Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
117,007
edits
m (Mass update links) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (added subexample) |
||
(14 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|'''Kevin''': It's some kind of invisible barrier.
{{quote|''Enter ARIEL, invisible''|Stage direction to [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[The Tempest]]''}}
Line 11:
# '''The invisible character is visible to the audience.''' No special effect required, just have the other actors pretend they can't see the invisible ones. Used often in live action, especially when the invisible characters are [[Intangible Man|intangible]] as well (lots of ghosts are shown this way). Usually accompanied by some verbal cue ("They can't see us!"). It's common to cut to another character's POV to show he's seeing empty space.
# '''The invisible character is rendered as a vague distortion of the background.''' A.K.A. the ''[[
# '''The invisible character is partly transparent.'''
# '''The invisible character is shown as an outline.''' Especially common in comics and animation.
Line 17:
See also [[Astral Projection]] and [[See the Invisible]]. Compare [[Fluorescent Footprints]].
{{examples}}
== Visible to the Audience ==
=== Film ===
* ''[[
* Most renditions, in text and on film, of ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''.
* ''[[Ghost (
* ''Ghost Dad''
* Chevy Chase in ''Memoirs of an Invisible Man'', particularly when he was the only character onscreen. Other scenes had him completely invisible when needed.
** When he's made invisible, it applies only to him and the clothes he's wearing at the time. He can don clothes to make himself visible, and quickly strips out of them in some instances when he needs to escape pursuers.
** He's invisible to everyone ''including himself.'' He can see through his eyelids; he can see through the back of his head. Consequently, he doesn't sleep well.
Line 31:
*** Which, oddly enough, made this the movie most true to the original book.
* ''[[Heart and Souls]]'', although Thomas Riley is the one person who can see the ghosts following him around, which makes him look insane to everyone else.
* ''[[Amazon Women
=== Live Action TV ===
* Claude in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' is visible to the audience most of the time during his episodes, but when he's introduced at the beginning of an episode, the audience hears his voice and sees him pick up an object, rendering it invisible. Also, the audience has seen him fade in and out of visibility. This causes his fans to believe that after he ran out on Peter, he's in every scene—''we just can't see him.''
** Lampshaded by the writers: when asked if they were bringing Claude back, they replied "We already have. Didn't you see him?"
* Al, in the ''[[Quantum Leap]]'' TV series, as a temporal hologram, is visible only to Sam (and occasionally animals and small children).
* In the ''[[
** In "Gone" however Blinvibl!Buffy is invisible to the audience as well. Buffy has fun showing off via talking skulls and baseball eyes.
* In the ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' episode "Vanishing Point" Hoshi becomes invisible to the rest of the crew, but looks exactly the same to the audience, except when she looks in a mirror.
* [[Randall and Hopkirk Deceased]]: Marty is only visible (usually) to Jeff and the audience, and invisible to everyone else.
=== Theatre ===
* Used a lot in [[William Shakespeare]]'s plays, especially when the invisible character (e.g., Banquo's ghost) is only visible to one character.
** Probably just a stage technique in general— ''Blithe Spirit'', for example.
Line 50:
* Comedian-magician Mac King pokes fun at this trope with the "Mac King Cloak of Invisibility," a device that supposedly renders him completely invisible to whoever's on stage with him at the time as well as the audience. {{spoiler|Said device is a bright yellow rain slicker that can practically be seen from ''orbit.''}}
=== Other ===
* In [[LARP
=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* ''[[
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* The illusionist Derren Brown once convinced someone that he was invisible. While he was standing in front of them. The audience gets to watch that confused someone.
== Distortion ==
=== Anime and Manga ===
* ''[[Ghost in
** Averted in the movie, and occasionally in the series. In the movie you can only see the disturbances that a cloaked character causes, like footprints, falling objects, etc. In the series you can see distortion sometimes, but not always — usually when the audience shares the perspective with the invisible character. There's always distortions for a few seconds when a character turns invisible, though.
* Latios and Latias in ''[[
* Espio the Chameleon in ''[[
=== Film ===
* The invisible car in ''[[
** At least when the car is moving, as presumably the cameras and computers have a hard time keeping up. When it's still, it's undetectable.
* ''[[The Shadow (
* ''[[
=== Live Action TV ===
* The Shadows in ''[[Babylon 5]]'' occasionally appear this way when they're not totally invisible.
* The Jem'Hadar from ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]''.
=== Video Games ===
* In ''[[
* The stealth tanks in the first ''[[Command
* ''[[Doom (
* ''[[Dystopia (
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
* In ''[[
* In the ''[[Halo (
* ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces
** Same with the Shadow Troopers in Outcast, but not as easy to impale them with the saber if it wasn't for the fact they were wielding one themselves.
* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', one Heartless called Stealth Sneak can turn invisible, having this effect.
* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (
* Infiltrators using their tactical cloak, and Geth Hunters in ''[[
* The ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series, when a character is using stealth camo. The amount of distortion differs between NPC's and the player
* ''[[Perfect Dark]]'' has the Cloaking Device, which leaves a faint distortion when the user moves around.
* Enemy cloaked units in ''[[
** However, note that the ''attacks'' of a cloaked unit remain perfectly visible, which is a bit of a giveaway to a human player. Said human player will probably drop a Psionic Storm, ComSat Sweep, or Ensnare on the offending units.
*** The Ghost's attack is ''very'' hard to spot though, as it only gives off a small muzzle flash.
* Used in ''[[Star Trek Online]]'' for the "Stealth Module" ground skill. Only teammates can see the distortion, to enemies it's totally invisible. Accompanied with an [[Invisibility Flicker]] when attacking.
* ''[[Super Smash Bros
* In ''[[
** Unless he's using the Cloak and Dagger. That works normally when charged or when standing still. If the charge runs out and he moves, the same visibility effect happens as when he is shot.
* At one point in ''[[Touhou
* Jungle in ''We ♥ Katamari''.
* In ''[[Prince of Persia]]: Warrior Within'', there are "invisible" enemies that distort the image of whatever is behind them, and this distortion gets stronger at the edges, almost giving them an outline. Imagine a human-shaped glass figurine and you're pretty close. Only, light doesn't reflect off these guys, making them way harder to spot than glass.
* The Nanosuit cloaking device in ''[[Crysis (
=== Western Animation ===
* The Gleipnir and Fenrir from ''[[Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception]]'' have this.
* Thrust in ''[[
* ''[[Wolverine and
* The [[Invisible Streaker]] in ''[[Totally Spies
=== Real Life ===
* This is probably what a real-life [[Invisibility Cloak]] will look like in 5 or 10 years.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20111209114147/http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/225375/20111005/invisibility-cloak-refaction-mirage-effect.htm This]... hell yeah.
== Partly Transparent ==
=== Anime and Manga ===
* In ''[[
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
=== Video Games ===
* Rogues using stealth in most D&D-based video games, including ''[[
* ''[[
* All characters with [[Flash Step
* All stealth units in ''[[Command
* [[Ecco the Dolphin (
* The Specters of ''[[Doom (
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV
* ''[[
* Your [[Player Character]] looks like this when under the Invisible [[Status Buff]] in ''[[
* A player's own cloaked units in ''[[
** And an enemy's cloaked units once they're within range of a unit with the Detector property, such as the Terran Missile Turret or the Protoss Observer.
* Mario using the Vanish cap in ''[[
* In ''[[
** In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', stealthed rogues, druids, night elves, and pets are shown like this. Stealthed enemy characters are completely invisible unless they come too close, though.
* In ''[[Rise of the Kasai]]'', [[Hot Amazon|Tati]] and [[Badass Grandpa|Grizz]] become shadowy and transparent when they stay still and hug the wall. The player can still see them, but enemies will walk right by without noticing them, allowing them to kill them from positions the other playable characters can't.
* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'' allies who are cloaked will be invisible to the enemy but semi-transparent to you. Your character will also appear semi-transparent to indicate to you when cloaked.
** A few stealth powers, like Cloak of Darkness and Shadowfall, make you look more like a cloud of smoke to yourself and your allies.
* Espio the Chameleon in ''[[
** Oddly, not only will he be undetected by enemies, but [[Guide Dang It
* The active camo in ''[[Halo: Reach]]''. The user's transparency decreases when they move.
* ''[[Bob and George (Webcomic)|Bob and George]]'' has [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/010112c Megaman's ghost]▼
===
▲* ''[[
=== Western Animation ===
* ''[[The Gary Coleman Show]]'', in which Gary is a child angel.
* Invisible spirits on ''[[
* ''[[The Hobbit (
* In ''[[Bionicle]] 2: Legends of Metru Nui'', when Vakama is seen after discovering his [[Mask of Power|Kanohi Mask Power]], he is completely invisible to the raging [[Big Bad|Makuta]], however the viewer can see him quite clearly as a see-through, colorless figure.
== Outline ==
=== Video Games ===
* Characters in ''[[
* In the second ''[[
* ''[[Wing Commander (
** In ''Wing Commander III'', in the "fly-by" cutscenes, cloaked Excaliburs show up as wireframe outlines.
** In ''Wing Commander IV'', thanks to special optics for the Dragon fighter you can visually track cloaked ships, which use the wireframe outline mentioned above to display them.
* Used in ''[[Videogames/Temple Run|Temple Run]]''. Interestingly, the monsters can still see you while you're invisible, but it does protect you against trees and pitfalls. One can only guess that the invisibility makes you intangible, and that the monsters are quite supernatural. (Well, they ''do'' have skulls for heads.)
=== Webcomics ===
* ''[[
=== Western Animation ===
* ''[[
** Though averted with villains occasionally. They will be completely invisible to the audience if we aren't supposed to see them.
** From the same creator: In ''[[The Fairly
* ''[[Space Ghost]]'': Jan and Jayce all were drawn in white outline.
* Komodo of ''[[The Secret Saturdays]]'' is drawn in white outline.
* Ditto for [[Wonder Woman]]'s [[
* Spoofed in an episode of ''[[
{{quote|
== Completely Invisible ==
=== Film ===
* ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (
** However in any shot where he's putting on or taking off the cloak, it falls into the category of [[Special Effects Failure|distortion]] due to the use of the [[Chroma Key|green-screen technique]] to make the cloak appear invisible.
** The [[Harry Potter (
** Slyly invoked by the British Library's travelling ''Harry Potter'' exhibit in 2017-2018. Harry's cloak is the centerpiece of one section, where it's displayed in a Lucite case. All you could see was a hanger.
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings (
** Bilbo was invisible to the audience while wearing the ring. However, when Frodo wore the ring, we saw a distorted version of reality with him in it.
* The monster in ''[[Forbidden Planet]]''.
* The title character of ''[[Harvey]]'' is present only through his action on the environment, such as moving books.
* The demonic presence in ''[[Paranormal Activity]]'' makes itself visually known by moving the bedroom door and the planchette on a Ouija board, shifting the bedcovers, or dragging the female lead out of bed and down the stairs. Later on, they dust the hallway floor with flour, and it leaves white, bestial footprints. [[Hell Is That Noise|(It has other tricks as well.)]]
* The titular ''[[
* When we finally get to "see" Invisible Boy's power in ''[[Mystery Men]]'', he vanishes completely from the scene, only showing the objects moved by him.
* ''[[Hollow Man]]'' — even his vomit was invisible. Plenty of tricks were used to still get a view of him though.
=== Live Action TV ===
* ''[[
* Most adaptations of [[
** The [[The Invisible Man (TV series)|2000 series]] — the camera would usually cut to Fawkes' POV to show what he was doing.
** In a case of [[Special Effects Failure]], the original ''[[The Invisible Man (
* Cloaked ships and characters in ''[[Star Trek]]'' and the ''[[Stargate Verse]]''. Though early cloaked ships sometimes produced a distortion effect, which was actually a plot point.
* Clara of ''[[Sanctuary]]'' used the ''footprints'' method of tracking usually, using the outline when she was 'found' by turning on the sprinklers. Later uses enabled her to partly 'uncloak' some part of her body to alert the viewers where she was.
=== Video Games ===
* Different from being transparent, ''other'' [[Player Character
** Characters with the "invisible" status buff in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' leaves only a shadow. You can still see where the unit is (though the AI might not) but that unit cannot be targeted.
* The third boss in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
* Using the Invisible ability in ''[[Soul Series|Soulcalibur IV]]'' renders your character invisible, even to you the player- all you can see is the effects when swinging a weapon. Of course, this is because it's usable in Special Versus, too, and human players aren't so easy to fool as the AI.
* The Illwrath ships in ''[[Star Control]] 2'' have this as their special ability. However, since the "camera" is always aimed at the point directly between the two fighting ships, you can get a pretty good idea of where one is hiding.
* Some NPCs in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' have an ability that makes them invisible. The only way to see them is to wait until they attack (when the spell breaks) or use a detect invisibility spell. Mages also learn an invisibility spell, that causes them to turn progressively transparent until they disappear completely (it last for a very limited time, though).
* If a ninja does this in [[Samurai Shodown]], you may see flickers of him when he performs a manoeuvre. Less useful for Galford, since his dog Poppy always stays nearby.
* Annoying when the CPU does it in [[Mortal Kombat]] games that let it happen. Invisible [[Perfect Play AI]], anyone?
=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* ''[[
=== Web Original ===
* In ''[[Kickassia]]'', Linkara remarks to interviewer Chris Larios that JewWario is extremely good at camouflage, and the camera pans to where the character is supposed to be standing. His disembodied voice is heard, and at one point someone bumps into him. Oddly, this ability is never used at any other point in the film.
* Kopaka in the ''[[Bionicle]]'' web-animations, when donning the Mask of Concealment. Only the footprints he leaves in the snow can be seen.
=== Western Animation ===
* Invisibo, from ''[[Freakazoid
** Due to budget constraints, however, Invisibo appears for most of their first fight as a rod clearly dangling from a piece of rope. Yes, in a cartoon. Fortunately, due to how bad that looked, the producers let them have a higher budget about halfway through the fight.
* "The Invisible Monster" in ''[[Jonny Quest]]'' left burning... er... ''blob''-prints where it "stepped" and blew up anything it touched, so there was a clear delineation of where it had been. How Dr. Quest and Race were able to make it visible by [[Fridge Logic|dropping paint balloons]] onto it is never explained.
* In the ''[[
** Some fans say this is due to the disbursal of the beam. it's highly concentrated when up close and spreads into less visible beams the farther it gets from the source.
* There's a ''[[
* Mirage in ''[[Transformers]] (G1)''. He turns invisible with an effect that looks like he's being surrounded with a laser cube, then the viewer only sees footsteps or items he's carrying.
* Ravage in Beast Wars was not only able to turn completely invisible, save for his laser blasts, he was also able to turn his entire ship and everyone on board invisible.
* Phantom Limb's arms and legs in ''[[
{{quote|
'''Phantom Limb:''' I'm [[Large Ham|WRINGING MY HANDS]]...[[Mundane Made Awesome|menacingly]]!
'''Dr. Girlfriend:''' Yeah, well nobody can see that! }}
* In the ''[[
** Also in Spongebob, in one episode that parodies several superhero groups, [[Action Girl|Sandy]] gains a suit of invisibility. While trying to get around the villains because the other [[Idiot Hero|heroes got defeated]], she gets hit by a boat and falls off a large cliff because nobody saw her.
== Multiple methods
=== Anime and Manga ===
* Ea from ''[[Toumei Shoujo Ea]]'' (English title: "Invisible Girl Ea") takes all the methods, for the most part. She shifts between visibility and invisibility to the audience, except when her powers are malfunctioning, wherein she distorts like the predator or shows up as a translucent blue ghost.
* Similarly, Shizuka in ''Translucent'' uses several of the tricks. The story focuses on how Shizuka has contracted "Translucent Syndrome", a nonfatal, noncontagious disease that turns her mostly translucent on a monthly cycle. In the manga, this is shown via either sketching in the background lines behind her, showing her without any shading at all (or as a very pale gray), or showing her without any lines at all (merely using shading). People who get more serious versions of the disease can end up with "Fully Transparent Syndrome", which is traditional [[Invisibility]] stuff — which in the manga is shown by the "completely invisible, even to the audience" subtrope, with the exception that extreme positive emotions can cause a faint screentone outline to appear. The one character who has FTS in the series wears a hat, gloves and glasses to show people where her head and arms are.
* The title character of ''[[
* In a {{spoiler|Post-time skip}} [[Filler]] episode of [[Fairy Tail]], Lucy turns invisible after bathing in some potion which had gone off {{spoiler|(having been unused for 7 years)}}. For the most part, she is completely invisible, with the audience only being able to see the towel wrapped around her, and is occasionally Distorted Background (with very faint glow surrounding her). She is also at one point {{spoiler|after being completely wiped from existence}} fully visible to the audience, but everything else is covered in a purple haze.
=== [[Comic Book]] ===
* Over the course of fifty years, Susan Richards from the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]] has had her powers portrayed in every method but the first. The original [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] comics used outlines; the movies used Predator-style distortion; and later comics, cartoons, and video games have alternated between partial transparency and total invisibility, [[Depending
=== [[Film]] ===
* In ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* In ''[[
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
* Princess Peach still casts a shadow in ''[[Paper Mario:
* Hector the Reflector, a ''[[
* In ''[[Command
* In ''[[
* King Boo in ''[[
* The [[Pokémon]] Kecleon can turn invisible, but the red zigzag stripe around its body can be seen.
* In [[Quake]], the Ring of Shadows turns you invisible except for your eyes. Observant players will be able to spot this, while monsters will ignore you, presumably thinking you're a benevolent spirit... until you attack them, then they know to attack the floating eyes!
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* In ''[[
* The shading method was also used once with Jade (using the Snake Talisman) in the ''[[
* [[Bugs Bunny]] subverts it in "Water, Water Every Hare" when he becomes invisible; the only giveaway besides flying items is the munched-up carrot that he eats.
* Dexter in the ''[[
* In an episode of ''[[The Flintstones]]'', Barney accidentally gets turned invisible. He puts on a green hat so Fred can see where Barney is standing at any given moment.
* In the episode "Mad Dogs and Aliens" of ''[[
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Invisibility Index]]
[[Category:Rule of Perception]]
[[Category:Spectacle]]
▲[[Category:Invisibility Index]]
|