History Main / Invisibility

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', [[InvisibleStreaker Toru]] [[GenkiGirl Hagakure]] has this as her power, [[RunningGag which leads to]] [[NakedPeopleAreFunny her spending most of her time in the nude]] [[FullFrontalAssault when she's fighting]]. She can't turn it off, even if she's sleeping or unconscious, so her appearance hasn't been revealed. It's been shown her quirk/superpowers aren't limited to just being invisible all the time; she has also been shown to be able to [[LightEmUp refract and intensify light]] after some TrainingFromHell in a class trip. An omake in which her classmates try to find out what her face looks like reveals that her parents are also invisible.

** "[[Recap/TheXFilesS02E11ExcelsisDei Excelsis Dei]]" deals with the case of a nurse raped by an invisible attacker (akin to the famous case of ''Film/TheEntity'' as apparently there are many reported cases of women attacked by invisible men). Scully mentions that a common theory to explain this is the victim's subconscious erasing the image of the attacker from her memory. It turns out that [[spoiler:the attacker is one of the elderly men that the nurse have to care using AstralProjection thanks to an especial fungus]].

* ''Film/AbbottAndCostelloMeetTheInvisibleMan'' was different in that the invisible man was not a government agent, but a boxer wrongly accused. His girl was the daughter of a doctor experimenting with invisibility. He (the boxer) took the invisibility serum to give himself the chance to clear himself of the murder charge. And before that, a different Invisible Man makes a cameo (non)appearence at the end of ''Film/AbbottAndCostelloMeetFrankenstein''.

* In the 70s when ComicBook/PhantomLady joined the [[ComicBook/FreedomFightersDC Freedom Fighters]], she gained this power. She also took on a role very similar to Susan Richards in the Fantastic Four.

* Mary Zero, from ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' spinoff ''Agent X'' had the mutant power of psychically blanking out her presence for almost anyone, and anyone who did manage to register her soon forgot she existed. The fact that the titular Agent X, due to an advanced healing factor, could both see ''and'' remember her, Mary fell madly in love with him. Hilarity ensued.

** The Shadowfork can give invisibility to other Voidborn by killing an enemy minion.

* ''Literature/{{Dragonvarld}}'': Among many other illusion spells is a simple one which makes the caster invisible. It does not stop sound though, and the illusion can be broken if anyone so much as sneezes, so it's viewed as a weak spell. The dragon army is powerful enough to keep their entire force rendered invisible, but that takes many casters working together.

* ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'' has two episodes with the Invisible Man: "[[LongTitle El hombre invisible es tan antipático, que nadie lo quiere ver]]" and "[[LongTitle Yo al hombre invisible no lo puedo ver ni en pintura]]". The invisibility is caused by a weird experiment involving paint.

* David Eddings' ''Literature/TheElenium''/''Literature/TheTamuli'' novels features three shown types of invisibility, used by different people depending on their talents and preferences: PerceptionFilter, bending light, and time-trickery that works because the responsible god [[AchievementsInIgnorance doesn't realize that it shouldn't work]].

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Oreg is invisible to most characters. Apparently, he chooses to, though there are family legends in Ward's family about people who were able to see the "ghost". It is unclear whether Oreg chose to be visible to those people, or something else is the cause for it. He seems to voluntarily become visible to Ward's younger sister Ciarra. Apparently, most of his "owners" wanted to keep him a secret, but over the time Oreg developed a dislike for humans, anyway. (Considering that he can see what is going on anywhere in castle Hurog, he has likely seen a ''lot'' of the worst side of mankind.)

* [[spoiler:Imhotep]] in ''Series/LookAroundYou''.

* Jacob on ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Ben brings Locke to Jacob's cabin and begins having a violent, one-sided argument with an empty rocking chair that Jacob is allegedly sitting in; his voice even cuts off several times as if Jacob is interrupting him. This is all very amusing to Locke, who deems Ben insane and proceeds to start leaving...until someone who isn't Ben says "help me" and all hell breaks loose. During the ensuing temper tantrum (during which the chair's invisible occupant throws Ben against the wall), a shadowy, ragged, long haired figure can be seen sitting in the chair for a split second, after which Locke bolts out the door.
* In E4's 2009 series ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', socially inept young offender Simon, who has been alienated and marginalised since his childhood, develops the "power" to turn invisible whenever he feels particularly ignored and rejected However, when his power get reversed by a drug, he ends up becoming the [[MagneticHero centre of attention]], implying that his power might not actually be invisibility, but simply a PerceptionFilter that causes everyone to ignore him.

* The ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS04E08WishfulThinking Wishful Thinking]]" had an invisible kid (among a few other things) due to a real (evil) wishing well. The kid wished for it purely so he could peep in the ladies' locker room. Late in the episode, he gets hit by a car (he lives), but it's unclear whether this is due to the kid's bad luck or the well ''causing'' the bad luck to happen.

* In a episode of Dr.Shrinker, B.J and Gordie turn themselves invisible by eating a strange fruit and they become visible again if they hold their breath.

* A one-shot villain in an early episode of ''Series/LoisAndClark'', "I'm Looking Through You", had an invisibility suit. Lois maintained ArbitrarySkepticism throughout, until the evidence is so stacked against her she has to move the goalposts:
-->'''Clark''': Think of it as the next stage of stealth technology. If you wore a suit made of this material, you would appear to be invisible.
-->'''Lois''': Well, ''that'' makes sense. The ''appearance'' of invisibility is completely different from ''real'' invisibility!

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Violet (who, as one of several {{homage}}s to the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', is also a BarrierWarrior) can turn invisible at will except for her clothes. However, the InvisibleStreaker trope is totally {{Averted}}: when Edna Mode makes costumes for the family, she makes one for Violet that turns invisible with her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania'', one of Dracula's friends is an Invisible Man and is named Griffin, as in the novel, ''Literature/TheInvisibleMan''. He wears glasses often, [[ExpressiveMask which convey his emotions as if they were actually eyes]].

* Ea on ''Series/InvisibleGirlEa'' is made more or less permanently invisible against her will by the villains of the series, although it's not perfect several things will cause her to become semi-visible against her will, including bright light (like the sun getting reflected off a mirror), electricity (like a stun gun) and physical contact these do not make her outright visible, but instead cause her modified skin to do a "predator-style" CGI thing (making her look like she's made of blue or red glass). This has the bonus effect of giving her a good excuse to [[{{Fanservice}} stay naked the entire series]], although the hero and titular Ea rather quickly realize that [[CursedWithAwesome uncontrollable invisibility kinda sucks]] and so [[IJustWantToBeNormal curing her is the main plot of the series]]. Ea's modesty was apparently also affected by the invisibility formula, as she [[InnocentFanserviceGirl doesn't react to her nudity the entire series]]. (However, [[AccidentalPervert the hero]] [[ICanExplain and his girlfriend]] most definitely ''do''.) The camera doesn't react either, outside using clever camera angles, random objects, and lens flares to [[SceneryCensor hide anything]] ''too'' much for [[OtakuOclock 2 a.m. TV]]. Yup, you guessed it, [[MostWritersAreMale most Japanese writers are male]].

* The alien Tosk from the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Captive Pursuit", can do this. It'd later become the signature ability of the Dominion's genetically-engineered foot soldiers, the Jem'Hadar. Apparently, there were plans for the Tosk to have been similarly created by the Dominion but mention of that never made its way into an episode.

* [[AWizardDidIt Magic]], can write off the logical issues surrounding the person's clothing and ability to see while invisible, but if MagicAIsMagicA, these might still need to be addressed.

* [[AWizardDidIt Magic.]]

** One episode features a character who can cause those nearby to develop a wandering blind spot between himself and the viewer's retina.
** Another episode has a character making a wish (to a Genie) to be able to turn invisible, by will. He forgets to ask that [[LiteralGenie his clothes turn invisible as well]], and then gets killed moments later while crossing the road.
** A more serious episode deals with the case of a nurse raped by an invisible attacker (akin to the famous case of ''Film/TheEntity'' as apparently there are many reported cases of women attacked by invisible men). Scully mentions that a common theory to explain this is the victim's subconscious erasing the image of the attacker from her memory. It turns out that [[spoiler:the attacker is one of the elderly men that the nurse have to care using AstralProjection thanks to an especial fungus.]]

* In the original ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode, "Face of Evil", the normal trope of invisible eyes still somehow being able to see is averted. The invisible monsters are blind.
* An early episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' involved a girl who was ignored so often she started turning invisible. It later turns out [[spoiler:this is a common malaise, and government agents have started a special school for these students to use them as invisible assassins.]] Joss Whedon has said (on "The Chosen" special collection extras DVD) that this was his first "experience" with Buffy; it was the first idea he ever had that made it into the show. Buffy also briefly becomes invisible in the Season 6 episode "Gone", when the Nerd Trio accidentally zap her with their invisibility gun.

* The ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Wishful Thinking" had an invisible kid (among a few other things) due to a real (evil) wishing well. The kid wished for it purely so he could peep in the ladies' locker room. Late in the episode, he gets hit by a car (he lives), but it's unclear whether this is due to the kid's bad luck or the well ''causing'' the bad luck to happen.

** The second season episode "Show and Tell" features the Reetou, an alien race that are naturally out-of-phase with normal humans and thus invisible to them. A faction attempt to communicate with the SGC using a genetically engineered child but they assume he's hallucinating until they happen to discuss the situation with their Tok'ra allies, who explain that the Reetou are real and the Goa'uld nearly wiped them out with weapons they developed that can render them visible. Later episodes show that the system lord Nirrti developed a personal InvisibilityCloak based of their abilities.
** In ''200'', the team reveals that at some point Jack O'Neill was turned invisible. He used it to, among other things, spy on Carter in the shower. Apparently he didn't want to give it up.
* Near the end of the first season of ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' the team has to locate an invisible girl to find the MacGuffin to defeat the bad guys. The fact that she has to be naked to do so is frequently commented on and joked about. This gives the show a chance to {{Fanservice}} it up since the other female characters, while being very attractive, are always quite well covered up.
* [[IconicCharacter Tommy]] and [[SixthRanger Trent]] both had this as their Dino-Gem induced ability in ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder''. Neither of them used it a whole lot, but it came in handy when the former's actor was unavailable for a few episodes - they just rendered him unable to become visible again (''after'' he escaped from being stuck in his costume).

* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'': "Sight Unseen" had an enemy demon named Troxa with this ability. His weakness was that cold temperatures would slowly make him become visible, and since he can't feel cold, he doesn't notice if it is happening.

* Soga Keena from ''LightNovel/DemonKingDaimao'' has the apparently innate ability to turn invisible (and [[{{Flight}} fly]]), but the invisibility does not extend to her clothing. Luckily she lacks any sort of nudity taboo, so whenever she gets into trouble her first instinct is to shuck her clothes and fly away invisibly. Frequently the invisibility fails for one reason or another and she ends up flying around naked for everyone to see.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': This trope is one of the few things known about one of the mysterious entities that emerges when Touma's right hand/arm is cut off. It has remained consistently invisible in every appearance, so its true appearance is unclear, though when covered with blood or dust, it looks like a dragon's head.

* In the 1975 series, [=McCallum=]'s character was rendered visible via a LatexPerfection mask.