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A [[Visual Pun]] where an extremely short character is introduced in a manner that makes them appear much taller than they actually are. Also the inverse, where someone ([[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|or something]]) of great size or height is made to appear normal-sized at first, or perhaps introduced in a shorter or chibi-like form.
A subtrope is [[Big Shadow, Little Creature]], where this is done via a large shadow cast on the wall. [[Depth Deception]] is the [[Super-Trope]]—all examples that don't involve people should go there. May involve the use of [[
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== Anime and Manga ==
* In the first episode of ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'', after being knocked down by a ball Ataru appears to have an enormous monk towering over him; it's only when he gets to his feet again that we realise the monk is half his size.
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** The inverse happens a short time later when a vast door opens and General W. R. Monger (tiny compared to the [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|49'11 1/2"]] Ginormica) comes out. The two glowing eyes were just the lights of his jetpack.
** And it happened a third time when Dr. Cockroach is trying to shrink Susan back to normal [[Lightning Can Do Anything|with electricity]]. When she comes to, she sees the others standing over her and she thinks she's small again. Turns out they were just standing over her face.
* ''[[Shrek]]''. Our first glimpse of Lord Farquaad involves him striding dramatically along a corridor, camera focused on his face or body [[
* Finis Everglot in ''[[Corpse Bride]]'' is first shown talking face to face with his wife. Then the camera pans out and it turns out he is standing on a stool and is really half her height.
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* In the [[Buster Keaton]] film ''[[Three Ages]]'', caveman Buster tries to grab a woman lying on the ground by the hair and drag her away, as cavemen were apt to do back then. The woman stands up and turns out to be [[Statuesque Stunner|a good two feet taller than Buster]].
* ''[[Black Robe]]''. Father LaForgue is harangued by the shaman Mestigoit, who is filmed close to the camera—it's only when he comes face-to-face with LaForgue (who is sitting down) that we realise how short he is.
* Played with in ''[[The Transporter]] 3''. Frank Martin battles his way through a gang of mooks; after a disposing of them another man enters the room, shown via the standard [[
* In ''[[Ichi the Killer]]'', Jiji is a small old man who wears baggy clothes. When a thug threatens him at the end of the film, he strips off his clothes and reveals that he's ''ludicrously'' muscled, then breaks every bone in the thug's body.
== [[Live
* In the pilot episode of ''[[Get Smart]]'', KAOS is run by the mysterious "[[Mister Big]]" (as opposed to Siegfried). It's only when Mr Big and Maxwell Smart are in the same room do we realise that Mr Big is actually a dwarf.
* There's an episode of ''[[Quantum Leap]]'' where Sam leaps into a guy who works at a carnival. While he's checking out his new reflection in a funhouse mirror, one of the other carnies walks up and starts a conversation. At first we only see his reflection, which looks the same height as Sam, but when Sam turns to reply to him, he's revealed to be a dwarf.
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* A specific version I've seen a couple of times is a woman is chatting up a man, sitting down, and then realizes he's very short when he stands up, thus inducing uncertainty over whether she should continue with him. It happened to Jessie in ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'' (she angsted about how she can't date a shorter man, because it makes her feel tall and awkward), Samantha on ''[[Sex and the City]]'' (she agrees to give him a chance, but ends up going back and forth on him, but sticks with him when she realizes he's really funny and great in bed), and Roz on ''[[Frasier]]'' (he realizes she's pregnant at the same time, and they both turn and walk in opposite directions).
* Likewise an episode of ''[[The Golden Girls]]'' had Rose meeting a man at a bar and making a date with him, then he gets off the barstool and is revealed to be a dwarf (leading to the date becoming a huge round of [[Ignore the Disability]]).
* ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' ("The Corbomite Maneuver"). The ''Enterprise'' encounters a alien vessel, and is able to get a video feed revealing the bridge, which shows the alien captain, Balok, to be a [http://www.startrek.com/database_article/corbomite-maneuver-the scowling monster] that looks to be about 7 feet tall. However, later they manage to get onboard, revealing they had actually been watching an elaborate puppet show, and [https://web.archive.org/web/20130721091519/http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20233812_20527844,00.html the real Balok is no larger than a child].
* Done intentionally in-universe in ''[[Deep Space Nine]]''. Bashir and O'Brien are just back from a mission [[Incredible Shrinking Man|that involved them being miniaturised]]. They stand at the bar boasting about their exploits, when Quark and Odo both note that a waitress seems oddly tall next to them, sending them scurrying away to check their height in sickbay. The waitress then stands down, off the step she'd been put on by Odo and Quark, revealing the entire thing to be a gag.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' did it as a [[Cliff Hanger]] reveal in ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S21/E05 Planet of Fire|Planet of Fire]]'', where it turns out the Master has accidentally shrunk himself to a small size, and has been directing the shapeshifter robot that everyone thinks is him from a control box.
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