What are the highlights in eyes called?


In anime, character eyes usually have highlights that are usually white. They
seem like a light reflection or something.

![The Eyes Have It](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Fv5hkl.jpg)

Do the highlights have a name? What are they supposed to be?




For illustrative purposes, I have taken the first four images off a Google
search for `eyes` (note: you may not want to perform this search yourself, as
there is at least one disturbing image on the front page).

![an eye](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tarcZm.jpg) ![two
eyes](https://i.stack.imgur.com/weiRKm.jpg) ![an
eye](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ftgFEm.jpg) ![yet another
eye](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Waatm.jpg)

As you can see, all of these images contain a similar "white space" /
highlight. That's because if you're taking a photo, you need a light source -
and the eyes, being reflective, are going to reflect that light source.

These "white spaces" are called
[**catchlights**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_light), and are naturally
found in film and in photography. It is unsurprising that animators and
artists would imitate this for added realism - Disney's been doing it since
forever.

![Ariel - The Little Mermaid](https://i.stack.imgur.com/aWmQKm.jpg) ![Jasmine
- Aladdin](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2TlkDm.jpg)

Of course, catchlights are somewhat more pronounced in anime simply because
characters drawn in an "anime style" tend to have large eyes - and hence,
correspondingly large catchlights.

For more information about catchlights in photography, see the question [In
portrait photography, what is a
“catchlight”?](https://photo.stackexchange.com/q/11657/21775) at
Photography.SE.




For illustrative purposes, I have taken the first four images off a Google
search for `eyes` (note: you may not want to perform this search yourself, as
there is at least one disturbing image on the front page).

![an eye](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tarcZm.jpg) ![two
eyes](https://i.stack.imgur.com/weiRKm.jpg) ![an
eye](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ftgFEm.jpg) ![yet another
eye](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Waatm.jpg)

As you can see, all of these images contain a similar "white space" /
highlight. That's because if you're taking a photo, you need a light source -
and the eyes, being reflective, are going to reflect that light source.

These "white spaces" are called
[**catchlights**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_light), and are naturally
found in film and in photography. It is unsurprising that animators and
artists would imitate this for added realism - Disney's been doing it since
forever.

![Ariel - The Little Mermaid](https://i.stack.imgur.com/aWmQKm.jpg) ![Jasmine
- Aladdin](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2TlkDm.jpg)

Of course, catchlights are somewhat more pronounced in anime simply because
characters drawn in an "anime style" tend to have large eyes - and hence,
correspondingly large catchlights.

For more information about catchlights in photography, see the question [In
portrait photography, what is a
“catchlight”?](https://photo.stackexchange.com/q/11657/21775) at
Photography.SE.

