Now that we’ve more or less figured out how to wear glasses and protective masks at the same time without fogging up said glasses, now’s as good a time as any for taking some inspiration from genre’s greatest bespectacled characters to step one’s glasses game up. Personality glasses people: this is your time.
Morpheus, The Matrix
Though Laurence Fishburne apparently won’t be donning Morpheus’ signature pince-nez again for Warner Bros. upcoming fourth Matrix film for some reason, the look will still be a striking, if risky fashion statement to make even after the movie debuts on HBO Max later this year
Batou, Ghost in the Shell
The cybernetic eyes Ghost in the Shell’s Batou sports aren’t the most technologically advanced in the world, and they don’t offer anywhere near as many handy advantages as more updated models. But what they lack in cutting edge modernity, they make up for in relative minimalism if you’re willing to look past their inhuman appearance and consider them more like high-fashion eye guards. Or sleep aids, your pick.
Cyclops, X-Men
Scott Summers’ eyewear is both an integral part of his superhero costume and a bold fashion statement that he sports out in public even in his civilian guise. Functional as Cyclops’ visor is, both it and Scott’s ruby quartz glasses are also significant because of how they immediately draw attention to his being a mutant that would would otherwise go unnoticed were he able to control his powers. Advanced as the tech coming out of Xavier’s has become over the years, Scott could easily choose to hide his mutancy and enjoy the privileges that come with doing so, but with his red shades, he’s making his reality clear to anyone who sees him, which is a choice you’ve got to respect.
Melvin Butlers, Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon regular Melvin Butler’s coke bottle glasses are part of a long-established nerdy character archetype in anime, and there isn’t anything particularly special about them aside from their trademark swirls and overall effect of making the wearer vaguely resemble an insect.
Garnet, Steven Universe
It’s unclear whether Garnet’s sunglasses are merely an aesthetic choice Ruby and Sapphire decide to create while fusing, or if the accessory (which she sometimes removes and can be broken) serves some sort of more important purpose involving her ability to see the future. In either case, the shades are categorically fresh, with the one caveat being that one can only pull them off by never questioning whether or not they can. The moment doubt creeps in, the entire look runs the risk of falling apart.
Peridot, Steven Universe Future
Peridot’s glasses are worth taking into consideration on their own because, while they’re obviously an homage to Garnet’s, they’re also a clear reflection of Peridot’s personality and understanding that her desire to be like Garnet didn’t mean she had to fully imitate her sense of style. Glasses like these do come with the risk of giving off the impression that the wearer’s into Bad Bunny, but depending on one’s taste, this can be considered a feature rather than a bug.
Geordi La Forge, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Though Geordi La Forge has since traded his VISOR for implants to imbue him with vision, the visor itself is still a classic choice that one could get away with in the right circumstances. Of course, wearing a visor in public is certain to draw the sorts of attention to one’s self that likely isn’t wanted right now, and one’s like Geordi’s are just as likely to make it more difficult to see than to help.
Quattro Bajeena, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
For the discerning spacenoids, Quattro — actually former Zeon ace from Mobile Suit Gundam, Char Aznable — had a taste for eyewear so good, people were so drawn to it they basically let it slide that one of the most famous figures of the One Year War was managing to wander around letting people think he was a man named Quattro Bajeena and not one of the best bastards to ever pilot a giant robot. Solid commitment to a look, right there.
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Nada, They Live
Rather than making a fuss about finding a pair of sunglasses that exactly resemble Roddy Piper’s hero in They Live, in 2021 this particular look is more about one’s intent to recognise and engage with the reality being presented to them. You shouldn’t need a pair of glasses to help you see when the people promising to do right by you are actively planning your doom, but if that’s what it takes, so be it.
Gendo Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
At the same time that a pair of glasses can better a person’s vision, they can also serve as invaluable tools in helping them emphasise the points they’re making to others. When Gendo Ikari fixes his dead-eyed gaze upon a person in Neon Genesis Evangelion, if his withering words and sociopathic tone don’t arrest the listener, the way he emphasises his points by knowingly using his glasses to flash light at people make his intentions clear. Pulling off a Gendo-style visual assault is more difficult than it looks, and honestly doing it in person leads to people looking ridiculous more often than not. But it’s still something worth considering if severity’s more your style.
Judge Doom, Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Sometimes your eyeballs are so goddamn alarming in appearance you have to wear tinted lenses just so you can go about your everyday business of menacing everyone in Toontown — only removing your eyewear when you really, really, really need to shake someone into submission.
[referenced id=”1219149″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/05/who-framed-roger-rabbit-an-oral-history/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/29/lthgg5qwo3zrcejxjyvg-300×169.png” title=”Who Framed Roger Rabbit: An Oral History” excerpt=”technology and technique, and 32 years later it’s every bit as fresh, warm, and funny as it ever was. Starring Bob Hoskins as gumshoe PI Eddie Valiant on the trail of a sex scandal involving a Hollywood studio bigwig, Who Framed Roger Rabbit expertly peels back the layers of conspiracy…”]
Doc Brown, Back to the Future Part II
Where he’s going, he doesn’t need roads…but super-cool sunglasses can help anyone, even a time-travelling mad scientist, blend into the super-futuristic world of 2015.
[referenced id=”1526359″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/11/the-future-tech-of-back-to-the-future-ii-ranked/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/05/qakxatgbil3mckbdrdq6-300×169.jpg” title=”The Future Tech of Back to the Future II, Ranked” excerpt=”The 2015 scenes in Back to the Future Part II are everything. Even though the “future” has come and gone, the vision of the world Robert Zemeckis and his team created in the 1989 sequel remains as influential and cool today as it was back then.”]
Sarah Connor, Terminator 2: Judgment Day
You thought we were going to say Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator sunglasses for this one, but no — Linda Hamilton’s iconic Sarah Connor shades exist not to cover up an exposed red cyborg eyeball, but to enhance the stone-cold fashion sense of one of the greatest action-movie heroes around. The vague steampunk feel of her sunglasses meshes nicely with Judgment Day’s “looming apocalypse” theme, too.
[referenced id=”1061059″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2017/08/how-terminator-2-judgment-daychanged-the-blockbuster-game/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/25/emvshzlqtmcegmizypdt-300×124.jpg” title=”How Terminator 2: Judgment Day Changed The Blockbuster Game” excerpt=”When Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released, it was a blockbuster to end all other blockbusters — the most expensive movie of all time that actually lived up to its price tag. It was the kind of movie that, if it was made today, would have been the subject of…”]
Agents J and K, Men in Black
Presumably, the sunglasses worn as part of the standard Men in Black uniform do block out the sun, in addition to adding a bit of anonymity to the agent who’s wearing them. But the alien investigators really need to keep a pair on hand at all times in case they need to neuralyse a member of the public who’s unwittingly witnessed some kind of extraterrestrial activity on Earth.