droid]]. [[{{Robosexual}} He assures us she is anatomically correct]]. [[{{Squick}} Let that sink in.]]
** Abeloth can be [[ParanoiaFuel anyone]]. She is Luke's ex-girlfriends. She wants to assimilate Luke as well. But [[GlamourFailure Vestara can see through her disguises]].
* In Rick Griffin's ''Literature/{{Argo}}'', androids are usually designed to look like {{Funny Animal}}s to avoid this trope, so that humans would be less intimidated by them.
* Kellhus from Literature/SecondApocalypse. He is completely emotionless, lacks any empathy and is utterly, ruthlessly rational. He can manipulate people by perfectly simulating emotions and normal human interaction. However, at one point he makes a mistake with one character. He takes just a split-second too long to respond to a question, during which his face just goes utterly blank and all emotion leaves his eyes before suddenly smiling and continuing with the conversation. The effect is described as extremely disturbing.
** Also, Non-Men. They have human faces described as very beatiful but they are also bald and their teeth are fused together. Not to mention, most of them, called Erratics, are stark raving mad due to their [[WhoWantsToLiveForever immortality]], which overloads their memories.

* In Literature/ThePaleKing, there is something very, ''very'' off about Shane Drinion. His [[SpockSpeak odd speech patterns]], [[TheStoic lack of emotions, facial reactions,]] or [[DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm sense of humor]] make him seem inhuman. There's also the fact that [[spoiler: mosquitoes avoid him, he can levitate if he concentrates hard enough on something, he keeps a perfect record of his conversations, and that he can't leave the room without Keith Sabusawa. None of it is explained.]]
* Why is [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_x_qKvKkFBXE/TLKJ_SDgvcI/AAAAAAAAAAU/SynNxbZafnU/S380/Turnabout.jpg this]] cover for the Creator/MargaretPetersonHaddix book ''Turnabout'' so creepy, you may ask? If you didn't notice (some won't), half of the face is young when the other is old, effectively creeping us all out.
* ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'': Some of the pictures in the novel - especially the [[http://karinlibrarian.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/coraline-other-mother.jpg picture]] of the Other Mother with a bug in her mouth.
* The GMOs and their offspring exhibit a subtle version of this in Jacqueline Carey's ''Literature/SantaOlivia'' and its sequel. For the most part they look normal but it's frequently mentioned that when making physical contact for most people there is something subtly wrong and unnerving about them. Their inability to feel fear also means that in some situations their behaviour is off in ways that others find unnerving.
* Literature/RaptorRed's protagonist and main viewpoint character is a female Utahraptor of the Red-Snout species. A rival species, the Yellow-Snouts, evoke an Uncanny Valley reaction in her: their courtship dance is ''almost'' right, but the differences in the motions and in the colour of their snout-band repulse her.
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', [[HotWitch Melisandre]] is noted as being [[StatuesqueStunner stunningly beautiful]], but there is also something ''off'' about her even before her BloodMagic comes into the picture: a subtly wrong shade of red for her hair and eyes with a strangely unblemished, uniformly pale skin for her [[OlderThanSheLooks apparent age]] and her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality unrelentingly odd attitude]] that permeates everything she does and says, for starters. Most men are too afraid of her to give serious thought to sleeping with her, for all most are willing to discuss how attractive she is. There is always a spoken or unspoken "but" attached somewhere. Also, she [[TheNeedless doesn't need to eat and requires very little sleep.]] Aware that completely stopping these would make everyone around even more unsettled by her, she acts as if she does.
** Seems to be a common trait among the priests and priestesses of R'hlorr -- of a certain level, that is. Of the ones we meet, only the cheerfully boisterous [[DirtyOldMonk Thoros of Myr]] escapes it. And, that may be because he's only just recently started taking his job seriously after a years-long CrisisOfFaith, so he probably has yet to fully acquire it. Well, that or his very stereotypically seedy human side is just a bit too much for it to shine through even with him being capable of jaw-dropping miracles, as yet. By contrast, [[ScaryBlackMan Moqorro]] and [[TurbulentPriest Benerro]] do not have to work hard to give hardened fighters and politicians the uncanny collywobbles from the other side of the ship or from across the street even before breaking out the burning people alive thing, for instance.

* ''Literature/LunarChronicles'': Lunars can surround themselves with a Glamour, making most people believe they are much more beautiful than their natural appearance is. However, while the Glamour usually sets the viewers into a state of silent admiration, some are fully aware of it and describe it as highly unsettling and even painful to look at such unnatural beauty.

* [[GodOfEvil Naar]] from ''Literature/LoneWolf'' doesn't really have a true physical form, but the one he favors in his inner sanctum is a grotesque misshapen thing. The trait that shocks Lone Wolf more than the others? [[spoiler:The dark god has the eyes of a man.]]
* In ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' novels the elves are described in terms that suggest this trope. On one hand they are extremely beautiful in general terms. On the other, at closer inspection their eyes seem unnaturally large, while their teeth seem too small to their mouths, like adults who still have baby teeth, and they also lack the distinct canine teeth. In result, many humans find elves freaky and disturbing-looking, although the actual reasons for the mutual FantasticRacism have a bit deeper causes.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', the Myrddraal are some of the most human-looking [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Shadowspawn]] (barring the ''gholam'', which was created to be able to perfectly mimic humans in order to fulfill its function as an assassin, and only turns monstrous when it uses its RubberMan powers). They're also, however, ''the'' most disturbing. It's partly their skin, which is a bit too pale. It's partly the way they move, which is a bit too fluid and makes them look like their joints don't hook up quite right. It's partly the fact that their clothing is always perfectly still, regardless of factors like wind. It's partly their expressions, or lack thereof- Myrddraal never smile and rarely show any emotion that isn't cold-blooded sadism, and there's no noticeable variation in personality between individuals. Oh, and when they lower the hoods of their {{Black Cloak}}s, it becomes obvious that [[EyelessFace they don't have eyes, just smooth skin where eyes should be]]... but they can still see. Taken all together, they're far more horrifying than the traditionally monstrous [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Trollocs]].
* The titular ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' is described by Jonathan as having unsettling aquiline features which along with the pale skin, long fingers, pointed teeth and red eyes, which should’ve been enough [[OurVampiresAreDifferent red flags]] for him to [[TooDumbToLive stop]] being a polite British houseguest and [[RunOrDie flee]] the castle. Dracula looks unatural even when he de-ages himself; Mina says he isn’t good looking with a face that’s “hard, cruel and sensual”. Later, when fighting Jonathan and the rest of TheTeam, Drac’s movement are noted to be “Panther-like”.
** The Uncanny Valley effect happens to Lucy and Mina when they get infected with vampirism. Lucy starts off merely sleepwalking, but by the end is gnashing her teeth monstrously when Professor Helsing prevents Arthur from kissing her. As a vampire she is described as being alluring but beast-like when enraged, enough to fill the three men who love her with horror. Mina’s process is slower, but even Helsing is freaked out when she unblinkingly watches him sleep with a hungry look in her eyes. Thankfully she is cured before it’s too late.

* The dolls in ''Literature/TheDollmaker'' appear human (to varying degrees), but they are consistently described, in both appearance and action, as disturbingly other.

* C.S. Lewis' ''[[Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy Out of the Silent Planet]]'' examines the trope when Ransom encounters his first nonhuman, and reflects that the ''hross'' seems horrifying and deformed when he thinks of it as human, but miraculous and wonderful when he regards it as an animal with the powers of thought and speech. More straightforwardly, ''Perelandra'' features the Un-Man, who is essentially an animated corpse - but he gets even more creepy when you think about what it is that's animating him.

* In ''Literature/{{Goldfinger}}'', James Bond describes the title villain in this manner. His unease comes from Goldfinger's apparent lack of symmetry--he's like a collection of features that never ''quite'' add up to a satisfying whole. His attempt at recreating the man's face on an Identikit machine only adds to his distress.
** In fact, most ''Literature/JamesBond'' villains have this trait, as the use of {{Red Right Hand}}s to signify villainy is a staple of the franchise. [[Literature/FromRussiaWithLove Red Grant]], [[Literature/LiveAndLetDie Mr. Big]], Literature/DrNo, [[Literature/{{Goldfinger}} Auric Goldfinger]] and [[Characters/JamesBondBlofeld Ernst Stavro Blofeld]], just to mention a few, are described in very unsettling terms.
* ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'':
** A couple of novels have this apply to the Doctor, who is, after all, a HumanAlien. One instance is after he's [[{{Fainting}} fainted]] at a sideshow:
--->In Hugo’s arms, the Doctor hung bonelessly limp, as if he might suddenly flow to the floor in a puddle. Anji had never seen a human body sag like that; no human being had that sort of muscular-skeletal frame. For a frightened instant, she felt more kinship with the man with no limbs than she did with the Doctor.
** And one even has a character feel something of the sort applies to the Doctor's human companions, who are fairly ordinary-looking 20th-century Earthlings, as said character is a member of a much more homogeneous future human society:
--->Their variegated pigmentation, certain small inconsistencies about their facial and bodily forms, evoked a terror in me in some quite other part than if they had been merely monsters. We do not look at a Vlopatuaran land-going octopus or a Wilikranian aerial predatiger and feel quite that fear, I fancy; it takes a man like us in most but not quite, deformed in ways we simply cannot expect, to in this particular manner fright us out our lives.
** In-Universe in ''[[Recap/NewSeriesAdventuresTheClockwiseMan The Clockwise Man]]''. Due to [[spoiler:Melissa's]] information on how humans looked being inaccurate [[spoiler:her]] face is described as a "parody of humanity", with eyes that seem too human.
* ''Literature/TheGreatGodPan'' by Creator/ArthurMachen gives us Helen Vaughn, one of modern literature's first true [[HumanoidAbomination Humanoid Abominations]]. Several characters describe her as beautiful but... ''wrong''.
-->"Everyone who saw her at the police court said she was at once the most beautiful woman and the most repulsive they had ever set eyes on. I have spoken to a man who saw her, and I assure you he positively shuddered as he tried to describe the woman, but he couldn't tell why."
* Shelly from ''Literature/TheTroop'' is constantly described as "insectile" or even less pleasant adjectives. One kid even thinks of him as "something" at one point. Of course, Shelly is [[TheSociopath a closet sociopath]], so it may be the other kid's survival instincts.
-->"Yes; she had quite a court around her. She would be called very handsome, I suppose, and yet there is something about her face which I didn't like. The features are exquisite, but the expression is strange."
* In-universe in the ''Literature/SectorGeneral'' novels. One of the series's main alien cultures is the Kelgians, who are human-sized furry mammalian caterpillars, with constantly mobile fur that expresses their emotions. In one of the later novels, a character is introduced from a different species, which has a similar body plan but black, immobile fur. Apparently he looks to Kelgians like their equivalent of a HumanoidAbomination.
* Any book dealing with the [[SpeculativeBiology speculative evolution]] of humans like ''Literature/ManAfterMan'' and ''Literature/AllTomorrows'' is bound to contain this as they always contain the surreal results of a world where most wildlife (alien or earthly) is descended from humans. All of them still retain their ancestors' traits to an extent.
* Most of the anarchist Council of the Days in ''Literature/TheManWhoWasThursday'' have something fishy about their appearance (e.g. Monday's lopsided smile, Saturday's SinisterShades or Friday's disquietingly great age) which makes the protagonist deeply uncomfortable. The worst of all, however, is Sunday, mainly because the man is so damned ''big'' -- he is tall and overweight, but he seems moreover to be out of scale with his surroundings, like (in the narrator's words) a statue carved larger than life-size.
* Serdra in ''Literature/TheSilentWar'' is this in-universe. She is an [[TheAgeless immortal]] in her 130s, with a youthful face yet somehow radiates age. Her nearly emotionless demeanour and constantly intense gaze disturbs people, and she tends to let her pupil do the talking to muggles.
* In ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', this is what triggers Victor's near-immediate rejection of his creation. Victor had selected all of the Creature's body parts to make him as physically imposing and attractive as possible. What he ended up with was a sallow-skinned, sunken-eyed, varicose-veined hulk of a man with serious anger management issues. True to form, the trope kicked in as soon as it started moving. Creator/JunjiIto's manga adaptation of the story takes Shelly's words and puts a horrifying face to it, albeit more horrifying.
** Luke Goss’s portrayal of the monster in the Miniseries is more accurate to the book in that there’s no real FacialHorror with bolts. However, despite Goss being a handsome man, there’s just [[https://i.pinimg.com/236x/c3/e6/4b/c3e64bd81aae687828bd27181aa0a9de--frankensteins-monster-face-reference.jpg something off]] with his skin which, like in the book, is disturbing when put to life.
* ''Myth/{{Faust}}'': This illustration of [[https://www.google.gr/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiV3KrU8-_KAhVEVxoKHQi7CYsQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFaust&bvm=bv.113943164,d.bGg&psig=AFQjCNE_-ujKAj2DZj3GbeQu4c0U0-02kg&ust=1455286720592928 Mephisto ]] by Harry Clarke.
* In ''Literature/OnlyEverYours'' by Louise O'Neill, women can no longer be born naturally. They are bred in laboratories as future wives and prostitutes to serve men, and are engineered to be as physically perfect as possible. When protagonist freida and her classmates first meet the Inheritants (the group of boys they were designed for), freida notes the sharp contrast between the naturally born and physically diverse boys, vs the manufactured and artificial appearance of the girls.
* The symbiote-infected humans in ''Literature/EdenGreen'' can [[HealingFactor heal from any wound]]; during the initial stages of healing, the area appears mottled and patchy, like pine needles. This is especially off-putting when the part being healed is the head or face.
* ''Literature/JurassicPark'': After encountering Nedry's corpse, Muldoon takes a look at a nearby ''Procompsognathus'' and notices how eerily human-like its hands are, which gives him the creeps.
* [[OurElvesAreDifferent Winter Queen]] from ''Literature/MaledictionTrilogy''. To human girl Cecile de Troyes she looks like a very beautiful woman...most of the time. However, from time to time her alienness gets through, and Cecile sees non-human eyes or predatory claws instead of perfect rosy nails.
* ''Literature/TheFifthSeason'': The Stone Eaters look like humans [[SculptedPhysique made of stone]], with diamond teeth, voices that emanate from their chests, and movement that's either achingly slow and deliberate or [[FlashStep impossibly fast]]. Even people who are friends with Stone Eaters are uncomfortable watching them sometimes.
* In ''Literature/{{Grendel}}'', Beowulf is depicted as being indescribably ''wrong'' in some way. Grendel can’t think of a way to put it in words. There’s just something ''off'' about the way he moves and stands, [[HumanoidAbomination like he’s not entirely human]]. [[spoiler:This is made worse in the climax, where Grendel starts hallucinating from blood loss and perceives Beowulf as becoming a flaming DraconicHumanoid.]]
* [[https://www.genevievegodboutillustration.com/ Genevieve Godbout]]'s, a children's book illustrators, depiction of realistically-built humans yet with BlackBeadEyes and doll-like faces can look off to some.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/ExtraterrestrialCivilizations'': (DiscussedTrope) When comparing humans to other primates, Dr Asimov quotes Creator/WilliamCongreve for his 1695 statement on finding disturbing similarities between monkeys and humans.
-->''"I could never look long upon a monkey, without very mortifying reflections."'' -- '''Creator/WilliamCongreve'''
* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/{{Bequin}}'', the Blackwards dolls are an in-universe example. Beta finds them deeply unsettling due to how highly detailed and lifelike they are, such as the girl doll having a wig of actual human hair. [[spoiler:She finds them even more unsettling when they come to life and attack her.]]
* In ''Literature/MARiiMO'', Tammy tries to avert this by giving Mariimo a face that doesn't look like a human's.
* In ''Flip-Flop Girl,'' while attending her father's funeral, Vinnie is unnerved and upset by the wax dummy they put in the coffin to look like him (it's not explained what happened to his real body).
* ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'': [[invoked]] Discussed--not as a vague feeling of uneasiness, but as a ''general moral rule'' in-universe:
--> '''Mr. Beaver''': There may be two views about Humans (meaning no offence to the present company). But there's no two views about things that look like Humans and aren't.
--> '''Mrs. Beaver''': I've known good dwarfs.
--> '''Mr. Beaver''': So've I, now you come to speak of it, but precious few, and they were the ones least like men. But in general, take my advice, when you meet anything that's going to be Human and isn't yet, or used to be Human once and isn't now, or ought to be Human and isn't, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.

* ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep''. The female human protagonist is watching a transmission from her homeworld, which has been taken over by an alien with god-like powers. She can clearly see that the [[MouthOfSauron human being used as a puppet/mouthpiece]] is [[NotHimself acting strangely]], but the aliens with her don't notice anything wrong with him because they're unfamiliar with human body language signals that we notice instinctively.

* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/RavenorVsEisenhorn'', the Blackwards dolls are an in-universe example. Beta finds them deeply unsettling due to how highly detailed and lifelike they are, such as the girl doll having a wig of actual human hair. [[spoiler:She finds them even more unsettling when they come to life and attack her.]]

* [[OurElvesAreDifferent Winter Queen]] from ''Literature/MaledictionTrilogy''. To human girl [[TheProtagonist Cecile de Troyes]] she looks like a very beautiful woman...most of the time. However, from time to time her alienness gets through, and Cecile sees non-human eyes or predatory claws instead of perfect rosy nails.

Return to the main page [[UncannyValley here]].

!!Examples

** Mr Teatime from ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' the is the most blatant human example, fittingly since he is a AxCrazy ProfessionalKiller. Teatime’s face is actually pleasant however his GlassEye and fact his other normal eye has a pin-hole-sized pupil making it seem like he “looks at world through a keyhole” the uncanny effect is invoked. Teatime also moves [[FlashStep too fast]] for people’s liking even the head of the Assassin Guild was slightly bothered he couldn’t see Teatime move from the fireplace to the chair in front of his desk. Of course Marc Warren plays him in the adaptation and somehow makes him even creepier.

** Mr Teatime from ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' the is the most blatant human example, fittingly since he is a AxCrazy ProfessionalKiller. Teatime’s face is actually pleasant however his GlassEye and fact his other normal eye has a pin-hole-sized pupil making it seem like he “looks at world though a keyhole” the uncanny effect is invoked. Teatime also moves [[FlashStep too fast]] for people’s liking even the head of the Assassin Guild was slightly bothered he couldn’t see Teatime move from the fireplace to the chair in front of his desk. Of course Marc Warren plays him in the adaptation and somehow makes him even creepier.

** The queen of TheFairFolk in ''Discworld/TheWeeFreeMen'' is described as looking subtly wrong, because she's too perfect-looking to be human. It turns out her entire body is just an illusion of what she wants the viewer to see.

** ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies'', notably during the Queen's confrontation with Magrat when her glamour starts to [[GlamourFailure fail]].
** Lady Myria Lejean from ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', who is an Auditor in an artificial body created by the Auditors to look human. They don't understand human standards of beauty, but to make her appealing to Jeremy whom they need for their plans, their idea of making her the most beautiful woman alive is copying the features of what was considered the world's most beautiful painting of a woman, then improved upon them by erasing imperfections, adjusting symmetry, that sort of thing. The result is something that Jeremy describes as beautiful, though a "monochromatic" sort of beauty; he first suspects her to be an undead. Even after he gets over it and falls for her, his servant [[TheIgor Igor]] finds Myria highly uncanny as she doesn't smell like an undead - in fact, she doesn't have a smell at all. Also, she "doesn't manage to walk right" as her feet sometimes need a moment to touch the floor after she does a step - because she isn't used to submitting to gravity.
** Mr Teatime from ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' the is the most blatant human example, fittingly since he is a AxCrazy ProfessionalKiller. Teatime’s face is actually pleasant however his GlassEye and fact his other normal eye has a pin-hole-sized pupil making it seem like he “looks at world though a keyhole” the uncanny effect is invoked. Teatime also moves [[FlashStep too fast]] for people’s liking even the head of the Assassin Guild was slightly bothered he couldn’t see Teatime move from the fireplace to the chair in front of his desk. Of course Marc Warren plays him in the adaptation and somehow makes him even creepier.

** The Uncanny Valley effect happens to Lucy and Mina when they get infected with vampirism. Lucy starts off merely sleepwalking, but by the end is gnashing her teeth monstrously when Professor Hellsing prevents Arthur from kissing her. As a vampire she is described as being alluring but beast-like when enraged, enough to fill the three men who love her with horror. Mina’s process is slower, but even Hellsing is freaked out when she unblinkingly watches him sleep with a hungry look in her eyes. Thankfully she is cured before it’s too late.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', [[HotWitch Melisandre]] is noted as being [[StatuesqueStunner stunningly beautiful]], but there is also something ''off'' about her even before her BloodMagic comes into the picture: a subtly wrong shade of red for her hair and eyes with a strangely unblemished, uniformly pale skin for her [[OlderThanSheLooks apparent age]] and her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality unrelentingly odd attitude]] that permeates everything she does and says, for starters. Most men are too afraid of her to give serious thought to sleeping with her, for all most are willing to discuss how attractive she is. There is always a spoken or unspoken "but" attached somewhere. Also, she [[TheNeedless doesn't need to eat and requires very little sleep.]] Aware that completely stopping these would make everyone around even more unsettled by her, she often acts as if she does... if she remembers to, that is. Yeah: even trying to eat, sleep and drink comes off as weird when you're trying to ''act'' sleepy, hungry and thirsty and are very probably ''not'' nailing the nuances anymore.

** Luke Goss’s portrayal of the monster in the Miniseries is more accurate to the book in that there’s no real FacialHorror with bolts. However, despite Goss being a handsome man, there’s just [[https://i.pinimg.com/236x/c3/e6/4b/c3e64bd81aae687828bd27181aa0a9de--frankensteins-monster-face-reference.jpg something off]] about with his skin which, like in the book, is disturbing when put to life.

* The [[ImplacableMan Steel Inquisitors]] from ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' are described as earily inhuman despite [[SarcasmMode only]] [[EyeScream having gigantic nails embedded in their eyes]]! Said nails are often depicted, by author Brandon Sanderson no less, as resembling a pair of goggles or teashade sunglasses, which in and of themselves invokes the trope in their own right.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', [[HotWitch Melisandre]] is noted as being [[StatuesqueStunner stunningly beautiful]], but there is also something ''off'' about her even before her BloodMagic comes into the picture: a subtly wrong shade of red for her hair and eyes with a strangely unblemished, uniformly pale skin for her [[OlderThanSheLooks apparent age]] and her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality unrelentingly odd attitude]] that permeates everything she does and says, for starters. Most men are too afraid of her to give serious thought to sleeping with her, for all most are willing to discuss how attractive she is. There is always a spoken or unspoken "but" attached somewhere. Also, she [[TheNeedless doesn't need to eat and requires very little sleep.]] Aware that completely stopping these would make everyone around even more unsettled by her, she often acts as if she does... if she remembers to, that is. Yeah: even trying to eat, sleep and drink comes off as weird when you're trying to ''act'' hungry and thirsty and probably not nailing the nuances anymore.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', [[HotWitch Melisandre]] is noted as being [[StatuesqueStunner stunningly beautiful]], but there is also something ''off'' about her even before her BloodMagic comes into the picture: a subtly wrong shade of red for her hair and eyes with a strangely unblemished, uniformly pale skin for her [[OlderThanSheLooks apparent age]] and her [[BlackAndWhiteMorality unrelentingly odd attitude]] that permeates everything she does and says, for starters. Most men are too afraid of her to give serious thought to sleeping with her, for all most are willing to discuss how attractive she is. There is always a spoken or unspoken "but" attached somewhere. Also, she [[TheNeedless doesn't need to eat and requires very little sleep.]] Aware that completely stopping these would make everyone around even more unsettled by her, she acts as if she does.