Rendering an object through another

Question

Is there a way to render one object through another, but only that particular object? It would look similar to how xray mode functions in the viewport. I'm trying to achieve the effect of rendering Link's (from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker) eyebrows over his hair.

I have his hair, each eye and eyebrow, and his body as separate objects.

This is how it looks normally (ignore the lack of pupils):

This is how I'd like it to look (using RenderLayers):

This is why using RenderLayers won't work:

Essentially, I want to know if there's a way for the eyes and eyebrows to be rendered above the hair, but normally otherwise.

Answer 1

I believe it can be done. First thing first being setting up the eye material to be visible front side only. (How can I make a material only apply to a side of a plane?)

Next step is constructing a mask from both head and hair using object index passes (How to use an object as a mask?). Using this as a mask for the eyes results that the eyes will become occluded behind other solid objects, like Link's hands.