History Main / LieToTheBeholder

* A Slaaneshi sorceress tries to pull this on Literature/CiaphasCain ('''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM'''), along with the squad of Guardsmen he's with, appearing as Amberley to him. When the spell wears off, he shoots her with the PreMortemOneLiner "Impersonating an Inquisitor is a capital offense". Strangely, no one, [[FootnoteFever including Amberley]], comments on this.

* On ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', [[spoiler:[[TheArcher Artemis]]]] infiltrates the villains with a new persona, courtesy of a magic necklace that Zatanna supplied. The spell works on everyone but herself and the three others ([[spoiler:[[MissionControl Dick]], [[FragileSpeedster Wally]] and [[MakingASplash Kaldur]]]]) who are in on the plan. This possibly extends to [[spoiler:[[SuperpowerLottery M'gann]]]] later on when she accidentally discovers the truth.

* The film ''Film/HereComesMrJordan'' (and its remake ''Film/HeavenCanWait'' as well as the 2001 remake of the remake ''Film/DownToEarth2001'') is about a man who dies before his time and is sent back down to earth in the body of a recently deceased millionaire. To the audience, he looks like himself but to the characters, he looks like the aforementioned millionaire.

* In ''Series/QuantumLeap'', Sam Beckett takes on the "Aura" of the person he has leaped into. Several episodes, such as the one where Sam leaped into a monkey, confirmed Sam is actually leaping with his own body, and merely appearing as the host to those around him. Of course, just as many episodes demonstrate the opposite to be true.

** Kids, animals, crazies, and psychics can see his true self.

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* In ''Anime/WolfsRain'', the wolves can appear human, but they often appear human ''to each other'' even when there are no humans around.

* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', where Lelouch geasses [[spoiler:Guilford]] into seeing and hearing Lelouch as [[spoiler:Cornelia.]]
* A light example in the ''Music/{{Tsukiuta}}'' anime. When famous [[IdolSinger idols]] Shun and Hajime go on a date, Shun casts a spell so that they won't be recognized, so that they can enjoy themselves like normal people.

* In the anime adaptation of ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'' where the Buddhas are ''not'' InvisibleToNormals like in the game, they have to use this to appear as humans while traveling among them and interacting with them.
* King Arthur of ''Anime/NobunagaTheFool'' appears in different forms to best brainwash whoever sees his "true" face: a mighty conqueror to Alexander, a beautiful woman to Caesar, and so on. Nobunaga and da Vinci are stated to be the only people to perceive his true form, [[spoiler:a decrepit old man]].
* ''Franchise/KagerouProject'': This is Kano's ability in a nutshell, as he can make others see him however he wants, explaining how he manages to pull off stunts like taking selfies during a terrorist hostage situation, or how he [[spoiler:is able to MindRape Shintaro and Ene by appearing as Ayano and Haruka, respectively, [[TheResenter when he wants to make them suffer]]]].

* ComicBook/TheIncal: In the first issue, John Difool is signed to escort a beautiful aristo called Nimbea to the crimson ring and bring her back home before midnight. However, after she met Kill Wolfhead, she was so, uh, enthralled with him that she refused to go with Difool in the agreed time - and told Kill to 'tear him about'. When Kill was about to comply, Nimbea reverted back to her real appearance - a very old, ugly woman, because her holomask (a sort of hologram) ceased at midnight.

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] novel ''Literature/TheCrystalStar'', Luke Skywalker uses the Force to make everyone other than Han Solo see him as a generic stranger. When he realizes that the titular Star interferes with his Force powers, he comes to wish he'd followed Han's example and used a regular disguise.

* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', Red Mage casts an illusion spell on the Light Warriors that works this way. Since the change isn't immediately obvious, Black Mage spends a good deal of time mocking him for casting a spell that apparently did nothing before Red Mage gets a chance to explain.

* [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]] was originally portrayed as this, to ''the entirety of humanity.'' Only cameras saw him as faceless, because, y'know, they're not alive. This was quickly dropped for plain [[TheBlank facelessness.]]

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Death takes Peter back to the 1980s, where he makes it so that everyone sees Peter as he looked in the period, including himself when he looks at his reflection.
* ''WesternAnimation/PennZeroPartTimeHero'' has the heroes and villains have [[MorphicResonance recognizable features and accessories that remain with them no matter what form they take]] (Larry and Sashi's glasses, Boone's braces, etc.), but the resonance can only be seen by other part-timers. Normal citizens of that dimension just see them as the person they're pretending to be.