You Can See Me?: Difference between revisions

[[File:owned.jpg|link=Bleach|frame|And yes, he just kicked you.]]

 

 

Someone is invisible or otherwise magically disguised. At some point, they notice they're attracting an unexpected amount of attention who shouldn't be attracting ''any''. "You Can See Me?" The standard response is some variant of "Why wouldn't I be able to see you?" or, more succinctly, "Well, ''duh''."

 

If the invisible person can only be seen under unusual circumstances, it could be a case of [[By the Eyes of the Blind]]. Also compare [[I See Them, Too]] and [[I See Dead People]].

 

* ''[[Bleach]]''

** Rukia's reaction when Ichigo addresses her in the first chapter of the manga. Ichigo takes this a step further, and ''kicks'' her when she apparently tries to break into his home.

* Happens early in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'', right before {{spoiler|Botan reveals herself to Yusuke the second time.}} Yusuke caught the little demon bare-handed, and this was his general reaction.

* In ''[[Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-chan!!|Fight Ippatsu Juuden Chan]]'', Charger Girls use a cloaking system to hide themselves from the populace of Earth (normally, they're transparent, but can still be seen). This system also makes them intangible. However, for some reason, this cloaking system has absolutely no effect on Sento. Which Plug discovers via a baseball bat to the head when she assumes Sento can't possibly be referring to her. Alastar makes the same discovery in a similar manner.

* Also applies to the overall reaction Sayo has when someone sees her in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''. Especially the first time.

 

== Comic Books ==

* Played with in ''[[Identity Crisis]]'': in one scene, Flash is vibrating rapidly so he can sit in on a meeting unseen, but Hawkman can still see him (because "his eyes can see a hummingbird's wings flap", or something). Green Arrow then asks Green Lantern to come out too, and when GL asks how GA could see him, GA says [[You Just Told Me|he just guessed]].

* In ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', Mr. Hyde reveals his ability to see by way of heat signatures to The Invisible Man (but not the audience, who knew since their first meeting) shortly before {{spoiler|he rapes him to death.}}

 

== Fan Works ==

* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', [[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni|Hanyuu]] is surprised when Yuki can not only see but also touch her.

 

* Lydia to the Maitlands in ''[[Beetlejuice]]''.

* In ''[[Ghost Town (film)|Ghost Town]]'', this is the ghosts' initial reaction to Pincus.

* In ''[[Erik the Viking]]'', Erik charges into battle with a rag on his head, which he had previously used to make himself invisible to his lover's father. What he doesn't realise is that the rag only makes him invisible to ''that one guy''. So instead of an invisible warrior, he's actually an unnervingly confident guy with a dishcloth on his head. After winning the battle single-handedly he discovers he was visible the whole time, and promptly faints.

* Averted in ''[[Just Like Heaven]]''. Elizabeth discovers David can see her before discovering no one else can.

* In ''Susie Q'', only Zach can see Susie, {{spoiler|a ghost who died forty years earlier, because he's in possession of the bracelet she wore when she died.}}

* In ''Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man'', when a shower is turned on, the invisible man can be seen enough to be stabbed by a thrown knife.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''Things Not Seen'' by Andrew Clements, the main character Bobby does one of these towards the end of the book

* In the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series, Kahlan's first encounter with the pristinely ungifted after she was hidden by the Chainfire spell. She may not have said it, but she was certainly surprised. In a curious inversion in the same series, Adie sees using magic, so the first time she encounters a pristinely ungifted person, she is confused because she is unable to see them.

* Happens a lot in ''[[Discworld]]'', especially when Death is seen by children (who lack a [[Weirdness Censor]]). And the wizards, who are specially trained to see what is really there.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Both versions of ''[[Randall and Hopkirk Deceased]]'' has this when someone could see Marty, as he is a [[Our Ghosts Are Different|ghost]] who can usually [[Spirit Advisor|only be seen by his partner Jeff]]. For example, when the psychic Mrs. Pleasance spots him in "For The Girl Who Has Everything".

* Another Marty had a similar reaction, for similar reasons, in ''[[Teen Angel]]'' when he met an old lady who could see him because {{spoiler|she was soon to die}}.

** Annie is so astonished to be seen, she asks twice and waves her arms around for good measure.

** Subverted in Series 1, Episode 4: a woman replies to what she says, which triggers the question. Subverted in that the woman is ''blind,'' thus can't technically ''see'' Annie. But she seems to hear her just fine, which most people can't either.

* ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'': Sabrina once turned a classmate invisible and spent most of the rest of the episode trying to find his exact spot to turn him visible again. He'd pretty much gotten used to invisibility when she finally succeeded and Zelda saw him. When he said the phrase, she replied, "Yes, and I can see that you're [[Less Disturbing in Context|not wearing pants]]."

* Burt Campbell in ''[[Soap]]'' thought he could become invisible for a while. At one point he tried to show his wife but she could still see him; he decided that was because he was wet (they were in the bathtub together).

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* This is also true in White Wolf's ''[[Changeling: The Dreaming]]''. Children generally believe anything they see, whereas adults rationalize and have a [[Weirdness Censor]]. And the mentally ill/insane's [[Weirdness Censor]] is broken or gone.

* And in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' the vampiric discipline "Obfuscate" is a subversion, the subversion being a quirk of the ability that both characters and players themselves may not be aware of. Obfuscate does indeed make one invisible to anyone looking at you (unless they have Auspex or other supernatural means of detecting someone) but it's not actual invisibility, it's a ''mind trick.'' Also it's harder to use if you're actively being watched. Cameras and such will still capture images of someone under Obfuscate. This encourages players to perform the old "Turn a corner and when they follow, I'm not there" trick.

 

== Video Games ==

* The ''[[Thief (series)|Thief]]'' series begins with a young Garrett (the player character) trying to pickpocket a Keeper. The Keeper notes that it's not easy to see a Keeper, especially one who does not wish to be seen. This gets a [[Book Ends|Book End]] later in the series.

* Fairies in ''[[Dragon Quest V]]'' can normally only seen by innocent children. As a child, the fairy named Honey takes you to solve her world's problem because nobody else could see her. When you're an adult and are heading into a fairy wood, you can no longer see any fairy. It's your two kids that locate them.

 

== Web Comics ==

* Ito, God of Trust and Betrayal from ''[[A Moment of Peace]]'', is thrown off his game when Evi's worm-companion George catches Ito stealing her dreams.

* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' has it, with Roy as {{spoiler|a ghost}} and the kobold oracle, who makes a remark concerning Roy's mother. After Roy asks why he hadn't told him before, the oracle answers, "I don't know, because I don't like you?"

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Looney Tunes]]'': Foghorn Leghorn rubs vanishing cream (which is just skin moisturizer) onto the naïve Chickenhawk, who heads over to the doghouse and starts gloating that "you can't fight what you can't see!" to the dog. The dog pulls out a mirror. Whoops.

* ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' (or rather, the Dr. Weird segment before an episode of the show proper) pulls this off to rather hilarious effect:

'''Dr. Weird:''' '''WHY NOT?!?!?!''' }}

* ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]''

** There's an interesting variation in another episode where they're dealing with a vampire that is blind and can only detect people through smell. At one point Jackie is trying to hide from him by holding his breath, only for the vampire to reveal that he has absorbed enough people's life forces to gain sight. Jackie quotes this trope verbatim.

* A variation in ''[[Invader Zim]]'': Zim gets a "Megadoomer" mech (by mistake), and stomps over to Dib's house; the Megadoomer makes itself invisible, but...

'''Zim:''' You dare agree with me?! Prepare to meet your horrible doom! }}

* ''[[South Park]]'': Only Butters will speak to Cartman after the other kids conspire to ignore him. Cartman thinks he's dead, and Butters is the only one that can see him.

 

== Real Life ==

* The classic psychology paper ''[http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf Unskilled and Unaware of It]: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments'' cites a newspaper story about a bank robber who believed lemon juice made him invisible to security cameras.

** Naturally, ''America's Dumbest Criminals'' has the actual film footage. Amusingly the guy was taking his sweet time, including taking out a shopping cart as if it was just a normal trip to the store.

* [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-98595053.html Some] [http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/01/nyregion/suspect-in-6-brooklyn-killings-is-arrested-in-georgia-murder.html people] apparently believe that a magic ritual can turn them invisible, despite all evidence to the contrary.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Haunted Index]]

[[Category:Stock Phrases]]

[[Category:Invisibility Index]]