History Main / IKnowYoureWatchingMe

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsatFreddys'': If you find one of the mascots on the security cameras, chances are it will be [[NightmareFace leering]] directly into the camera.

* FiveNightsatFreddy's: If you find one of the mascots, chances are it will be [[NightmareFace leering]] into the camera.

* Happened in ''SamuraiJack'', after confronting and beating his SuperpoweredEvilSide, he looks up at the skies (where BigBad Aku is watching his every action) and says out loud: "I know you're watching." Cue end of episode.

* A similar incident occurs in ''Film/{{Inception}}'' - [[spoiler: Ariadne dives down into Cobb's subconscious, and believes she's watching memories of Cobb talking to his dead wife Mal. Then Mal looks right at Ariadne and the audience to a ScareChord that can make ''MarionCotillard'' freaky as shit.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{XKCD}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/525/ recommends]] trying to pull this all the time, even if you don't know you're being watched.

* In ''Film/CabinByTheLake'', Kimberly watches herself in the two-way mirror that the murderous Stanley installed to observe his victims. Then she punches and nearly breaks the mirror while Stanley looks a bit nonplussed.

* Another subversion appears on ''{{NCIS}}'', when Gibbs has Abby's latest stalker in the interrogation room. The obsessed young man starts talking to the one-way glass, pleading for Abby to admit she loves him and can't take her eyes off him. Gibbs gets up to leave, and flips on the lights in the next room as he goes. This negates the glass's one-way properties, revealing that the room behind it is completely vacant.

* In later series of ''{{Knightmare}}'', the dungeoneers could find a magic item that let them see what BigBad Lord Fear was up to- if they carried on watching for too long, he'd become aware of the intrusion and send something nasty to deal with them.
* There was one episode in ''{{Psych}}'' where they take Shawn, his father, and Gus into an interrogating room. Half-way through the interrogation, Shawn walks up to the one-way window and stares directly at Juliet, even following her when she moved.

When any character is BeingWatched on video surveillance and they look the the camera directly as if they know they are being watched. Usually indicates that the person being watched knows more than the audience has been led to believe, or is a threat to the people watching them. More bonus points if the person doesn't want their observers to ''know'' that they can tell they're being watched, and quickly looks away when they accidentally make eye contact with the camera.

-->'''Dr. Trent''': ''She knows she's being watched.''\\
'''Sheridan''': ''The security cameras are carefully hidden.''\\
'''Dr. Trent''': ''Yes, but she knows where the camera is, and she knows we're watching her. Just look at her. Is there another camera in there?''\\
'''Sheridan''': ''Yes, but...''\\
'''Dr. Trent''': ''Humor me.''\\
'''Sheridan''': ''...Switch to the alternate view.''\\
Lyta's head '''snaps around to look at the viewer'''\\
'''Ivanova''': ''Well, '''that's''' a neat trick.''

Lyta's head ''snaps around to look at the viewer''\\

* In the final season of ''Series/BabylonFive'', telepath Lyta can sense video surveillance. Sheridan doesn't believe it until Captain Lochley asks him to switch cameras, and Lyta shifts her gaze accordingly.

* In the NicolasCage movie ''Next'', the precognitive protagonist Cris is cheating at blackjack and several casino security officers are watching him on surveillance, trying to figure out how he's doing it. When someone realizes they recognize him, Cris looks up as though he heard his name being called, stares knowingly at the camera they're watching him through, and casually walks away before any security guards can apprehend him.

* In one issue shortly after [[{{Supergirl}} Kara Zor-El]] was reintroduced in the post-''Crisis'' DCUniverse and received her Supergirl identity, the Calculator is monitoring her under Lex Luthor's orders. At one point, she glares straight at the camera the Calculator is using to watch her, which is enough for him to do a SpitTake.

* In the final season of ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'', telepath Lyta can sense video surveillance. Sheridan doesn't believe it until Captain Lochley asks him to switch cameras, and Lyta shifts her gaze accordingly.

[[Webcomic/{{xkcd}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i_know_youre_listening_6420.png]]

* The interrogation room glass version happens in ''Film/{{Dracula 2000}}''. As the detectives behind the glass have just been smirking over [[CreepySexy Solina's]] "delusion" that she's a vampire, they're noticeably freaked out when she shouts, "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" She then continues to screw around with their minds, making them more freaked out.

* In ''Literature/PayMeBug'', [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Viceroy]] pulls this on the heroes, who are [[EverythingIsOnline hacking]] into his security cameras, using only his [[{{Telepathy}} telepathic powers]]. This might be explained by the fact that the hackers were using their own telepath in the connection.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before", a crewman developing ESP has this moment while Kirk and Spock are watching him on a monitor from the bridge.
* In the final season of ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'', telepath Lyta can sense video surveillance. Sheridan doesn't believe it until Captain Lochley asks him to switch cameras, and Lyta shifts her gaze accordingly.
* A similar incident occurs in ''{{Inception}}'' - [[spoiler: Ariadne dives down into Cobb's subconscious, and believes she's watching memories of Cobb talking to his dead wife Mal. Then Mal looks right at Ariadne and the audience to a ScareChord that can make ''MarionCotillard'' freaky as shit.]]
* ''Webcomic/{{XKCD}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/525/ recommends]] trying to pull this all the time, even if you don't know you're being watched.
* The interrogation room glass version happens in ''Film/{{Dracula 2000}}''. As the detectives behind the glass have just been smirking over [[CreepySexy Solina's]] "delusion" that she's a vampire, they're noticeably freaked out when she shouts, "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" She then continues to screw around with their minds, making them more freaked out.

* An episode of ''{{Fringe}}'' sees Olivia explore her subconscious memories of her deceased partner John Scott, including one night at a restaurant. Following Dr. Bishop's guidance that this is all a dreamscape and that she can't be seen by anyone, Olivia sits down at John's table... who immediately looks in Olivia's direction! This, obviously, spooks her, but Dr. Bishop insists that she cannot be seen. Later, when she returns to her home, [[spoiler:she checks her e-mail only to find a new message that reads, "I saw you at the restaurant."]]
* Subverted in an episode of ''{{Bones}}''. Investigating the murder of a mentally ill young man who believed himself to be the devil, the team is interrogating one of his fellow inmates at the asylum, a girl who believes herself to be an angel. Looking in on the interview room in the asylum, Bones comments that, while she doesn't believe in supernatural phenomena of any stripe, it ''is'' unnerving how the girl's eyes seem to follow her perfectly from the other side of a two-way mirror. The asylum's head doctor quickly points out that their interview room isn't equipped with a two-way mirror--it's a perfectly normal ''window''.
** Another subversion appears on ''{{NCIS}}'', when Gibbs has Abby's latest stalker in the interrogation room. The obsessed young man starts talking to the one-way glass, pleading for Abby to admit she loves him and can't take her eyes off him. Gibbs gets up to leave, and flips on the lights in the next room as he goes. This negates the glass's one-way properties, revealing that the room behind it is completely vacant.
* One of Matt Parkman's more awesome moments in Series 3 of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' involved using his mind-control powers to trap some people who were watching him via a camera, and then look directly into said camera and nod smugly.
* ''{{Dreamscape}}''. While Alex Gardner is in a room by himself being watched through a one way mirror, he uses a pen to write "Let's get on with it" on the mirror. It isn't clear whether he was using his psychic powers or was just familiar with Dr. Novotny's methods from their past relationship.
** He effortlessly writes it ''backwards'', to appear the right way around on the other side of the glass. This at least hints he might've gone through this process before.
* In later series of ''{{Knightmare}}'', the dungeoneers could find a magic item that let them see what BigBad Lord Fear was up to- if they carried on watching for too long, he'd become aware of the intrusion and send something nasty to deal with them.

* There was one episode in ''{{Psych}}'' where they take Shawn, his father, and Gus into an interrogating room. Half-way through the interrogation, Shawn walks up to the one-way window and stares directly at Juliet, even following her when she moved.
* ''TheBigComfyCouch''. After Loonete yells, [[PunctuatedForEmphasis "HEY... WHO MADE THIS BIG MESS?!"]] and then says [[CaptainObvious "...me?"]] the camera "nods yes" as if the viewer is watching the show through a child's eyes or even their own eyes
* Happened in ''SamuraiJack'', after confronting and beating his SuperpoweredEvilSide, he looks up at the skies (where BigBad Aku is watching his every action) and says out loud: "I know you're watching." Cue end of episode.
* Subverted in ''Film/TheTrumanShow''. He stares into his bathroom mirror (which has a camera inside), leading two people in the studio to believe that they've been discovered... until he draws a space helmet with soap and acts like an astronaut (in a Call Back to the intro where he pretends to be a mountaineer). Then it gets Double Subverted as he says, "that one's for free", implying that he knows he's being watched. The two men in the studio don't know what to think.
* ''PersonsUnknown'' did this a LOT. Not quite OnceAnEpisode, but really often.

* The interrogation room glass version happens in ''{{Dracula 2000}}''. As the detectives behind the glass have just been smirking over [[CreepySexy Solina's]] "delusion" that she's a vampire, they're noticeably freaked out when she shouts, "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" She then continues to screw around with their minds, making them more freaked out.

* In the ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before", a crewman developing ESP has this moment while Kirk and Spock are watching him on a monitor from the bridge.
* In the final season of ''{{Babylon 5}}'', telepath Lyta can sense video surveillance. Sheridan doesn't believe it until Captain Lochley asks him to switch cameras, and Lyta shifts her gaze accordingly.

* ''TheBigComfyCouch''. After Loonete yells, [[ThisIsSparta "HEY... WHO MADE THIS BIG MESS?!"]] and then says [[CaptainObvious "...me?"]] the camera "nods yes" as if the viewer is watching the show through a child's eyes or even their own eyes

* Subverted in ''TheTrumanShow''. He stares into his bathroom mirror (which has a camera inside), leading two people in the studio to believe that they've been discovered... until he draws a space helmet with soap and acts like an astronaut (in a Call Back to the intro where he pretends to be a mountaineer). Then it gets Double Subverted as he says, "that one's for free", implying that he knows he's being watched. The two men in the studio don't know what to think.

* In ''PayMeBug'', [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Viceroy]] pulls this on the heroes, who are [[EverythingIsOnline hacking]] into his security cameras, using only his [[{{Telepathy}} telepathic powers]]. This might be explained by the fact that the hackers were using their own telepath in the connection.

* To preserve suspense in the {{Ravenloft}} D&D setting, the rules for surveillance-spells are modified so that they create a visible, ghostly eye (viewing spells) or ear (listening spells) at the location being spied upon. Anyone who takes the time to look carefully for such manifestations can thus play this trope straight.

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