Heterochromia
| “ | Chris's eyes are very, VERY slightly different in color. It's nothing you would be able to notice unless he fucking points it out to you...or you just happen to notice small details like that. | ” |
| Emily | ||
Heterochromia is a medical condition where the irises are differently colored. There are two kinds: complete and partial. Partial heterochromia is where part of the iris is differently colored from the rest. Chris has complete heterochromia, where one eye is a different color from the other.
Chris claims that although his eyes were originally blue in high school[1] he contracted pink eye (conjunctivitis) in his right eye and the prescribed eye drops turned it green. His explanation cannot be true - while some medications can cause heterochromia as a side effect, the simple antibiotic or antihistamine eye drops prescribed for conjunctivitis cannot. It's more likely that his heterochromia was genetically inherited. In school pictures taken while Chris was very young, close examination reveals that his eyes are different colors. Nevertheless, the pink eye story is one of his favorites when introducing himself to girls.
It is also a prominent, hugely exaggerated feature of his comic self, with one eye coloured emerald green and the other a sea blue. In reality, Chris's condition isn't particularly noticeable except upon close examination, and the less kind amongst us might presume that he only plays it up for want of any other endearing characteristics. According to eye witnesses (like the above quoted), Chris's eyes are indeed differently colored, but to nothing like the degree Chris describes or draws. Slight heterochromia is in fact fairly common in people of northern European lineage, but Chris seems to think it is exceptionally rare and that he is more special for having it. His identical twin sister, Crystal, is drawn with two blue eyes, instead of sharing his heterochromia (which an identical twin almost certainly would). The reason for this is presumably because Chris believes he "acquired" his heterochromia.
A close examination of Chris's eyes seems to indicate that Chris's "green" eye is actually more of a hazel/greenish shade of blue rather than a distinctly green eye as Chris portrays. It should also be noted that, despite his insistence on pointing out that his eyes are different colors, Chris often mistakenly colors his right eye blue and his left eye green in his comics. The reasons for these mistakes are speculated as a symptom of studying himself in the mirror to memorize his appearance,[2] lack of attention while coloring, inability to discern left from right, or perhaps even Chris himself really doesn't notice the difference that much.
Instances where Chris has mentioned his heterochromia
- He told Anna about it in The Tale Of The Crazy Pacer.
- He told Blanca in an email as a self-introduction.
- He told Emily on their date.
- CWC Update 13 August 2009.
- He told Regina in an email.