Mirror Scare: Difference between revisions

== Anime and Manga ==

* This happened once in ''[[Death Note]]''; it's how Misa meets {{spoiler|Rem for the second time after losing her memories of the Death Note.}}

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* There's a window scare in ''[[The Poughkeepsie Tapes]]'' when Tim goes into his girlfriend's dark kitchen, turns on the light, and sees the killer's plague doctor mask in the glass.

* In ''[[Just Friends (film)|Just Friends]]'' Mike is shown gargling in the bathroom before closing the medicine cabinet and we see [[Yandere|Samantha]] suddenly reflected in the mirror.

== Literature ==

* ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' has an [[Eldritch Abomination]] called "He Who Walks Behind." As his name implies, He is ''always'' behind you, no matter where you turn, so the only way to see Him is in a mirror. Harry first encountered Him while looking at an arcade game. [[Walking Techbane|It shorts out]], and ''something'' appears reflected in the screen. Harry turns around; nothing there. Harry turns back; He Who Walks Behind is now standing two feet closer ''and smiling''.

* Played with in ''[[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone|Harry Potter]]'' with the Mirror of [[Sdrawkcab Name|Erised]]. When Harry first looks in the mirror and sees a load of people in the room behind him, he has to fight to stop himself from screaming. However, they are actually visions of his family and only exist in the mirror itself.

== Live-Action TV ==

And do nothing that you would not like to see him do

'Cause that monster in the mirror, [[Tomato in the Mirror|he just might be you]]. }}

* A more humorous than frightening example but done exactly in the standard manner. In ''[[Lois and Clark]]'', a source has tried to dodge Lois Lane by faking his death. He's brushing his teeth in front of the bathroom mirror, opens it to get mouthwash, closes it and sees in the reflection something truly terrifying: Lois Lane at 6 in the morning. Interestingly, the point about him brushing his teeth is not just to set up the gag but also a reference to the fact that Lois figured out he faked his death by the fact that he took his toothbrush. So the scene does not feel like it was shoehorned in or that the mirror trick was getting too much focus for something not that clever.

* Appears in the season 4 opening of ''[[Dexter]]'', as the Trinity Killer claims his first on-screen victim.

* ''[[Angel]]'' invokes this trope a few times. Usually someone is focused on something and looks up in the mirror as if to reassure themselves there's no-one behind them. Then the camera pans to behind them where it's revealed Angel is standing right there but, obviously, isn't reflecting.

** A classic example occurs in series 1 when Cordelia first moves into the flat Doyle found for her. She's cleaning her teeth in front of the medicine cabinet mirror, and the camera watches from over her shoulder using the mirror to show behind Cordelia. Cordelia opens the medicine cabinet, closes it again, to reveal to the audience that there's a dead woman standing right behind her.

== Music ==

'''there were seven horsemen next to me, the angel close behind.''' }}

* Used in ''[[Fahrenheit (2005 video game)]]'', though it's only the main character's mind playing tricks on him.

* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fY68v9yAys mirror room] in ''[[Silent Hill 3]]''. First blood vessels start coming out of the sink in the mirror and covering the mirror image and your reflection. Then the room itself gets covered in blood and starts draining your health. The door also locks, so you think you're permanently trapped, but you can leave once your reflection stops moving.

* In ''[[Ib]]'', Ib and Garry find themselves in a room at one point where the only thing they can do is to look into a mirror some distance from the door. Doing so reveals nothing scary, but when they turn around they find a mannequin head blocking the door. Trying to move the mannequin head doesn't do any good, so Ib and Garry have no choice but to look into the mirror again and see ''the mannequin head looking right over Garry's shoulder''.

* There's a whole category of [[Creepypasta]] regarding mirrors.

* And now a Supercut with scenes from 36 films: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tjoqhx_dwk YouTube Video] [http://fourfour.typepad.com/fourfour/2010/02/mirror-scare-a-supercut.html blog post]

== Western Animation ==

* Stacy Cornbred does this to Debbie on ''[[Celebrity Deathmatch]]''.

* During the [[Riff Trax]] show of ''[[House on Haunted Hill]]'', guest riffer and stand-up comedian Paul F. Tompkins [[Discussed Trope|talked about]] this trope. He said it wouldn't work in his bathroom because the bathroom is so small, the monster would have to excuse himself to get behind him.

* Parodied in this Sprint advertisement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_QPAMLsSsU

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htFIIxBk0eQ&feature=related This] Burger King commercial

== Real Life ==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Horror Tropes]]

[[Category:Reflective Tropes]]