History Main / CondensationClue

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/{{Constantine}}''. Constantine is sure that Isabel Dodson didn't commit suicide without leaving a message for her sister Angela. He uses a repeated ArmorPiercingQuestion on a reluctant Angela to force her to admit that she and Isabel used this technique as children. Angela then breathes on the window in Isabel's room, revealing her final message to her sister.

* The heart the daughter drew on the window in ''Film/Flightplan2005'' confirms that Jodie Foster's character isn't going crazy and hadn't just imagined that her supposedly-dead daughter was on the plane.
** Possibly an InspirationNod to the very similar plotline in ''Film/TheLadyVanishes''.
* In ''Film/Ghost1990'', Sam uses this against Willy, the man who murdered him. After terrorizing him by trapping him in an apartment and causing objects around it to hurl themselves at him, Willy hides in the bathroom, only for Sam to steam up the bathroom mirror with hot water in the sink, then write the word "BOO" on the glass.
* In ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Lavender huffs on the window of Ron's train compartment and draws an [[{{Glurge}} overly-cutesy heart]] in the condensation.
* At the end of ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'', Julie finds the words "I still know" drawn on a fogged-up shower stall, presumably put there by the killer to bait her close enough for him to crash through the glass and attack her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'', otherwise-imperceptible Jack Frost provides Jamie with a sign that the Easter Bunny is for real by frosting over his window and drawing an Easter egg in the frozen condensation.

* In ''Film/TheFog2005'', one of the four teens whose boat is first to fall prey to the haunted fogbank goes into a trance and draws a set of scales on the window. Presumably this is to foreshadow the ghosts' motive of [[spoiler:payback for their murders at the hands of the town founders (scales = justice)]].
* Miss Froy in ''Film/TheLadyVanishes'' writes her name with condensation on the train window. When the heroine sees it again, it confirms to her that she's not crazy and something is amiss.

* One of the ghostly behaviours that turns up is a threatening mirror message in ''Literature/TheDarkBeneathTheIce''.
* In ''Literature/TheDemonsGrave'' Nora gets an unsettling message on her bathroom mirror from an unknown entity near the beginning of the book.
* In ''[[Literature/RepairmanJack The Haunted Air]]'', a ghostly presence writes on a fogged-up mirror to communicate with Lyle in real time.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Spike has been reduced to being a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghost]] and can't be seen and can ''barely'' interact with the world. He manages to write a single word in the condensation while Fred showers.
* Used on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' when Faith entices Buffy into ditching school to go slaying by breathing on the classroom window, then drawing a heart and 'staking' the middle of it with her finger.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Disguised as a cleaning lady in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E5TheGreenDeath The Green Death]]", the Doctor discreetly signals Captain Yates by soaping up a window, writing a message in the suds, then wiping it away.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars Pyramids Of Mars]]", when Sarah Jane is trapped in the "Decadron Crucible" on Mars, the Doctor tells her to "R-E-L-A-X" by writing in the dust/condensation on the surface of the tube (for bonus points, he even writes it backwards).

* On ''Series/GhostsUS'', Trevor writes a message on the fogged-up bathroom mirror to let Jay know that Sam lied about the ghosts' not wanting to play D&D with him. The effort of doing so nearly kills Trevor, at least figuratively speaking.

* On ''Series/TheCloser'', the episode "Products of Discovery" reveals [[spoiler:this is the method the gang leader used to communicate a hit on a witness testifying against him]].
* A message revealed by steaming a mirror provided a clue on the pilot episode of ''Series/Whodunnit2013''.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Azada}}'', turning on the hot water in the bathroom reveals which two symbols to click on to open a locked chest.

* In ''VideoGame/DarkFall : The Journal'', you need to re-start the hotel's running water so you can steam up one of the bathroom mirrors and expose a lyric. In ''VideoGame/DarkFall : Lost Souls'', Verney's ghost writes a clue in the grime on a different bathroom's mirror.

** In ''Escape From Ravenhearst'', the push-button combination to a padlock appears on a bathroom mirror once you repair the water heater and turn on the hot-water tap.

* In ''Resorting To Danger'', one of the Dossier sub-series of VideoGame/NancyDrew games, a password can be revealed on the see-through door of an industrial dryer if you turn it on so its window steams up.

* In chapter 2 of ''VideoGame/TheCatLady'', Susan figures out the fellow patient's mother's name by leaving the hot
water running under the bathroom mirror, revealing part of the name written on it with a finger. Figuring out other parts [[MushroomSamba requires being drugged]].
* One of the clues in the Stonehenge site's RV from ''VideoGame/TheOmegaStone'' can be revealed in this way by entering the shower stall and turning it on.

[[folder:VisualNovels]]

* The setup is seen in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Homer & Marge are trapped in a revolving door that dropped on them from a hurricane. Homer writes on the glass, "Save her first."
** In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'', after the Simpsons escape the dome, Colin breathes on the glass inside and writes down a musical staff with notes, dubbed "Lisa's Song", which Lisa then vocalizes.

* In ''Film/KillBill Pt. 2'', the swordsmith is unwilling to say Bill's name aloud, so he writes it in condensation on a fogged-up window for the Bride to read.
* In the film, ''Film/{{Paycheck}}'', Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck) contractually has his [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory erased]] after completing a job, a wipe that has dire consequences. Knowing he'll need to contact his girlfriend Rachel Porter (Uma Thurman) for help after the memory wipe, he writes a message for her to meet him at their favorite bistro onto her bathroom mirror so that she will see it the next day when the mirror fogs from her shower. The BigBad figured it too, as he had planted bugs in the bathroom, and saw her mood change from depressed to happy. He instructs TheDragon to position himself so that he's at the same angle as she was, and seeing that she was looking at the mirror they both realize where the message is.

* At the end of ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'', Julie finds the words "I still know" drawn on a fogged-up shower stall, presumably put there by the killer to bait her close enough for him to crash through the glass and attack her.
* In ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'', the show host writes the letter B on the steamy bathroom mirror for Jamal to notice. It was supposed to be the answer for the next show question but as it turns out - the clue was wrong. Good thing Jamal didn't fall for it.
* In ''Film/{{Ouija}}'', one of the mysterious "Hi friend" messages appears on the inside of a fogged-up car window.
* In ''Film/{{Brightburn}}'', Brandon marks the diner's frost-covered windows with his double-B symbols before he attacks the proprietress. The frost melts by morning, but the sheriff discovers the markings by huffing on the glass.
* In ''Film/Ghost1990'', Sam uses this against Willy, the man who murdered him. After terrorizing him by trapping him in an apartment and causing objects around it to hurl themselves at him, Willy hides in the bathroom, only for Sam to steam up the bathroom mirror with hot water in the sink, then write the word "BOO" on the glass.

* In ''Literature/TheDemonsGrave'' Nora gets an unsettling message on her bathroom mirror from an unknown entity near the beginning of the book.
* In one of the ''Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy'' books, Wobbler writes a note on a fogged-up window so he won't forget it, then keeps rushing back to huff on the glass and keep it foggy so the message remains visible.

* In ''[[Literature/RepairmanJack The Haunted Air]]'', a ghostly presence writes on a fogged-up mirror to communicate with Lyle in real time.
* In ''Literature/KingRat'', the title character writes a short message to the protagonist in the grime on a window when he's sneaking him out of jail, as speaking aloud would be overheard by the nearby police.

* Played with in Creator/KimNewman's "Literature/TheManWhoGotOffTheGhostTrain", when Richard huffs on the mirror in his luxury train compartment's washroom. The fog of his breath reveals an ominous message in the condensation ... which his female associate drew on it to troll him and see if he'd notice.

* References in ''Lost'' by Creator/GregoryMaguire, in which a skeptic claims that seeing words appear on a fogged-up window would only make him marvel at the statistical unlikelihood of the condensation dissipating in that pattern, ''not'' leap to the conclusion that it's the handiwork of a ghost.

* One of the clues in the Stonehenge site's RV from ''The Omega Stone'' can be revealed in this way by entering the shower stall and turning it on.

* In chapter 2 of ''VideoGame/TheCatLady'', Susan figures out the fellow patient's mother's name by leaving the hot water running under the bathroom mirror, revealing part of the name written on it with a finger. Figuring out other parts [[MushroomSamba requires being drugged]].

* In ''VideoGame/AliceIsDead'', a mirror in the nightclub has a hidden message that can be revealed by messing with the club's air conditioning.
* In ''Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches'', an unseen presence writes a clue on the upstairs bathroom mirror when you turn on the hot water and let it steam up.
* In ''VideoGame/Bioshock1'', [[spoiler:Andrew Ryan, in trying to stop you from reviving Arcadia, gasses Julie Langford in her lab, and just before dying, she scrawls the code to her safe on the window.]]
* The passcode to the keycode door in ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'' can found by blowing into the mic, causing the window to fog up and reveal the code.
* One of the late game tasks in ''VisualNovel/LastWindow'' is investigating another tenant's room for clues as to what he's up to. Running the sink with hot water reveals a passcode in the mirror that you need to open a safebox.
* Used twice in ''Phantasmat: Behind The Mask'': once to reveal a compass-based code, and again in the collector's edition to explain the game objective of the epilogue.

* On ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', when Steven traps himself and Connie in a bubble-shaped, soundproof magic shield, they both breathe on the sides and draw in the resulting condensation to try and convince Onion to break it and free them. Steven tries to get him to use a harpoon gun with a complicated drawing. Connie just writes "harpoon gun".
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': When Oblivio erases Ladybug and Cat Noir's memories just before they turn back into Marinette and Adrien, they're left scrambling to try to determine their own identities. They get their names off school ID cards in their pockets, then hit on the idea to use the contacts in their cell phones to call for help. Unfortunately, their cell phones are locked, and neither one remembers how to unlock them. Then Marinette breathes on the screens, which shows the patterns they use to unlock. Good thing they both apparently cleaned their screens, unlocked them, and then did literally nothing else, because they're pristine otherwise.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Spike has been reduced to being a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghost]] and can't be seen and can ''barely'' interact with the world. He manages to write a single word in the condensation while Fred showers.
* A message revealed by steaming a mirror provided a clue on the pilot episode of ''Series/Whodunnit2013''.
* Used on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' when Faith entices Buffy into ditching school to go slaying by breathing on the classroom window, then drawing a heart and 'staking' the middle of it with her finger.

* In "Assignment 2" of ''Series/SapphireAndSteel'', a series of 11s appears repeatedly in the grime on a hotel room window, indicating [[spoiler:the exact date and time of Private Sam Pierce's death]].
* In ''Series/GhostWars'', the main character actually ''watches'' the words "No Hope" manifest eerily on a mirror. In this case the condensation itself manifests from nothing, conveying the impression that a ghostly presence is making the mirror ''colder'' in a humid room, everywhere except the lettering.
* ''Series/{{Endeavour}}'': In "Game", Morse investigates a suspicious death at the public baths. When he turns on the hot water, the mirror steams up to reveal the word "DENIAL" written on it.

* On ''Series/GhostsUS'', Trevor writes a message on the fogged-up bathroom mirror to let Jay know that Sam lied about the ghosts' not wanting to play D&D with him. The effort of doing so nearly kills Trevor, at least figuratively speaking.

[[folder: Advertising]]

* In the 2005 remake of ''Film/TheFog'', one of the four teens whose boat is first to fall prey to the haunted fogbank goes into a trance and draws a set of scales on the window. Presumably this is to foreshadow the ghosts' motive of [[spoiler:payback for their murders at the hands of the town founders (scales = justice)]].

* On ''Series/GhostsUS'', Trevor writes a message on the fogged-up bathroom mirror to let Mike know that Sam lied about the ghosts' not wanting to play D&D with him. The effort of doing so nearly kills Trevor, at least figuratively speaking.

* A message revealed by steaming a mirror provided a clue on the pilot episode of ''Series/{{Whodunnit}}?''.

* In ''Winner Take All'' by Creator/SimonRGreen, a political candidate's hired sorcerers deliver a death threat to his opponent via this trope, magically causing a window to fog up and then "drawing" a leering, speaking face in the fog with the tracks of dripping water.

* Played with in Creator/KimNewman's "[[Literature/DiogenesClub The Man Who Got Off The Ghost Train]]", when Richard huffs on the mirror in his luxury train compartment's washroom. The fog of his breath reveals an ominous message in the condensation ... which his female associate drew on it to troll him and see if he'd notice.

[[folder: Film ]]

* The heart the daughter drew on the window in ''Film/FlightPlan'' confirms that Jodie Foster's character isn't going crazy and hadn't just imagined that her supposedly-dead daughter was on the plane.

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action Television ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' had this in "Unspoken"...the villain opens fire at a political rally and though no one is hit, he realizes Lindsay saw him. He goes into her hospital room wanting to kill her and writes 'I'm sorry' on the window. He doesn't kill her, because he realizes she's a mother and has a big thing against hurting kids, but the next morning, Lindsay's husband, Danny, is standing by the window with his coffee, and the steam reveals the would-be killer's words.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Spike has been reduced to being a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghost]] and can't be seen and can BARELY interact with the world. He manages to write a single word in the condensation while Fred showers.

* In the 2005 remake of ''Film/TheFog'', one of the four teens whose boat is first to fall prey to the haunted fogbank goes into a trance and draws a set of scales on the window. Presumably this is to foreshadow the ghosts' motive of [[spoiler: payback for their murders at the hands of the town founders (scales = justice)]].

* In "Assignment 2" of ''Series/SapphireAndSteel'', a series of 11s appears repeatedly in the grime on a hotel room window, indicating [[spoiler: the exact date and time of Private Sam Pierce's death]].

* In ''VideoGame/Bioshock1'', [[spoiler: Andrew Ryan, in trying to stop you from reviving Arcadia, gasses Julie Langford in her lab, and just before dying, she scrawls the code to her safe on the window.]]

* Played with in Creator/KimNewman's "The Man Who Got Off The Ghost Train", when Richard huffs on the mirror in his luxury train compartment's washroom. The fog of his breath reveals an ominous message in the condensation ... which his female associate drew on it to troll him and see if he'd notice.

* On ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', when Steven traps himself and a girl in a bubble-shaped, soundproof magic shield, they both breathe on the sides and draw in the resulting condensation to try and convince Onion to break it and free them. Steven tries to get him to use a harpoon gun with a complicated drawing. Connie just writes "harpoon gun".

* In ''Ghost Wars'', the main character actually ''watches'' the words "No Hope" manifest eerily on a mirror. In this case the condensation itself manifests from nothing, conveying the impression that a ghostly presence is making the mirror ''colder'' in a humid room, everywhere except the lettering.