Eye Color Guide

Eyes are almost always the first thing we notice about a new person. They often have an enormous role in both description and characterization. Here is a quick list of common eye colors and the associated stereotypes.

Blue - the standard protagonist eye color. It comes in two flavors: icy/penetrating and sweet/mystical. Blue eyes may range from Twitter blue to almost sapphire, sometimes with green or grey flecks. Blue-eyed characters are often associated with water. Native Americans and people of African descent never have blue eyes. The populations of the Middle East, near the Baltic Sea, and northern Europe have them in abundance.

Green - rarely the vivid emerald described in many a tale. Green eyes are commonly closer to pale jade. (Most redheads, by the way, have blue eyes, not green.) Green is the rarest naturally occurring eye color. It is common in areas with heavy Celtic influence, like Scotland and Ireland. Green-eyed characters are often mystical or hard to understand. They are associated with earth.

Grey - grey eyes often appear as blue eyes from a distance, but up close they are quite distinct. Grey eyes are often the color above: a pale, frosty color. Grey is associated with command, nobility, and intelligence. A grey-eyed character commonly has aspects/controls air.

Hazel - a combination of brown and green. Hazel eyes are amazingly diverse in pigmentation. An eye might lean strongly towards brown or green or have an even mix, or anything in between. In addition to northern and western Europe, hazel eyes are commonly found in India and the Middle East. Hazel-eyed characters are unpredictable and often a mix of personalities. 

Red - the only naturally occurring “red eye” is found in individuals with albinism. They often look like the picture above. The “red” is only in certain lighting, where the blood vessels show through the pale iris. The rest of the time, the albino has very pale, colorless irises. Albinos suffer photo sensitivity, nearsightedness, astigmatism, and nystagmus, among other things. However, in fiction the iris is often brilliant scarlet and a real way to make a character’s evilness apparent. Red eyed-protagonists - a rare occurence - are closely associated with fire and often have an element of violence, blood-lust, or similar trait.

Purple - again, albinos are the only people who have naturally occurring purple eyes. The red blood vessels show through the pale blue iris, creating purple, which is certainly not as vivid as the picture above. Newsflash: ALEXANDRIA’S GENESIS IS A HOAX. Purple eyes do not occur in the average human being. Dark blue eyes can look purple in a certain light. Purple eyes in literature are commonly possessed by royalty or super speshul characters. A purple-eyed character is good 99.9999999% of the time.

Brown - I saved brown for last because it is the least-regarded color in all of fantasy literature. Brown is a literary symbol for a normal, mundane, and sometimes boring person. Very few characters - where the eye color is specified - have brown eyes. That being said, brown eyes should not be overlooked. First of all, they come in a dozen shades from gold to black, which gives you plenty of room to wax poetic on the exact shade of your love interest’s eyes. Secondly, it’s weird when a majority of book characters have the minority of eye colors (i.e. blue, green, grey). 

Bonus eye color!

Heterochromia - this is a ocular condition where part of all of the iris is a different color. These pictures display the most dramatic forms of heterochromia, which is the blue/brown contrast. The first picture shows an example of central heterochromia, where the middle of the eye is a different color from the the outer part. The second picture shows sectoral heterochromia, where part of the eye is a different color. The third picture shows complete heterochromia, where the eyes are completely different colors. Heterochromia can occur after severe trauma or because of a genetic disorder. However, most people inherit it naturally without any side-effects, which means heterochromia is a safe way to give your character technicolor eyes.