History Main / ByTheEyesOfTheBlind

* ''TheSupernaturalist'' has a similar setup: People who've undergone near-death experiences (but didn't actually die) can see the creatures that the main characters fight.

** Death can be seen by animals, witches and wizards, and small children. And people about to die or who are having a near-death experience. In brief, anybody whose WeirdnessCensor is "off". ...And Carrot. The man used him as a witness for a murder, even. The book ''Wyrd Sisters'' states that Death can also be seen if people truly expect to see him (which may explain Carrot's ability to use him as a witness). In ''Wyrd Sisters'', Death walks on stage during a play at a time when the audience expects an actor playing Death to show up -- and is seen by everyone in the audience. And gets stage fright.

** While not a perfect example, Bogles (weird humanoid demon-animals that inhabit the Underworld) can only be seen by people who have their eyes shut at the time. This might be a deliberate parody of the BlindSeer trope.

* The Spectres in ''HisDarkMaterials'' can only be seen by adults.

* In the Gorillaz song ''Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head'', the Happy Folk were unable to see the Strange Folk, because the Strange Folk wore dark glasses, hiding their eyes. 'Without the truth of the eyes, the Happy Folk were blind.'

--> -- Billy Joel, ''River of Dreams''

->I know I'm searching for something
->Something so undefined
->That it can only be seen
->By the eyes of the blind
--> -- Billy Joel, ''River of Dreams''

* In the tabletop role-playing game ''[[ChangelingTheLost Changeling: The Lost]]'', a Changeling's mien (that is, their true, Fae-inspired appearance) is virtually impossible to detect against a Changeling's will, even to other magical folk; though there may be enough bleedover to make their mundane appearance unique or unusual enough to make others suspect there could be something wrong , the illusion of a normal visage, called the Mask, is complete and almost impenetrable. However, one book lists optional conditions for people who are naturally capable of seeing through it-- such as the seventh son of a seventh son, a person with [[BoatLights heterochromia]], or someone born on Leap Day.

* The SlenderMan can only be seen by his targets, and sometimes on video when played back (live generally doesn't cut it).

<<|Repair Shop Notification:4o2lffu2qsgdktglkd78g860|>>

** That and because she herself is... "Strange and Unusual."

* In {{Beetlejuice}}, only Lydia can see the Maitlands because she read the book they left behind on the attic table.\

* In {{Beetlejuice}}, only Lydia can see the Maitlands because she read the book they left behind on the attic table.

* In {{Beetlejuice}}, only Lydia can see the Maitlands.

This is the supertrope to InvisibleToNormals and InvisibleToAdults. Please place examples of those subtropes under the proper subtropes.

This is the supertrope to InvisibleToNormals and InvisibleToAdults. Please place examples of those subtropes under the subtropes.

This trope does not include cases where the ability to see the creatures is granted by magic or psychic powers, etc. Anyone in the appropriate demographic, no matter how 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 [[GlamorFailure what they really are]].

This is the supertrope to InvisibleToNormals and InvisibleToAdults. See also WeirdnessCensor, MagneticMedium, and YouCanSeeMe.

See also InvisibleToNormals, InvisibleToAdults, WeirdnessCensor, MagneticMedium, and YouCanSeeMe.

For the literal version of this trope, see BlindSeer. Contrast BlindfoldedVision.

* Hollows in ''{{Bleach}}'' can apparently only be seen by people with high amounts of spirit energy, which conveniently tends to grant the power to fight them (which is good, as they're attracted to people with high levels of spirit energy). There is, however, a dangerous interval between the level of spirit energy required for perception and the level required to defend oneself. [[spoiler: Ichigo's sisters, Keigo, and Tatsuki]] are all currently stuck in this interval.
** [[spoiler:Karin]] can defend herself against weak Hollows, and [[spoiler:Yuzu]] can only see vague outlines of Hollows once they get within strangling distance.
** Before he develops his powers, Chad could only see the vague outlines of the Hollow and had to team up with [[spoiler:Karin]] to defeat it.
* In ''YuYuHakusho'', most demon bugs and some demons can only be seen by people with high enough spiritual sense. Koenma uses this as an advantage to give out information to his detective and friends without the fear that muggles might see.
*In ''KamenRiderDragonKnight'', mirror monsters can only be seen by Riders and those who have been to the mirror world. The same goes for being able to look into a reflection and see battles taking place in mirror world. When a fight takes place in reality, {{Muggles}} tend to see Riders punching and yelling at thin air.
* In ''[[JoJosBizarreAdventure JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'', only Stand users can see Stands. The only exceptions are Stands that use physical matter for substance, such as Strength (a ship), Wheel of Fortune (a car), and The Fool (sand). Non-users can still see and experience the Stands' effects on the world, such as holes punched in walls or grievous injuries.

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* In ''MonsterAllergy'', monsters can be only seen by people who have the Sight Dom. Tamers and Keepers are those people who can see monsters.
* In ''UltimateFantastic Four'', the Argiopes are spider-like creatures who attack the sources of time paradoxes to protect the timestream, and can only be seen by time travelers.
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** ''TheSupernaturalist'' has a similar setup: People who've undergone near-death experiences (but didn't actually die) can see the creatures that the main characters fight.

* Thestrals in ''HarryPotter'' could only be seen by those who had witnessed someone die.
** Which leads to the gaping plot hole as to why they suddenly appeared and were {{Handwave}}d away with that explanation in the 5th book, despite Harry witnessing his mother being killed ''in front of him'' when he was a baby...
*** [[WordOfGod J.K.Rowling]] answered that: "Harry didn't see his parents die. He was in his cot (...) all he saw was a flash of green light." It's the murder of [[spoiler: Cedric]] what makes him see the Thestrals, but he couldn't see them yet at the end of the fouth book because "until Harry is over the first shock, and really feels what death means (...) he would not be able to see the Thestrals." Which means he would not have been able to see the Thestrals even if he had witnessed his parents' deaths, because he was a baby and unable to comprehend such things.
****Harry didn't actually see [[spoiler: Cedric]] die either: "And then, without warning, Harry's scar exploded with pain. [...] his knees bucked; he was on the ground and ''could see nothing at all.'' [...]A blast of green light blazed through Harry's eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall to the ground beside him." (emphasis added.) SERIOUSLY {{Handwave}}d.
*****Well just because he didn't see the actual dying doesn't mean he wasn't a witness to the death.
* The {{Discworld}}'s Death can be seen by animals, witches and wizards, and small children. And people about to die or who are having a near-death experience. In brief, anybody whose WeirdnessCensor is "off".
** And Carrot. The man used him as a witness for a murder, even.
** The book ''Wyrd Sisters'' states that Death can also be seen if people truly expect to see him (which may explain Carrot's ability to use him as a witness). In ''Wyrd Sisters'', Death walks on stage during a play at a time when the audience expects an actor playing Death to show up -- and is seen by everyone in the audience. And gets stage fright.
*** Pretty much everybody ''can'' see Death, most of them just refuse to do so, either mentally erasing him from a scene or frantically trying to perceive him as a normal person.

*** GURPS Discworld actually said it was Second Sight that allowed you to see Death and so forth. Even though that was partly because they were using GURPS terms, it does seem, especially given what's below, that Pratchett has changed some of his ideas by the time of the Tiffany Aching books. He certainly changed the idea of how you change someone's form, actually in a less Discworldian direction.
** Way back in the first two Discworld novels, ''The Colour of Magic'' and ''The Light Fantastic'', we are told that wizards have not only cones and rods in their eyes but also octagons, which allow them to see magical things like the color octarine. It was a rather silly idea ([[AWizardDidIt how did they get in there?]] Implants?) and has been glossed over and/or [[RetCon retconned]] since then, like many things from those two books.
*** I'm sorry, but something silly in a series that takes place on a disc resting on four giant elephants that are standing on an even more giant turtle as it swims through space?
*** Also back in the early novels it's established that being a Wizard is inborn. The eighth son of an eighth son is a wizard. One assumes that the profusion of eights in a magically infused environment causes the development of the octagons in the eyes.
**** The eighth son of the eighth son will always be a wizard, yes. But it's never said that ALL wizards are eighth sons etc. It's merely said that those few who are eighth etc. will HAVE to be wizards. So this might be a rare case of CursedWithAwesome, and other wizards might just be magically talented guys who decide to become wizards. Besides, Granny Weatherwax has implied that wizards and witches are basically the same (though she doesn't seem happy about the similiarities), and there are, IIRC, witches in Discworld books that do not have seven siblings.
*** Which (in the absence of sourcery) is the one legitimate support for Rincewind's claim that he's a wizard. The guy can't spellcast for beans, but he ''does'' see octarine.
*** ...You are willing to accept that animals get the power of speech and humanoid thoughts from the magical 'radiation', but not that wizards ''eyes'' change?

* In ''TwilightEyes'' by DeanKoontz, creatures called Goblins can only be seen in their true forms by humans with some psychic ability (the "Twilight Eyes" of the title). The main character has unusual purple eyes that make him able to see them. Another character has an amber third eye in his forehead with the same ability. The protagonist's live interest can also see their true form and see the future, though this troper doesn't remember any [[RedRightHand visual quirk]] to indicate it.

* 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 prescence.
* A variation on the trope. In the first ElHazard series, only Nanami Jinnai can see through the Mazoku race's illusion, a unique, personal power gained by crossing dimensions. However, the is TrappedInAnotherWorld and unable to see the illusion ''at all'', so she assumes what she sees is normal because nobody else comments on it...

** Before that, Buffy fought Der Kindestod, a child-killing monster that could only be seen by children and young adults (oldest confirmed is 16) with fevers (whether the children require fevers or just the young adults is here intentionally [[AmbiguousSyntax ambiguous]]).

* At one point, Dean of {{Supernatural}} gains the ability to see those possessed by demons for what they are. This occurs when he is running out of time with his DealWithTheDevil.

* In the animated movie ''Ferngully'', humans can't see fairies unless a fairy grants them "fairy sight."

* Olfactory example (inversion?): I read a study about how asparagus imparts a particular smell to urine, yet some people report that it doesn't work on them. The punchline of that study was that some people simply cannot ''detect'' that particular smell - they have a "dead spot" to that odor. Interestingly, [[DirtyJobs Mike Rowe]] found that he couldn't detect certain smells (and others registered strangely) when shooting the odor analysis segment (season 3, ep. 14).

* Certain high-frequency sounds - between about 15 kHz and about 20 kHz - can be heard by children and adolescents, but generally not by anyone older than 25. Sounds in this range have been put to use both as [[TeensAreMonsters teenager repellent]] (because by nature it's an extremely irritating high-pitched whine) and as an [[InvisibleToAdults Inaudible To Adults]] mobile phone ringtone.
** YourMilageMayVary as this troper's mom, a 58 year old English teacher, can hear those ring tones.
*** As time passes, a person's hearing gets damaged and therefore lose some of their range. Those who take care of their hearing (protect them from loud noises, mostly) and/or have sharp ears to begin with will usually keep their ability to listen to these sounds. Conversely, some can never hear into this range, by a simple quirk of genetics.
** Do the people using it as a "teenager repellent" realize that it harms little children? And the adults can't figure out what they're crying about, so they can't take them out of harm's way?
*** If they cared about children, they wouldn't try to keep them away, would they?
** Cat deterrents work in a similar way. This Troper's dad put one in the garden after next door's cat mauled a wood pigeon. Little did he know that this Troper and her sister could actually *hear* the whine given off by the device, and that it gave us headaches.