By the Eyes of the Blind: Difference between revisions

A creature, or [[Invisible Aliens|entire race of creatures]], can only be seen by individuals who possess a certain trait. For anyone who does not share that trait, the creature cannot be perceived at all. Usually, losing the trait will also cause you to lose the ability to perceive them, though in some cases, once you have encountered the creature, you will always be able to perceive them.

 

 

This trope does not include cases where the ability to see the creatures is [[Invisible to Normals|granted by magic or psychic powers, etc]]. Anyone in the appropriate demographic, no matter how [[Muggle|normal otherwise]], can perceive the creature just as easily. In some cases, the creatures can appear as people but the people possessing that trait can see them as [[Glamour Failure|what they really are]].

 

For the literal version of this trope, see [[Blind Seer]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

** It's based on a swindle, which in turn is based on the natural human fear of looking stupid. Hence, everyone who looks at the "magic cloth" pretends to see it, based on the "rules" that the con-men have given to the Emperor, for fear of losing their jobs. The "innocent" child who sees through the scam does so because he (or she) has not been trained to tell the Emperor and those around him what they want to hear (i.e., to lie in order to preserve the feelings of the powerful, and the life of the speaker). And the story itself is a metaphor for how a powerful idiot can only be challenged by someone who has nothing to lose.

** One [[Fable Remake]] makes it ambiguous whether it's a con... or whether the cloth really does work and the reason the viewpoint character could never see it is that he's indeed foolish and unfit for his position.

* [[The Fair Folk|Sidhe]] in the universe of ''[[Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell]]'' can only be seen by the insane unless they reveal themselves. Jonathan Strange therefore {{spoiler|takes a [[Psycho Serum|potion of distilled madness]] in order to see his fairy foe}}.

* In the novel ''Kit's Wilderness'', the main character gains the ability to see ghosts after suffering a mysterious near death experience, but a few other major characters of all ages claim to see them as well, but there is no way of knowing whether they are telling the truth or not, and his closest friends seem to know when he is looking at them or in their presence.

[[Category:Eye Tropes]]

[[Category:By The Eyes Of The Blind]]