Pokémon: Why Does Brock “Never” Open His Eyes (& What He Looks Like With Them Opened)

Brock is one of the three main characters of ‘Pokémon‘. He’s known for being mature and level-headed. Brock is always the responsible one of the group and tries to keep Ash and Misty safe as much as he can. His personality aside, Brock has a very distinct look. His “closed” eyes have piqued the interest of Pokémon fans everywhere, wondering why they’re drawn that way. So, are his eyes really always closed?

Brock’s eyes aren’t really closed

Although Brock’s eyes appear to be closed, they aren’t really. There’s no indication in any Pokémon material, whether it be the games, anime, or manga, that Brock is somehow blind or has visual impairments. 

Brock takes in the environment much the same as his friends. You can see him talk about the things he sees, just like the other characters, so Brock’s eyes aren’t really closed. They just appear as if they’re closed. 

An inherited trait

Brock is not the only one whose eyes appear to be closed in Pokémon. His family also shares this trait, as seen in the image below. 

This means that Brock’s eyes might be an inherited trait rather than something unique to him. You can see that his father and all nine of his sisters seem to have their eyes “closed,” but not his mother. This probably means that the eyes are a dominant trait that they all inherited from their father. 

Fox eyes

“Fox eyes” or “kitsune no me” is an anime trope. It looks as if the character has their eyes shut, but they can actually see everything just fine. Examples of these characters are Gin Ichimaru from Bleach, Ling Yao from Fullmetal Alchemist, Lau from Black Butler, Komugi from Hunter x Hunter, and many others. 

This way of drawing eyes implies that the character is wise, intelligent, or cunning. Brock is not only the oldest character among Ash, Misty, and himself, but he’s also shown to be quite cunning. He only uses his Pokémon in a fight when it’s absolutely necessary and tries to use them as little as possible. 

A stereotype

Fans have speculated that Brock is drawn with his eyes closed because this is a racist stereotype that Japanese people use to draw Korean people. It’s been speculated that Brock might be of Korean descent. 

Pokémon is a Japanese franchise. Although the characters live in a fantasy world, the creators put their culture into their work, too, so everyone is inevitably a little Japanese. 

It’s not the same that Brock’s ethnicity has been questioned, with many people wondering why he’s so tan. The general consensus is that he’s tan because he’s out in the sun a lot, but it does make you wonder whether Brock was stereotyped by his creators in some way. 

During the Orange Islands arc, Brock was replaced with Tracey Sketchit. He’s a likable but admittedly bland character. 

The reason for this change is that, since Pokémon was becoming more global, Brock would be viewed as a racist stereotype. No complaints had been made yet, but they still changed Brock with “a more pale, anglo-Saxon looking person.” 

They later changed their mind after fans demanded Brock be brought back into the show. It makes sense why fans would speculate that 

What does Brock look like with his eyes open? 

It’s not like Brock has never opened his eyes. In fact, we’ve seen Brock open his eyes on more than one occasion. 

He opens them in “A Crowning Achievement” while he’s playing around with Larvitar. In “The Ninja Poke-Showdown,” he opens his eyes in shock when he is burned by Charmander. In “Who Gets To Keep Togepi?”, he gets hit by Jessie’s Arbok and opens his eyes in surprise. 

Brock seems to really “open” his eyes most when he feels shocked or caught off guard. His “closed-eye” look is his usual look. 

There have been many theories about why Brock always has his eyes closed, and many of them are much more outlandish than what’s been included in this list. We know for sure that Brock’s eyes aren’t really closed and that they’re just drawn that way for some unknown reason. 

There’s a lot more to discuss when it comes to Brock than his eyes, but they’re still an interesting topic. Now that you’re a little more well-informed on the fan theories, you can even contribute some of your own! 

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!