History Main / GlamourFailure

* ''{{The X-Files}}'' episode "The Unnatural" is about an alien who falls in love with baseball, taking on the form of a Negro player in 1947 Roswell. At one stage while he's asleep another character sees his true [[TheGreys Grey alien face]] reflected in the window of the bus they're traveling on. The image disappears when he wakes up.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': Whenever Derek Powers got angry, which was frequently, his powers would flare up and start to burn through his artificial skin, revealing that of the [[ILoveNuclearPower radioactive]], [[PowerGlows glowing]] villain Blight. Actively using his powers for even a few seconds will completely shatter it, requiring him to have new skin grafted on. His inability to keep his skin on through the events of any given workday actually makes him a case of BlessedWithSuck.
** This worsens as he undergoes a [[VillainousBreakdown figurative meltdown]], followed by a literal [[SuperPowerMeltdown meltdown]] which left him apparently KilledOffForReal.

** His classmates' apparent obliviousness is eventually explained: [[spoiler:people with some form of demonic heritage aren't uncommon at all, even in the world of exorcists. The big issue with Rin isn't that he's the son of a demon -- it's that he's the son of ''Satan''.]] Everyone else is justified by the fact that only someone with a Masho (demon wound) can see demons. That, and he hides his tail and his hair is long enough that his pointed ears could go unnoticed...not to mention not many people are going to be staring at someone's ''teeth''.

** His classmates' apparent obliviousness is eventually explained: [[spoiler:people with some form of demonic heritage aren't uncommon at all, even in the world of exorcists. The big issue with Rin isn't that he's the son of a demon -- it's that he's the son of ''Satan''.]]

** However, commentators on YouTube (where a clip exists) have commented that this is a SpecialEffectsFailure saying that the aliens' true form (which is arguably obscured, if you've seen it in full on {{Hulu}}) looks like scarecrows with human skin - sort of like WorzelGummidge with an alien look and StarfishAliens / BizarreAlienBiology bodies and having their voices put through a synthesizer (which makes the AutoTune of the voices - by 1996 standards - seem HilariousInHindsight or a FunnyAneurysmMoment).

* In ''{{Pokemon}}'', Zorua and Zoroark can be sent out disguised as another Pokemon. however, it cannot use moves other than its own, so you can often tell it's a glamor. Also, it reverts if it takes a hit.

* No shadow (usually ghosts and {{Hologram}}s will lack these).

** Variation: The object itself need not be emblematic of the church or God, it just needs to be something the wielder places his faith within.[[note]]One story had a man ward off a vampire with a ''credit card'' this way.[[/note]]

** Variation: The object itself need not be emblematic of the church or God, it just needs to be something the wielder places his faith within.[[hottip:*:One story had a man ward off a vampire with a ''credit card'' this way.]]

* Cannot go some places either because [[VampireInvitation they need to be invited,]] or the cannot cross some obstacle that would not hinder a human, such as running water, lines of salt or magic circles.

** However, commentators on YouTube (where a clip exists) have commented that this is a SpecialEffectsFailure saying that the aliens' true form (which is arguably obscured, if you've seen it in full on {{Hulu}} looks like scarecrows with human skin - sort of like WorzelGummidge with an alien look and StarfishAliens / BizarreAlienBiology bodies and having their voices put through a synthesizer (which makes the AutoTune of the voices - by 1996 standards - seem HilariousInHindsight or a FunnyAneurysmMoment).

* The T-1000 in ''{{Terminator}} 2'' could imitate anything it touched, within certain limitations. However, when it's to hot, its mimicking technology got a bit... twitchy. Beyond that, your only clues are his precise movements from the UncannyValley Acting School, and a BluffTheImpostor moment when he's imitating John's foster mother.
** Early Terminators could be recognized by [[EvilDetectingDog man's best friend]], and because of that the T-800 has an organic coating.
*** No, early Terminators had rubber skin and could be easily recognized. The ones with the organic coating are recognized by dogs due to their smell.
*** The dog trick works on the T-1000 as well. Probably because it can imitate shape but not smell.

** [[FridgeLogic Apparently they can't be detected by the fact that they're immune to both extreme heat and extreme cold]].
*** That only really matters if you don't mind a test which kills the innocent while leaving the replicants themselves unharmed...
*** [[MortonsFork Dunk the Witch]] anyone?
** Apparently Tyrell corp never thought of installing some kind of integral tracking beacon inside, especially after people died because of rouge replicants, especially with them being so hard to identify and track otherwise.

** In the novel ''Discworld/ReaperMan'', there's a scene where a child sees [[TheGrimReaper Death]] in his true form as a skeleton man, whereas Death is able to make adults see him as human (or they at least convince themselves they aren't seeing a skeleton). Blacksmiths (even Death's horse needs shoeing) use blindfolds when the time comes. Knowing Death is hanging around is a pretty scary proposition.

* Computers -- [[MagicalComputer whether they run on magic like Hex or not]] -- aren't easy to fool in any of Creator/TerryPratchett's works; even if it's just a throwaway line, they ''will'' see through glamour and respond appropriately. Specific examples include a military base's automated security system raising the alarm when Death and company enter an off-limits section in ''Literature/GoodOmens'', or a computer chitchatting with SantaClaus in a short story.

* In ''TheIncredibles'', Violet can make herself invisible, but when she is infiltrating a base, one of the smarter Mooks tosses some pebbles into the pond she is swimming in, revealing her position.

[[caption-width-right:314:Vampires seldom reflect on the emptiness of their unlives. But think of the potential limbo victories!]]

* In the ''Series/{{Ultraviolet}}'' series (not ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'', but also about vampires) they don't show up in mirrors, camera or film, they can't be heard in audio recordings, and when they captured one they found they were unable to even take a fingerprint from it.

[[caption-width-right:314:Vampires seldom reflect on the emptiness of their unlives.]]

* ''TheShadow'' (1994) with AlecBaldwin as Lamont Cranston a.k.a. the mysterious Shadow, the titular character of this movie screen comic book adaption. His powers of deception, mind control and telekinesis are clearly {{psychic|Powers}}, the result of a TrainingFromHell by an ancient mysterious Asian mentor. Only two people can see through his hypnotic deception: his arch-enemy who has similar mental powers (and who can hide whole buildings from the eyes of passers-by), and the [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter professor's blonde daughter]] who is a latent psychic herself and who catches a glimpse of The Shadow when she meets Cranston.

** However, commentators on YouTube (where a clip exists) have commented that this is a SpecialEffectsFailure saying that the aliens' true form (which is arguably obscured, if you've seen it in full on {{Hulu}}]] looks like scarecrows with human skin - sort of like WorzelGummidge with an alien look and StarfishAliens / BizarreAlienBiology bodies and having their voices put through a synthesizer (which makes the AutoTune of the voices - by 1996 standards - seem HilariousInHindsight or a FunnyAneurysmMoment).

* In ''OuterLimits'' "First Anniversary", two stranded female aliens [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm whose true form is beyond the ability of human senses and sensibilities]], decided to mimic humans to cope with their loneliness. By using their PsychicPowers / VoluntaryShapeshifting, they could make themselves look and act like any man's ideal woman. [[DeconstructedTrope Unfortunately, humans develop an immunity to their powers after a year of close contact]], and the men inevitably go insane when they realize their [[StarfishAliens wives' true nature]]. WordOfGod is that they are FishPeople (given the episode descriptions of aquatic people).
By the end of the episode, "Ady's" glamour has stopped working on her "husband" whose last appearance in the episode is strapped to a gurney on the way to a mental hospital. In the final scene she already has her sights set on her ex's best friend and has already taken a new form to appeal to his tastes.

* In ''OuterLimits'' "First Anniversary", two stranded female aliens who look, smell, and feel horrible to human senses and sensibilities, decided to mimic humans to cope with their loneliness. By using their PsychicPowers, they could make themselves look and act like any man's ideal woman. Unfortunately, humans develop an immunity to their powers after a year of close contact, and the men inevitably go insane when they realize their wives' true nature. By the end of the episode, "Ady's" glamour no longer works on her husband who is last seen strapped to a gurney on the way to a mental hospital. In the final scene she already has her sights set on her ex's best friend and has already taken a new form to appeal to his tastes.

* ''Main/{{Bayonetta}}'' features a similar example to ''[[DevilMayCry DMC]]'' in that her physical form is always the normal but her cast shadow will display her butterfly wings that she uses to double-jump.

* In Creator/StephenKing's story "The Ten O'Clock People" (found in ''Nightmares & Dreamscapes''), only very light smokers can see the "batpeople" who are steadily taking over. Non-smokers and heavier smokers alike simply see humans where the titular group sees the monsters.

* In a series as heavy on the supernatural as ''TheDresdenFiles'', it's only natural for this trope to show up on occasion.