The Nose Knows: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:unsounded-nose 8263.jpg|link=Unsounded|
{{quote|''You can't fool THIS nose!''
|'''[[Wolverine]]''', ''[[X-Men (animation)|X-Men]]'' TV series.}}
A common superpower, especially among characters with [[Animal Stereotypes|animal themes]]: super-powerful [[Super Senses|smell abilities]].
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May be a form of [[Charles Atlas Superpower]]. Often used to handwave the [[Scarily Competent Tracker]]. If food is involved, see [[Follow Your Nose]]. [[Nose Tapping]] may be used to indicate that they do know.
{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* Toucan Sam, the mascot of Froot Loops, has the ability to smell out his cereal from up to several miles away. This probably counts, as most toucans probably don't have nearly so well honed a sense of smell.
* There was a pair of commercials for Saranwrap that demonstrated the ability of their product using an animal's keen senses. One commercial had a caged tiger, the other a bear. The unseen testers wrapped one piece of meat with Saranwrap and another with the rival brand. Then the cage door opened. In both cases, the animal went for the one not wrapped in Saranwrap; because neither animal will eat what they can't smell, this shows Saranwrap is a better "barrier" to substances that would cause odor (and spoilage).
== Comic Books ==▼
* Puma in the ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' comics. He easily determined Spider-Man's secret identity.▼
* [[Wolverine]] and Sabertooth have this as a major ability. Wolverine's makes him the go-to person for identifying impersonators; it seems that even if you can change everything from your voice, hair color, and the shape and color of your body, you can't change how you smell.▼
** He's even used a ''lack'' of smell to identify that something's fishy, likening it to a big dark spot in the middle of an otherwise well-lit room.▼
* [[Daredevil]] is another comic book example. Matt's sense of smell is sometimes exaggerated beyond all credibility (making him able to smell, say, what people ate ''last week''), especially when they're downplaying the radar sense.▼
* [[Blade]]'s sense of smell is slightly superhuman and he's especially good at sniffing out vampires.▼
* Wolfsbane, a werewolf in the original [[New Mutants]], has this.▼
** As does Catspaw, a were-giant purple cat in the original Hellions.▼
* So does Sensor Girl of the [[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]], who is actually {{spoiler|Princess Projectra}}.▼
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* This is one of [[Naruto|Kiba's]] special abilities (eventually said to grow to the point that it's ''better'' than the [[Beast Man|dogs he would fight with]]), though it blows up in his face spectacularly ([[Fartillery|pun intended]]) during the [[Tournament Arc]] battle against Naruto. The worse thing? [[Crowning Moment of Funny|It was *hilarious*]]
** Him and his clan are really only the most outstanding example, as both the Third Hokage and Kakashi have shown to have rather acute sense of smell, the latter of which became critical to finding Akatsuki member Sasori.
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* ''[[Saki (manga)|Saki]]'' has the Tsuruga Mahjong Club's president, Kanbara, who was revealed in the bonus chapter of volume 7 to be capable of detecting people by scent. This even bypasses Momo's [[Invisibility|stealth mode]], which works by making people ignore her presence.
* It's been stated that [[Toriko]] has a nose better than a bloodhound's.
* Yuuya Fungami in ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]] Part 4 (Diamond Is Unbreakable)'' benefits from a supernatural sense of smell courtesy of his Stand, Highway Star. It's precise enough to smell hormonal activities in people around him and accurately deduce their current health condition or their recent activities.
▲== Comic Books ==
▲* Puma in the ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' comics. He easily determined Spider-Man's secret identity.
▲* [[Wolverine]] and Sabertooth have this as a major ability. Wolverine's makes him the go-to person for identifying impersonators; it seems that even if you can change everything from your voice, hair color, and the shape and color of your body, you can't change how you smell.
▲** He's even used a ''lack'' of smell to identify that something's fishy, likening it to a big dark spot in the middle of an otherwise well-lit room.
▲* [[Daredevil]] is another comic book example. Matt's sense of smell is sometimes exaggerated beyond all credibility (making him able to smell, say, what people ate ''last week''), especially when they're downplaying the radar sense.
▲* [[Blade]]'s sense of smell is slightly superhuman and he's especially good at sniffing out vampires.
▲* Wolfsbane, a werewolf in the original [[New Mutants]], has this.
▲** As does Catspaw, a were-giant purple cat in the original Hellions.
▲* So does Sensor Girl of the [[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]], who is actually {{spoiler|Princess Projectra}}.
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' comic strip "The Love Invasion", the Doctor is able to work out that the Lend-a-Hand girls aren't human because they smell odd. Rose even refers to his sense of smell as "the infallible space nose".▼
* ''[[Fantastic Four]]'' villain the Mole Man has this, along with excellent hearing, both to make up for his poor eyesight.
==
* In ''[[Nexus (fanfic)|Nexus]]'' This is how Jack was able to realize he was about to get attacked by Scarecrows. He also deduces {{spoiler|that while in the Demon World,}} that if he could smell the demons, they could smell him. More specifically they could smell his {{spoiler|Sparda blood.}}▼
▲* In 'Nexus' This is how Jack was able to realize he was about to get attacked by Scarecrows. He also deduces {{spoiler|that while in the Demon World,}} that if he could smell the demons, they could smell him. More specifically they could smell his {{spoiler|Sparda blood.}}
== Film ==
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* In ''[[Crocodile Dundee]]'', he can smell aftershave when no one else can, and changes his plan accordingly.
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|The Childcatcher]] of ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]'', whose powerful nose lets him enforce the [[Child-Hater]] regime of Vulgaria.
* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers the Movie]]''; Ivan Ooze is able to detect teenagers by smell, and [[Child-Hater| he clearly ''does not'' like what he smells.]]
== Literature ==
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* The main plot point in the novel ''[[Perfume]]'' is the main character's incomparable sense of smell.
* The main character of Salman Rushdie's ''Midnight's Children'' has the ability to smell things no one else can smell, such as lies or oncoming disaster.
* Sergeant Angua of [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' has this even in human form, which proves to be very helpful in several cases, notably the investigation in the dwarf mines during ''[[
** Lance Constable Sally has a similar ability, but she senses blood, and it is in some cases more useful than Angua's nose, which irks her.
** Unfortunately for them, once the criminals realised there was a werewolf in the watch (although they don't know who, exactly, it is) they started carrying around scent bombs to muddle their trail.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'':
▲* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' comic strip "The Love Invasion", the Doctor is able to work out that the Lend-a-Hand girls aren't human because they smell odd. Rose even refers to his sense of smell as "the infallible space nose".
** Similarly, one of the things that tips him off about a clone in the episode "The Poison Sky" is her smell.
** Poked fun at when a character in the episode "The Empty Child" wanted to know how the Doctor had managed to follow her. Note: this was when the Doctor was being played by [[Christopher Eccleston]], who has a fairly prominent nose and ears.
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'''Doctor:''' My nose has special powers.
'''Nancy''': Really? Is that why it's...Do your ears have special powers too? }}
* In ''[[Torchwood]]: Children of Earth'', Clem can smell that Gwen is {{spoiler|pregnant}} and that Ianto is "queer."
* [[Psych|The Supersniffer!]]
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{{quote|'''Wesley:''' Good Lord! How did you--
'''Cordelia:''' That's unbelievable. I didn't think you ever had sex. }}
* The hero of ''[[The Sentinel (TV series)|The Sentinel]]'' had this ability, along with the other senses. So did at least one villain on that show, his [[Evil Counterpart]].
* P.T., from ''The Kids from CAPER'', had this.
* Rachel Pirzad has this on ''Alphas''.
* In the pilot episode of ''[[Wednesday]]'', the protagonist realizes Thing is spying on her when she smells the distinctive and expensive hand cream he uses.
* In ''[[Power Rangers Wild Force]]'', the Org Dutchess [[Dark Action Girl| Toxica]] can smell humans the way a bloodhound can smell prey; {{spoiler| this is how she discovers that the one claiming to be Master Org is, in fact, an imposter.}}
== Newspaper Comics ==
* In ''[[Prickly City]]'', when Winslow claims a [[Superman]] origin (in a [[Multiple Choice Past]]), he says his super power is "smell, of course," pointing at his nose.
* ''[[Peanuts]]'':
** In a very early strip, Snoopy's nose is so keen, he is able to smell someone who is just ''thinking'' about food! In a later strip, catching a whiff of his favorite food — pizza — enables him to make a fast dash out of his doghouse before a huge icicle crashes down on it.
** In a much later strip, Charlie Brown claims that Snoopy's brother Spike "can smell a plate of fudge from a mile away".
** In another strip, Snoopy is pretending to be the World War I Flying Ace, but it starts to rain. He runs into the house and into bed with his owner:
{{quote|'''Charlie Brown:''' I smell a wet pilot!}}
* In ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'', Hobbes, being a tiger, has a good sense of smell, and has unique words for different smells, such as "snippid" for burning leaves. When Calvin asks what the word for ''his'' smell is, Hobbes says "terrible", causing Calvin to chase after him.
== Tabletop Games ==
* [[Werewolf: The Forsaken|Werewolves]], of course. Supernaturally good tracking abilities, Rituals that allow them to share an acquired scent between pack mates, and Gifts that allow them to smell things such as lies.
* ''[[Shadowrun]]'' adepts are people with magical potential who, instead of learning spells or dealing with spirits, use it to train their bodies to superhuman levels. There are, predictably, five options for buying the enhanced sense power.
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has quite a few monsters that are known for an excellent sense of smell. One good example is grimlocks. They are blind (having no actual eyes, in fact) living in dark caves and using their excellent senses of smell and hearing to hunt for prey.
** Without a doubt, however, troglodytes have the best sense of smell in the game. To them, scent is more important than sight. They identify everything and everyone by scent, and often smear blood, dirt, or other material on trees or stones to leave messages for other troglodytes. For example, a troglodyte could tell from one of the smears that a festival would be held at a village several miles to the north, possibly even the exact time and day and whether he was ''personally'' formally invited or not. Their sense of smell is ''that'' acute. Naturally, they always lair in caves where the entrance is upwind from them, so it's hard to catch them unawares. Ironically, to most other races, troglodytes have a ''really'' bad stench, which as far as game stats go, is a type of Poison that can nauseate foes.
== Video Games ==
* Sveta in [[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]] can find monster tracks by using solely her sense of smell, although this skill is only used two or three times through the whole game.
* In [[Persona 4]] Teddie literally "smells" the presence of a human trapped in the TV World. He even said the titular phrase and it was hilarious!
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* In ''Discworld Noir'', Lewton becomes a werewolf, then must match scents (distinguished by colored fumes) to other scents in order to track down clues and identify the culprits.
* In ''[[Chain of Memories]]'' the darkness starts to affect Riku's sense of smell, giving him an ability sense metaphysical things such as people's auras that way.
* Many [[Pokémon]] have this ability. In fact, the move ''Odor Sleuth'' takes advantage of this, allowing Ghost Types to be hit with Normal and Fighting type moves and lowering evasion to normal levels, making it quite useful. The appropriately named Nosepass (and it's evolved form, Probopass) can use its [[Gag Nose| big nose]] as a ''compass''.
* This is one of Akane Owari's talents in ''[[Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair]]''; her sense of smell is more sensitive than the other students, and she can pick up unusual odors quicker, like blood, bad body odor, or food cooking.
== Web Comics ==
* Florence of ''[[Freefall]]'': [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff600/fv00569.htm (569)] [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1600/fv01600.htm (1600)] [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2000/fc01946.htm (1946)]. May be arbitrarily overridden by the [[Rule of Funny]] (or the [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1100/fv01093.htm French ninjas] would never work(or maybe the French ninjas were just that good)).
{{quote|'''Niomi''': How good is that nose of yours?
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** Also Krosp, a humanoid cat, retains his cat senses.
** One Jaeger was able to recognize that a person was hiding behind a curtain listening in on a conversation, by smelling the soap the hiding person used.
* [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath|Belkar]] from ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' could use his nose to not only immediately recognise Gender-Changed Roy, but to distinguish between Elan and Nale. (Granted, [[Most Definitely Not a Villain|Nale wasn't exactly making it difficult]], but it was only the scent that clued Belkar in).
** [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0842.html Belkar's is sharp enough that Roy complains that he didn't smell that the bodies were dead.]
* Brelvis from ''[[Magellan]]''.
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* ''[[Unsounded]]''. Sette's sense of smell borders on supernatural. She seems able to [[Supernatural Sensitivity|smell magic]].
* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (webcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]'', [http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/02-16.html how Red leads them through] [[The Lost Woods]], ignoring [[Stay on the Path]].
* Amorphs like Schlock in ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' have a very acute sense of smell, able to identify people and their next of kin and [https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2009-06-04 deduce what they had for lunch, what they wash their chothes with and what brand of soap or other bodily care product they use by smell alone]. Justified as amorphs don't develop eyes naturally and need their other senses to compensate for their blindness before [[Grows on Trees|picking eyes from special trees]].
== Web Original ==
* Several Avatars of animal spirits in the [[Whateley Universe]] have this: Mongoose (possessor of a mongoose spirit), Aquerna (has a squirrel spirit), and Kodiak (a bear spirit) are just three of them. There's also the kid with the super-sensitive nose who passed out from the smell when Jade came to class, even though she was sure she had gotten the smell of sewer and monster guts off her already.
== Western Animation ==
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{{quote|"Motor-oil and competence." }}
* ''[[Gravity Falls]]''; in "The Deep End", the ''really'' tough lifeguard at the public pool can identify what type of sunscreen Dipper is wearing simply by scent.
* ''[[Hotel Transylvania]]'' subverts this with Wayne (a werewolf) who used to be able to do this, but now claims that years of changing his children's diapers has permanently crippled his sense of smell. However, his daughter Winnie (now a toddler) plays the Trope straight, able to use the scent on a piece of Johnny's clothing to not only tell where he is now, but when he got there and what route he took to do so.
== Real Life ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Nose Tropes]]
[[Category:Stock Super Powers]]
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[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nose Knows, The}}
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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