History Main / CastsNoShadow

* In the ''Challenge of the WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' episode "Trial of the Super Friends", Cheetah summons holograms of herself. Wonder Woman points out the holograms don't have shadows and lassos the Cheetah who has one. Unfortunately, this Cheetah turns out to be a robot.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' had a variety of Shadowkhan that could eat shadows.
* One episode of the animated ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' has a baddie steal people's shadows, which causes them to age at a rapid rate.
* The villain in the "Bright Lights" arc of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'' draws power from stealing ponies' shadows, turning the ponies into something akin to {{Technically Living Zombie}}s.
* An ''Aesop and Son'' short in ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'' is about a dog losing his shadow taking his bone with him. The dog buys Charlie's shadow from a back alley as a replacement.
* On one ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode, Jokey's shadow is brought to life and goes around playing pranks, for which Jokey is blamed. As he is put on trial, one of the Smurfs notices that Jokey is not casting a shadow.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/WorldOfWinx'', an aspiring fashion designer named Sophie had been abducted and replaced with a shadow creature. Bloom noticed this when she saw "Sophie" cast no shadow, cluing her to what really happened to her.

* In ''[[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0756.html#noshadow The Woman Who Had No Shadow]]'', after consulting a witch and using her magic to ensure she would have no children, a woman casts no shadow.

* PlayedForLaughs in the first ''Series/DansUneGalaxiePresDeChezVous'' where Brad doesn't cast a shadow because even it can't stand him. The shadow flips him off when he asks it to come back.

* In ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' episode "Happy Family Planning" [[spoiler:3 people make multiple attempts at suicide through out the episode. At the end they realize that they don't have shadows and that one of their suicide attempts was successful.]]

* In ''[[ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire Power Man and Iron Fist]]'' Tyrone King was seen casting no shadow. According to [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2013/08/02/comic-book-legends-revealed-430/3/ this]] you were supposed to suspect he was a vampire, but he wasn't.

* One ''House of Secrets'' tale makes the issue that having no shadow would mean invisibility a plot point. A scientist discovers that an opal was changed by radiation to absorb any shadow it touches, casting it again once light is shone through from another angle. Using it to capture the shadows of multiple objects, he successfully uses them to pull of a robbery, evading arrest when pursueed by capturing his own shadow. Later, he reads in the news that the objects whose shadows he's taken have become invisible, before realizing the same has happened to him. The story ends with him contemplating confession and imprisonment on the chance both his shadow and visibility can be restored before it's too late.

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* In the ''Anime/BlackRockShooter'' TV anime, [[spoiler:Yuu has no shadow, as a sign that she had traded places with her other self]].

* In issue 3 of the DC book L.A.W (Living Assault Weapons), ComicBook/{{Nightshade}} is able to see through the disguises of a group of demons trying to kidnap an ambassador since they have no shadows.

* In ''[[Literature/TheThieftakerChronicles Thieftaker]]'', the first clue that the MysteriousWaif Anna isn't a normal child is that she has no shadow.
* In ''Literature/{{IT}}'' the titular EldritchAbomination casts no shadow when it is disguised as [[MonsterClown Pennywise]], as Ben Hanscom notices when IT first appears to him on a frozen river with the sun directly behind it. Why IT casts no shadow is probably because it has no true physical form to cast a shadow from.
* In ''Literature/{{Masques}}'' this is how Aralorn sees that [[spoiler: what seems to be the ae'Magi]] is merely a magical illusion -- it casts no shadow.
* In the German novel ''Der Krähenturm'' ("The Tower of Crows"), the protagonist, a medical student, examines a corpse, in which there is no cause of death to be found with the usual methods. He finally realizes that the corpse lacks a shadow, which is a hint at the cause of death. [[spoiler: Later, he starts to lose parts of his own shadow, when the same creature goes after him.]]
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/WitchWorld'' novel ''Year of the Unicorn'', after Gillian is abandoned by the company, she casts no shadow. Only later does she find out what was done to her to cause that.
* In Creator/ErinMorgenstern's ''Literature/TheNightCircus'', Mr. A. H-- casts no shadow. Noticing this nearly drives Chandresh mad.

* In ''Literature/TheSeventhTower'', people with [[BondCreatures Spiritshadows]] have no normal shadows. It's later revealed that the [[SpiritWorld Aeniran]] creatures that become Spiritshadows bond by actually picking up the shadow and assimilating it.
* In Mary Hoffman's ''Literature/{{Stravaganza}}'' series certain characters are able to use a talisman to travel between modern Earth and Talia, the FantasyCounterpartCulture version of Renaissance Italy. A character who is only visiting that world has no shadow. If they gain one, it means that their body has died in their world and they are stuck there.
* In the novella ''[[Literature/PeterSchlemihlTheShadowlessMan The Wonderful History of Peter Schlemihl]]'' (1814) by Adelbert von Chamisso, young and naive Peter [[MeaningfulName Schlemihl]] happily sells his shadow to a mysterious old man in exchange for a bottomless purse. Only then does he discover that the lack of shadow makes him an outcast from human society. When he meets the [[DevilInDisguise strange old man]] again, the latter refuses to reverse the bargain, but offers to take Peter's soul in exchange for the shadow.
* In ''Literature/TheBoxOfDelights'', Kay casts no shadow when travelling into the past in search of Arnold of Todi.
* In Creator/SusanCooper's ''Literature/TheDarkIsRising'', the Riders of the Dark cast no shadows, at least in their natural appearances; it's never stated that [[MeaningfulName Mr. Mitothin]] of book two doesn't have one, nor do the children notice a lack of one for Hastings in the first book [[spoiler:and one would think John Rowlands would have noticed if his wife didn't]].

* [[HumanoidAbomination Mordeth]] in his first appearance in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' doesn't have a shadow, owing to being a semi-corporeal spirit rather than a living man. Though it's never explicitly stated, he presumably got a shadow back after merging with Padan Fain and getting a new body therefore.
* Creator/DrSeuss's book "Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?" has a character named Harry Haddow, who "can't make any shadow."

* The Aimians of [[Literature/TheStormlightArchive Roshar]] have a variant of this. They have a shadow, but it points ''towards'' light instead of away from it.
* In the Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath, a person's shadow is cast by their soul. Therefore, neither Bane (who asked a priest to carry his soul so that it would not be tainted by his actions) nor Terribend (whose soul is in the possession of TheDragon) casts a shadow.

* In ''Literature/TheNekropolisArchives'', the vampires of Nekropolis, called the Bloodborn, cast no shadows in addition to having no reflections.
* In ''Literature/ANightInTheLonesomeOctober'', Cheeter the squirrel has no shadow, because his master Owen nailed it to a wall in a druidic ritual when he made Cheeter into his {{Familiar}}. [[spoiler: After Owen is murdered, Cheeter asks Snuff and Graymalk to extract the nails and re-attach his shadow so he can resume life as an ordinary squirrel.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', vampires are without shadow as well as [[MissingReflection without reflection]].

* "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" by Music/TheBand. Daniel unknowingly [[spoiler: made a DealWithTheDevil when he bought the sacred harp]], and at the end of the song notices he doesn't have a shadow anymore.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'', Shadowchild can produce this effect in people.

* On one ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode, Jokey's shadow is brought to life and goes around playing pranks, for which Jokey is blamed. As he is put on trial, one of the Smurfs notices that Jokey is not casting a shadow.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' had a variety of Shadowkhan that could eat shadows.
* In the ''Challenge of the WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' episode "Trial of the Super Friends", Cheetah summons holograms of herself. Wonder Woman points out the holograms don't have shadows and lassos the Cheetah who has one. Unfortunately, this Cheetah turns out to be a robot.
* An ''Aesop and Son'' short in ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'' is about a dog losing his shadow taking his bone with him. The dog buys Charlie's shadow from a back alley as a replacement.
* The villain in the "Bright Lights" arc of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'' draws power from stealing ponies' shadows, turning the ponies into something akin to {{Technically Living Zombie}}s.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleOfSeasons'': The wizard Agunima, a miniboss, can create three copies of himself, which move about the room and attack Link independently. The two copies are invulnerable, but can be told from the real Agunima because they don't cast shadows.

* The Ascians of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''; in fact, their name literally ''[[MeaningfulName means]]'' "without shadow".
* This is how you can tell that the opponent you're looking at in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' and ''VideoGame/Halo4'' multiplayer is actually their {{Hologram}} armor ability -- though it looks right and can even move to a limited degree, the illusion won't have a shadow under it. The other way to find out they're a Hologram is to shoot or bump into them, causing a HologramProjectionImperfection, but at that point the Hologram's owner has probably started shooting at you already.

* Inverted in Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheHobbit'', where Bilbo casts a shadow even when he shouldn't -- when he's invisible.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'' when his shadow is literally separated from him.

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* PlayedForLaughs in the first ''Series/DansUneGalaxiePresDeChezVous'' where Brad doesn't cast a shadow because even it can't stand him. The shadow flips him off when he asks it to come back.
[[/folder]]

* ''Disney/PeterPan'' when his shadow is literally separated from him.

* In issue 3 of the DC book L.A.W (Living Assault Weapons), ComicBook/{{Nightshade}} is able to see through the disguises of a group of demons trying to kidnap her uncle who is an ambassador since they have no shadows.

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
* PlayedForLaughs in the first ''Series/DansUneGalaxiePresDeChezVous'' where Brad doesn't cast a shadow because even it can't stand him. The shadow flips him off when he asks it to come back.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''Disney/PeterPan'' when his shadow is literally separated from him.

[[folder:Theater]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The villain in the "Bright Lights" arc of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'' draws power from stealing ponies' shadows, turning the ponies into something akin to {{TechnicallyLivingZombie}}s.

* In the novella ''Peter Schlemihl's Miraculous Story'' (1814) by Adelbert von Chamisso, young and naive Peter [[MeaningfulName Schlemihl]] sells his shadow to a mysterious [[DevilInDisguise Grey Man]] in exchange for a purse that gets never empty. Initially, Peter thinks he has made an excellent deal, but to his surprise people are not only very quick to notice his lack of shadow, but also react with horror and contempt, turning him into a shunned outcast.

* ''Literature/PeterSchlemihlTheShadowlessMan'' happily sells his shadow to an old man in exchange for a bottomless purse, only to discover that the lack of a shadow makes him an outcast from human society. When he sees the old man again, the latter refuses to reverse the transaction, but offers to return the protagonist's shadow in exchange for his soul...

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'''s Thriller Bark arc, Brook (a living skeleton) casts no shadow. It's not really meant to emphasize his supernatural-ness (although he's supernatural already). Instead, he lacks a shadow because someone with a [[CastingAShadow power to control shadows]] stole it and used it to reanimate one of his zombie minions. Later on, there are other pirates stuck there who also cast no shadow for the same reason. Having no shadow is a bad thing for all of them because sunlight will vaporize them, requiring them to have to avoid it.
** Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Robin have lost their shadows until Moria's defeat.

[[folder: Comics ]]

* In ''[[ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire Power Man And Iron Fist]]'' Tyrone King was seen casting no shadow. According to [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2013/08/02/comic-book-legends-revealed-430/3/ this]] you were supposed to suspect he was a vampire, but he wasn't.

[[folder: Fan Fic ]]

* The titular Shadows from ''FanFic/OjamajoDoremiRiseOfTheShadows'' do not cast shadows of their own since they are, in a way, {{Living Shadow}}s.

[[folder: Fairy Tales ]]

* In ''[[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0756.html#noshadow The Woman Who Had No Shadow]]'', after consulting a witch and using her magic to ensure she would have no children, a woman casts no shadow.

[[folder: Film, Animated ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In ''Literature/{{Masques}}'' this is how Aralorn sees that [[spoiler: what seems to be the ae'Magi]] is merely a magical illusion - it casts no shadow.

[[folder: Music ]]

-->Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say\\

As he faced the sun he cast no shadow.

[[folder: Opera ]]

* In Richard Strauss's ''Die Frau ohne Schatten'', the Empress has no shadow because she is a ShapeshiftingLover; if she does not gain one, she will be reclaimed by her father, and the Emperor turned to stone.

[[folder: Poetry ]]

* Creator/JRRTolkien's "Shadow Bride" has a man who casts no shadow. When he and the title character dance, they cast only one.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* This is how you can tell that the opponent you're looking at in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' and ''VideoGame/Halo4'' multiplayer is actually their {{Hologram}} armor ability--though it looks right and can even move to a limited degree, the illusion won't have a shadow under it. The other way to find out they're a Hologram is to shoot or bump into them, causing a HologramProjectionImperfection, but at that point the Hologram's owner has probably started shooting at you already.

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* The focus of the third episode of ''Machinima/CivilProtection'' is on a man who happens not to have a shadow. Mike and Dave theorize on why that might be, going from "he's a vampire!" to "bad light." When they try to trump up a charge to bring him in on, he suddenly has a shadow again. Mike doesn't care, ending up chasing him down the street so he can arrest the guy for jaywalking.
* In ''{{Literature/Moonflowers}},'' [[Myth/CelticMythology the Horned Hunter]] casts no shadow in his first appearance, despite being at least six feet tall and [[MalevolentMaskedMan wearing a massive elk-skull mask.]] This suits the unsettling nature of TheFairFolk.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* One episode of the animated ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' had a baddie steal people's shadows, which caused them to age at a rapid rate.