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* In the introductory episode of ''Anime/ZombieLandSaga'', Sakura Minamoto was seemingly attacked by several zombies, and she ran into a street, where she looked in a street mirror, discovering that [[TomatoInTheMirror she's zombified]]. Said zombies and she was recruited by a necromancer to form an idol group.
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Crosswick.
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->'''Dakota''': What's this? Ooh, a picture of a scary monster? Big deal!
->'''Scott''': Dude, that's a mirror.
->'''Dakota''': Aaahh! I'm a monster!
->'''Scott''': Dude, that's a mirror.
->'''Dakota''': Aaahh! I'm a monster!
to:
->'''Dakota''': What's this? Ooh, a picture of a scary monster? Big deal!
->'''Scott''':deal!\\
'''Scott''': Dude, that's amirror.
->'''Dakota''':mirror.\\
'''Dakota''': Aaahh! I'm a monster!
->'''Scott''':
'''Scott''': Dude, that's a
->'''Dakota''':
'''Dakota''': Aaahh! I'm a monster!
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Don't confuse with DescriptionInTheMirror, where a character's appearance is described while they look in a mirror.
to:
Don't confuse with DescriptionInTheMirror, where a character's appearance is described while they look in a mirror.
mirror, which this can overlap with.
* In ''Fanfic/BlueSky'', Wheatley is transferred into a humanoid HardLight body by Chell, but doesn't appear to notice until she shows him his face in a piece of reflective glass.
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* In ''Fanfic/BlueSky'', Wheatley is transferred into a humanoid HardLight body by Chell, but doesn't appear to notice until she shows him his face in a piece of reflective glass.
to:
--> I looked in the mirror to see my face, and my reflection seemed as surprised as I was.\\
Pink hearts on my left cheek, flowers on my forehead, eyeshadow all around my eyes, cat whiskers coming from my nose and outward, and huge red lips all around mine. All done in bright markers.\\
''Gabby!'' I growled as I immediately grabbed a
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* In ''Fanfic/BlueSky'', Wheatley is put into a humanoid HardLight body by Chell, but doesn't appear to notice until she shows him his face in a piece of reflective glass.
to:
* In ''Fanfic/BlueSky'', Wheatley is put transferred into a humanoid HardLight body by Chell, but doesn't appear to notice until she shows him his face in a piece of reflective glass.
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* In ''Fanfic/BlueSky'', Wheatley is put into a humanoid HardLight body by Chell, but doesn't appear to notice until she shows him his face in a piece of reflective glass.
Deleted line(s) 39,40 (click to see context) :
* In ''Fanfic/BlueSky'', Wheatley is put into a humanoid HardLight body by Chell, but doesn't appear to notice until she shows him his face in a piece of reflective glass.
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* In ''Fanfic/BlueSky'', Wheatley is put into a humanoid HardLight body by Chell, but doesn't appear to notice until she shows him his face in a piece of reflective glass.
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* In the ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'' episode "What? Swapping Personalities", Mametchi doesn't realize that he's in Chamametchi's body until he looks in a mirror.
to:
* In the ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'' episode "What? Swapping Personalities", Mametchi doesn't realize that he's [[Main/FreakyFridayFlip in Chamametchi's body body]] until he looks in a mirror.
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* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', the [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2015-02-13 reveal of Sarah's magic mark]] is done in this way.
to:
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', the [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2015-02-13 reveal of Sarah's magic mark]] mark is done revealed]] both in-universe to Sarah and to readers by seeing it on her back in this way.Sarah's bathroom mirror.
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* In the ending of ''Literature/TheUglyDuckling'', the now adult ugly duckling is unaware that he wasn't a duck all along, but a swan, until a flock of them accept him and he sees his reflection in the lake.
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* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', the [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2015-02-13 reveal of Sarah's magic mark]] is done in this way.
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Changed line(s) 42 (click to see context) from:
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1'' after Twilight enters the human world, she is shocked at her new human body features but is unaware of what she really is. She finally gets a look at her own image through the reflection in the trophy case at Canterlot High, and is shocked at what she has become.
to:
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1'' after Twilight enters the human world, she is shocked at her new human body body's features but is unaware of what she really is. She finally gets a look at her own image through the reflection in the trophy case at Canterlot High, and is shocked at what she has become.
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Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', Shrek doesn't realize he's [[HumanityEnsues become human]] until he looks at his hands, followed by his reflection in pail of water. Fiona finds out she is human again when she sees herself in a mirror.
to:
* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', Shrek doesn't realize he's [[HumanityEnsues become human]] until he looks at his hands, followed by his reflection in a pail of water. Fiona finds out she is human again when she sees herself in a mirror.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'': Wallace finds out about his rabbit ears when Gromit holds up a mirror to him.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'': Wallace finds out about his rabbit ears when Gromit holds up a mirror to him.
to:
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Changed line(s) 43 (click to see context) from:
* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', Shrek doesn't realize he's [[HumanityEnsues become human]] until he looks at his hands, followed by his reflection in pail of water.
to:
* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', Shrek doesn't realize he's [[HumanityEnsues become human]] until he looks at his hands, followed by his reflection in pail of water. Fiona finds out she is human again when she sees herself in a mirror.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'': Wallace finds out about his rabbit ears when Gromit holds up a mirror to him.
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* ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'': Mr Wormwood does not understand why everyone is yelling at him about his hair; eventually he demands a mirror to discover that his hair has been bleached a dirty silver.
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Changed line(s) 13,14 (click to see context) from:
Compare TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf (which isn't about transformation) and HouseOfBrokenMirrors (which may happen before or after this). Related to TomatoInTheMirror (that's about realizing that it's been oneself all along, this one is about transformations that have happened as part of the story that do not necessarily mean that it was oneself all along) and JustWokeUpThatWay. When the audience sees the transformation result before the character does, this overlaps with ObliviousTransformation. Has nothing to do with MirrorScare.
to:
Compare TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf (which isn't about transformation) and HouseOfBrokenMirrors (which may happen before or after this). Related to TomatoInTheMirror (that's about realizing that it's been oneself all along, this one is about transformations that have happened as part of the story that do not necessarily mean that it was oneself all along) and JustWokeUpThatWay. When the audience sees the transformation result before the character does, this overlaps with ObliviousTransformation. Has nothing to do with MirrorScare.
MirrorScare, which is a different kind of mirror-related reveal.
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Changed line(s) 13,14 (click to see context) from:
Compare TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf (which isn't about transformation) and HouseOfBrokenMirrors (which may happen before or after this). Related to TomatoInTheMirror (that's about realizing that it's been oneself all along, this one is about transformations that have happened as part of the story that do not necessarily mean that it was oneself all along) and JustWokeUpThatWay. When the audience sees the transformation result before the character does, this overlaps with ObliviousTransformation.
to:
Compare TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf (which isn't about transformation) and HouseOfBrokenMirrors (which may happen before or after this). Related to TomatoInTheMirror (that's about realizing that it's been oneself all along, this one is about transformations that have happened as part of the story that do not necessarily mean that it was oneself all along) and JustWokeUpThatWay. When the audience sees the transformation result before the character does, this overlaps with ObliviousTransformation.
ObliviousTransformation. Has nothing to do with MirrorScare.
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to:
[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* In the ''Animation/SimpleSamosa'' episode "Makkhi Makkhi!", Jalebi discovers the fly stuck on her head when she looks in her bathroom's mirror shortly after waking up.
[[/folder]]
* In the ''Animation/SimpleSamosa'' episode "Makkhi Makkhi!", Jalebi discovers the fly stuck on her head when she looks in her bathroom's mirror shortly after waking up.
[[/folder]]
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* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', after Tiana is accidentally turned into a frog for kissing Naveen (because she's not a true princess like he thought), she doesn't realize her transformation until she gets a look at her reflection in a hand mirror.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1'' after Twilight enters the human world, she is shocked at her new human body features but is unaware of what she really is. She finally gets a look at her own image through the reflection in the trophy case at Canterlot High, and is shocked at what she has become.
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None
Changed line(s) 107 (click to see context) from:
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', Demona undergoes this at the end of the episode "The Mirror" when she is at first very happy and overjoyed to notice that she is now no longer turning to stone in the day, likely realizing she now has extra time to carry out extermination plots against humans...only to then walk by a mirror and realize, to her horror, that she's now been enchanted into transforming from a gargoyle [[YouAreWhatYouHate to a human]] during the day instead!
to:
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', Demona undergoes this at the end of the episode "The Mirror" "[[Recap/GargoylesS2TheMirror The Mirror]]" when she is at first very happy and overjoyed to notice that she is now no longer turning to stone in the day, likely realizing she now has extra time to carry out extermination plots against humans...only to then walk by a mirror and realize, to her horror, that she's now been enchanted into transforming from a gargoyle [[YouAreWhatYouHate to a human]] during the day instead!
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Changed line(s) 106 (click to see context) from:
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "What Lies Beneath", Ocellus encounters two unreformed changelings who refer to her as "Your Highness". Confused, she looks into a reflective rock, and discovers (to her horror) that she has turned into Queen Chrysalis.
to:
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "What "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E22WhatLiesBeneath What Lies Beneath", Beneath]]", Ocellus encounters two unreformed changelings who refer to her as "Your Highness". Confused, she looks into a reflective rock, and discovers (to her horror) that she has turned into Queen Chrysalis.
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Resolved ambiguous pronouns
Changed line(s) 55,56 (click to see context) from:
* In ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'', Rowley has two pimples on his face. Greg sees them and [[JumpingToConclusionsDiagnosis instantly thinks they're chicken pox]], then shows him a mirror. Rowley [[{{Hypochondria}} assumes it's chicken pox too]] and screams.
* In the book ''Literature/ThingsNotSeen,'' he doesn't know that he's become invisible until he ''doesn't'' see himself in the mirror.
* In the book ''Literature/ThingsNotSeen,'' he doesn't know that he's become invisible until he ''doesn't'' see himself in the mirror.
to:
* In ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'', Rowley has two pimples on his face. Greg sees them and [[JumpingToConclusionsDiagnosis instantly thinks they're chicken pox]], then shows him Rowley a mirror. Rowley [[{{Hypochondria}} assumes it's chicken pox too]] pox, too]], and screams.
* In the book''Literature/ThingsNotSeen,'' he ''Literature/ThingsNotSeen'', Bobby Phillips doesn't know that he's become invisible until he ''doesn't'' see himself in the mirror.
* In the book
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** In the [[Recap/QuantumLeapS1E01E02Genesis first episode]], after Sam leaps for the first time his brain is "swiss-cheesed" so he doesn't know who he is or what he's doing there. When he first sees himself in the mirror he jumps back, apparently having a mental image of his face which isn't the face he's looking back at.
** In the early episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS1E05HowTheTessWasWon How the Tess Was Won]]" Sam is trying to woo a woman named Tess on behalf of the man he leaped into, but ends up losing her to another man. Al suggests that Sam look into a mirror where he sees a hispanic man looking back; Al says that Sam got much further than anyone would have expected (Tess is white, and the story takes place in the 1950s). Evidently Sam never looked into a mirror the entire time he had leaped even though it had been upwards of a week.
** In the early episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS1E05HowTheTessWasWon How the Tess Was Won]]" Sam is trying to woo a woman named Tess on behalf of the man he leaped into, but ends up losing her to another man. Al suggests that Sam look into a mirror where he sees a hispanic man looking back; Al says that Sam got much further than anyone would have expected (Tess is white, and the story takes place in the 1950s). Evidently Sam never looked into a mirror the entire time he had leaped even though it had been upwards of a week.
to:
** In the [[Recap/QuantumLeapS1E01E02Genesis first episode]], after Sam leaps for the first time his brain is "swiss-cheesed" "swiss-cheesed", so he doesn't know who he is or what he's doing there. When he first sees himself in the mirror he jumps back, apparently having a mental image of his face which isn't the face he's looking back at.
** In the early episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS1E05HowTheTessWasWon How the Tess Was Won]]" Sam is trying to woo a woman named Tess on behalf of the man he leaped into, but ends up losing her to another man. Al suggests that Sam look into a mirror where he sees ahispanic Hispanic man looking back; Al says that Sam got much further than anyone would have expected (Tess is white, and the story takes place in the 1950s). Evidently Sam never looked into a mirror the entire time he had leaped even though it had been upwards of a week.
** In the early episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS1E05HowTheTessWasWon How the Tess Was Won]]" Sam is trying to woo a woman named Tess on behalf of the man he leaped into, but ends up losing her to another man. Al suggests that Sam look into a mirror where he sees a
Changed line(s) 70 (click to see context) from:
* Downplayed on ''Series/TheLastManOnEarth''. After Mike shows up and starts living with the group, Phil wakes up one morning and goes to prepare for the day. When he looks at himself in the mirror before doing so, he discovers that Mike somehow shaved the hair off of one side of his head.
to:
* Downplayed on ''Series/TheLastManOnEarth''. After Mike shows up and starts living with the group, Phil wakes up one morning and goes to prepare for the day. When he looks at himself in the mirror before doing so, he discovers that Mike somehow shaved the hair off of one side of his head.
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* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Giles realizes Ethan Rayne turned him into a Fyarl demon when he sees his reflection in the mirror. And then he breaks some household items during his reaction.
to:
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Giles realizes that Ethan Rayne turned him into a Fyarl demon when he sees his reflection in the mirror. And then he [Giles] breaks some household items during his reaction.
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* ''WesternAnimation/RabbitOfSeville'' has WesternAnimation/BugsBunny pose as the barber during a stage production of Music/GioachinoRossini's Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville. Elmer Fudd gets duped into acting as Bugs's customer. At one point, Bugs massages Elmer's bald scalp with hair restorer, then with Figaro Fertilizer. In seconds, tendrils start rising from Elmer's scalp, and Bugs holds up a mirror so that Elmer can gaze at the sudden growth on his head. Then the gag kicks in: those aren't hair strands, they're flower stems. Blooms suddenly adorn the tendril ends, causing Elmer to snarl and reach for his trusty firearm.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama Revenge of the Island]]'', when Dakota starts morphing into a radioactive monster, the other campers look horrified and Chris gives her a mirror. At first she thinks it's just a picture of a scary monster, but when Scott tells her it's a mirror, she gets even angrier Chris for what he has done to her.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "What Lies Beneath", Ocellus encounters two unreformed changelings who refer to her as "your highness". Confused, she looks into a reflective rock, and discovers (to her horror) that she has turned into Queen Chrysalis.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama Revenge of the Island]]'', when Dakota starts morphing into a radioactive monster, the other campers look horrified and Chris gives her a mirror. At first she thinks it's just a picture of a scary monster, but when Scott tells her it's a mirror, she gets even angrier Chris for what he has done to her.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "What Lies Beneath", Ocellus encounters two unreformed changelings who refer to her as "your highness". Confused, she looks into a reflective rock, and discovers (to her horror) that she has turned into Queen Chrysalis.
to:
* ''WesternAnimation/RabbitOfSeville'' has WesternAnimation/BugsBunny pose as the barber during a stage production of Music/GioachinoRossini's Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville. Elmer Fudd ''Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville''. WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd gets duped into acting as Bugs's customer. At one point, Bugs massages Elmer's bald scalp with hair restorer, then with Figaro Fertilizer. In seconds, tendrils start rising from Elmer's scalp, and Bugs holds up a mirror so that Elmer can gaze at the sudden growth on his head. Then the gag kicks in: those Those aren't hair strands, they're flower stems. Blooms suddenly adorn the tendril ends, causing Elmer to snarl and reach for his trusty firearm.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama Revenge of the Island]]'', when Dakota starts morphing into a radioactive monster, the other campers look horrified and Chris gives her a mirror. At first she thinks it's just a picture of a scary monster, but when Scott tells her it's a mirror, she gets even angrier at Chris for what he has done to her.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "What Lies Beneath", Ocellus encounters two unreformed changelings who refer to her as"your highness"."Your Highness". Confused, she looks into a reflective rock, and discovers (to her horror) that she has turned into Queen Chrysalis.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama Revenge of the Island]]'', when Dakota starts morphing into a radioactive monster, the other campers look horrified and Chris gives her a mirror. At first she thinks it's just a picture of a scary monster, but when Scott tells her it's a mirror, she gets even angrier at Chris for what he has done to her.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "What Lies Beneath", Ocellus encounters two unreformed changelings who refer to her as
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* ''Series/AlteredCarbon'': When Takeshi Kovacs realizes he's been [[BodySurf resleeved]] in the first episode he threatens the medical staff with a scalpel and demands a mirror over the doctor's objections that it wouldn't help his psychological state. One of the techs hands him a metal tray, in which he momentarily hallucinates his [[Creator/WillYunLee birth sleeve]] before stabilizing and seeing his [[Creator/JoelKinnaman new face.]]
to:
* ''Series/AlteredCarbon'': When Takeshi Kovacs realizes he's been [[BodySurf resleeved]] in the [[Recap/AlteredCarbonS01E01OutOfThePast first episode episode]] he threatens the medical staff with a scalpel and demands a mirror over the doctor's objections that it wouldn't help his psychological state. One of the techs hands him a metal tray, in which he momentarily hallucinates his [[Creator/WillYunLee birth sleeve]] before stabilizing and seeing his [[Creator/JoelKinnaman new face.]]
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* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', the episode "Face of the Enemy" has Deanna Troi wake up, look in the mirror, and realise that she's been given a Romulan's face.
to:
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', the episode "Face "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E13FaceOfTheEnemy Face of the Enemy" Enemy]]" has Deanna Troi wake up, look in the mirror, and realise that she's been given a Romulan's face.
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** In the first episode, after Sam leaps for the first time his brain is "swiss-cheesed" so he doesn't know who he is or what he's doing there. When he first sees himself in the mirror he jumps back, apparently having a mental image of his face which isn't the face he's looking back at.
** In the early episode "How the Tess Was Won" Sam is trying to woo a woman named Tess on behalf of the man he leaped into, but ends up losing her to another man. Al suggests that Sam look into a mirror where he sees a hispanic man looking back; Al says that Sam got much further than anyone would have expected (Tess is white, and the story takes place in the 1950s). Evidently Sam never looked into a mirror the entire time he had leaped even though it had been upwards of a week.
** In the early episode "How the Tess Was Won" Sam is trying to woo a woman named Tess on behalf of the man he leaped into, but ends up losing her to another man. Al suggests that Sam look into a mirror where he sees a hispanic man looking back; Al says that Sam got much further than anyone would have expected (Tess is white, and the story takes place in the 1950s). Evidently Sam never looked into a mirror the entire time he had leaped even though it had been upwards of a week.
to:
** In the [[Recap/QuantumLeapS1E01E02Genesis first episode, episode]], after Sam leaps for the first time his brain is "swiss-cheesed" so he doesn't know who he is or what he's doing there. When he first sees himself in the mirror he jumps back, apparently having a mental image of his face which isn't the face he's looking back at.
** In the early episode"How "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS1E05HowTheTessWasWon How the Tess Was Won" Won]]" Sam is trying to woo a woman named Tess on behalf of the man he leaped into, but ends up losing her to another man. Al suggests that Sam look into a mirror where he sees a hispanic man looking back; Al says that Sam got much further than anyone would have expected (Tess is white, and the story takes place in the 1950s). Evidently Sam never looked into a mirror the entire time he had leaped even though it had been upwards of a week.
** In the early episode
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* Subverted example: in the first ''Film/FantasticFour'' movie, the future Human Torch convinces the guy who we know to be the one who turns into The Thing that something terrible and irreversible has happened to his face. He slowly lifts the mirror, and he looks totally normal.
to:
* Subverted example: in the first ''Film/FantasticFour'' ''Film/TheFantasticFour'' movie, the future Human Torch convinces the guy who we know to be the one who turns into The Thing that something terrible and irreversible has happened to his face. He slowly lifts the mirror, and he looks totally normal.
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* In ''Animation/TheFrogPrincess'', [[EvilSorcerer Koshchei]] tells Vasilisa to look at a magical mirror after she rejects him. The mirror is actually the artifact which transforms her into a frog, meaning she if ForcedToWatch the process.
to:
* In ''Animation/TheFrogPrincess'', [[EvilSorcerer Koshchei]] tells Vasilisa to look at a magical mirror after she rejects him. The mirror is actually the artifact which transforms her into a frog, meaning she if is ForcedToWatch the process.
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** In "Ward Trouble", Count Zatkel only notices his BalefulPolymorph into a chicken, when he sees a reflective shield.
to:
** In "Ward Trouble", Count Zatkel only notices his BalefulPolymorph into a chicken, chicken when he sees a reflective shield.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', Lampwick doesn't notice that he's turning into a donkey until he starts braying. he then feels his now-furry head, and confirms his suspicions when he looks into a mirror.
to:
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', Lampwick doesn't notice that he's turning into a donkey until he starts braying. he He then feels his now-furry head, and confirms his suspicions when he looks into a mirror.
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheRabbitOfSeville'' has WesternAnimation/BugsBunny pose as the barber during a stage production of Creator/GioachinoRossini's Theater/TheBarberOfSeville. Elmer Fudd gets duped into acting as Bugs's customer. At one point, Bugs massages Elmer's bald scalp with hair restorer, then with Figaro Fertilizer. In seconds, tendrils start rising from Elmer's scalp, and Bugs holds up a mirror so that Elmer can gaze at the sudden growth on his head. Then the gag kicks in: those aren't hair strands, they're flower stems. Blooms suddenly adorn the tendril ends, causing Elmer to snarl and reach for his trusty firearm.
to:
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRabbitOfSeville'' ''WesternAnimation/RabbitOfSeville'' has WesternAnimation/BugsBunny pose as the barber during a stage production of Creator/GioachinoRossini's Theater/TheBarberOfSeville.Music/GioachinoRossini's Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville. Elmer Fudd gets duped into acting as Bugs's customer. At one point, Bugs massages Elmer's bald scalp with hair restorer, then with Figaro Fertilizer. In seconds, tendrils start rising from Elmer's scalp, and Bugs holds up a mirror so that Elmer can gaze at the sudden growth on his head. Then the gag kicks in: those aren't hair strands, they're flower stems. Blooms suddenly adorn the tendril ends, causing Elmer to snarl and reach for his trusty firearm.
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Changed line(s) 1,8 (click to see context) from:
Indices: PleaseReflectOnThisIndex, SurpriseTropes, RealizationIndex, QuoteSource.WesternAnimation
----
-->'''Dakota''': What's this? Ooh, a picture of a scary monster? Big deal!
-->'''Scott''': Dude, that's a mirror.
-->'''Dakota''': Aaahh! I'm a monster!
---> -- ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''
----
-->'''Dakota''': What's this? Ooh, a picture of a scary monster? Big deal!
-->'''Scott''': Dude, that's a mirror.
-->'''Dakota''': Aaahh! I'm a monster!
---> -- ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''
to:
----
-->'''Dakota''':
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Created from YKTTW
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Indices: PleaseReflectOnThisIndex, SurpriseTropes, RealizationIndex, QuoteSource.WesternAnimation
----
-->'''Dakota''': What's this? Ooh, a picture of a scary monster? Big deal!
-->'''Scott''': Dude, that's a mirror.
-->'''Dakota''': Aaahh! I'm a monster!
---> -- ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''
When a character undergoes a sudden transformation or change of some kind, they don't always realize [[ObliviousTransformation what's happened until it's too late.]] Part of this is because other characters might not want to be rude and call attention to it, and other times they're alone and have nobody there to react, anyway. So, one of the easiest ways of getting a character to see what's happened to them is by having them look in a mirror, or another reflective surface, and discover it that way.
This can have the dual purpose of revealing it to the character as well as the audience, keeping their features obscured until they look in the mirror, but it can just as easily be a shock only to the character. In this way, it can either work as a RevealShot, or as a bit of suspense, where the audience waits to see how the character will react to their new looks. In either case, the character is likely to scream, possibly dropping the mirror in the process, or causing others to come running and see it for themselves. In more extreme cases, it'll cause them to RageAgainstTheReflection.
In downplayed examples, the "transformation" is something more minor, such as a bad hair-cut. What matters is the way of discovering their new appearance, not the severity of it.
Compare TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf (which isn't about transformation) and HouseOfBrokenMirrors (which may happen before or after this). Related to TomatoInTheMirror (that's about realizing that it's been oneself all along, this one is about transformations that have happened as part of the story that do not necessarily mean that it was oneself all along) and JustWokeUpThatWay. When the audience sees the transformation result before the character does, this overlaps with ObliviousTransformation.
Don't confuse with DescriptionInTheMirror, where a character's appearance is described while they look in a mirror.
'''This trope deals in Reveals, so there's unmarked spoilers ahead!'''
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime And Manga]]
* In ''Anime/TheTwelveKingdoms'', after Youko is pulled into another world, she undergoes a transformation that is subtle, but apparently significant enough that her schoolmate Yuka doesn't recognize her. When Youko asks what's wrong, Yuka silently pulls out a compact and shows it to her.
* In the ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'' episode "What? Swapping Personalities", Mametchi doesn't realize that he's in Chamametchi's body until he looks in a mirror.
* PlayedForLaughs in one episode of ''Anime/YugiohZEXAL''. Yuma walks into class in increasingly strange outfits, oblivious to the snickers and confusion his classmates show him. It's only after he's given a mirror on the third or so day that he realizes that he's dressed like a weirdo.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fanfic]]
* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': Multiple uses:
** Ami only notices her BattleAura after seeing it in a reflection.
** In "Ward Trouble", Count Zatkel only notices his BalefulPolymorph into a chicken, when he sees a reflective shield.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films-- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', Kuzco only sees that he's been transformed into a llama when he rushes to a pond to look at his reflection after seeing that his hand has become a hoof.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', Lampwick doesn't notice that he's turning into a donkey until he starts braying. he then feels his now-furry head, and confirms his suspicions when he looks into a mirror.
* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', Shrek doesn't realize he's [[HumanityEnsues become human]] until he looks at his hands, followed by his reflection in pail of water.
* In ''Animation/TheFrogPrincess'', [[EvilSorcerer Koshchei]] tells Vasilisa to look at a magical mirror after she rejects him. The mirror is actually the artifact which transforms her into a frog, meaning she if ForcedToWatch the process.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films-- Live-Action]]
* Subverted example: in the first ''Film/FantasticFour'' movie, the future Human Torch convinces the guy who we know to be the one who turns into The Thing that something terrible and irreversible has happened to his face. He slowly lifts the mirror, and he looks totally normal.
* Mike O' Donnell, from ''Film/SeventeenAgain'', drives home after falling into a river, looks into the mirror while showering the mud off of his clothes, and sees his transformed teenage self in the mirror, causing him to freak out.
* Subverted in ''Film/Batman1989''. After performing surgery on Jack Napier, the surgeon is horrified by Napier's face when he takes off his bandages. Napier demands a mirror. The surgeon hands him one, but we don't get to see his reflection, only his reaction - sobbing that slowly transforms into [[LaughingMad maniacal laughter]], hinting at his transformation into ComicBook/TheJoker.
* ''Film/{{Freaked}}'': Arrogant, vain movie star Ricky Coogan is captured by MadScientist Elijah C. Skuggs and mutated by the chemical Zygrot-24; the next morning Elijah jovially greets Ricky with a hand mirror to show "The Beast Boy" his new face. Cue screaming and projectile vomit.
--> '''Ricky''': Oh God! That was my ''good'' side!
-->'''Elijah''': Still is, if you ask me.
* Inverted in ''Film/{{Identity}}'': Ed is understandably freaked when he is shown a mirror and sees his reflection as Malcolm Rivers, a convicted serial killer; The problem is, that is Ed's ''real'' face. He is one of Rivers's alternate personalities.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', Eustace first discovers his transformation into a dragon upon seeing his reflection in a pool of water.
* In ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'', Rowley has two pimples on his face. Greg sees them and [[JumpingToConclusionsDiagnosis instantly thinks they're chicken pox]], then shows him a mirror. Rowley [[{{Hypochondria}} assumes it's chicken pox too]] and screams.
* In the book ''Literature/ThingsNotSeen,'' he doesn't know that he's become invisible until he ''doesn't'' see himself in the mirror.
* ''Literature/TheManInTheMirror'' (1910, by Hudson Douglas) has "Bolter" Baxendale awaken after a night of partying in a very ornate room, and dressed in finery befitting a prince. When he sees his reflection in one of the mirrored walls, Baxendale thinks it's someone come to greet him. It's not until his hand, extended for a handshake, bumps against the glass that Baxendale realizes that it's himself looking so dapper. Prince Juric of Jetland arranged this so that Baxendale could pose as the prince in order to safely scope out his potential bride, Princess Ingrid of Marque.
* ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'': Laurence [[YouWakeUpOnABeach wakes up on a beach]] in Japan at the beginning of ''Blood of Tyrants'' with [[LaserGuidedAmnesia no memory]] of how he got halfway around the world. When he finally sees a mirror, he's shocked at how much older and more scarred he looks; he then [[WhatYearIsThis asks about the date]] and learns that his last memories are eight years (and seven books) old.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Happens to Thomas Raith in "[[Literature/SideJobs Back Up]]". Whilst on the trail of a dangerous Stygian Sorceress, she casts an illusion upon him that causes him to resemble an evil looking older man (in the hopes of tricking his brother Harry into mistaking him for the villain and killing him). Thomas doesn't realise until he sees his reflection in the mirror, which allows her to escape.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In the episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'' [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E11ElMundoGira "El Mundo Gira"]], the MonsterOfTheWeek only realizes that he has become this by looking at himself in a mirror.
* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' has Monroe and Rosalee talking about the first time they [[GameFace woged]]. Rosalee says her first time, she didn't realize she'd changed until her brother showed her a mirror.
* ''Series/QuantumLeap'':
** In the first episode, after Sam leaps for the first time his brain is "swiss-cheesed" so he doesn't know who he is or what he's doing there. When he first sees himself in the mirror he jumps back, apparently having a mental image of his face which isn't the face he's looking back at.
** In the early episode "How the Tess Was Won" Sam is trying to woo a woman named Tess on behalf of the man he leaped into, but ends up losing her to another man. Al suggests that Sam look into a mirror where he sees a hispanic man looking back; Al says that Sam got much further than anyone would have expected (Tess is white, and the story takes place in the 1950s). Evidently Sam never looked into a mirror the entire time he had leaped even though it had been upwards of a week.
** In one HalloweenEpisode, Sam looks into the mirror and discovers that ''he has no reflection''.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': When Amber is cursed to turn old, she first only gets a personality change and complains about things like joint-pain or hearing problems. Then Nina catches her in her room, and is shocked by what she sees; Amber is forced to check the mirror to find that she's now covered in wrinkles.
* Downplayed on ''Series/TheLastManOnEarth''. After Mike shows up and starts living with the group, Phil wakes up one morning and goes to prepare for the day. When he looks at himself in the mirror before doing so, he discovers that Mike somehow shaved the hair off of one side of his head.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls The Doctor Falls]]", Bill loses consciousness after undergoing TransformationHorror at the hands of the villains, and when she wakes up she's apparently returned to her usual self. Then the Doctor hands her a mirror, and the reflection shows that she's still transformed and her mind is rejecting the reality to keep her sane.
* In an episode of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', the eighteen year old Sabrina is trying to impress, Josh, a college student in his early twenties, who thinks she's not mature enough for him. She uses a magic face lotion that makes her more mature, and behaves like she's also in her early twenties. However as she continues to use the cream she continues aging until she starts behaving and looking like a middle aged woman. When a young witch she's mentoring shows her a mirror, Sabrina looks like her eighteen year old self. When Sabrina becomes an elderly woman, her aunt Zelda casts a spell, and when Sabrina looks at her reflection again, she sees that she's been turned into an octogenarian.
* In an episode of ''Series/That70sShow'' where Kelso is up for inspection at the police academy, Hyde and Fez, who think that Kelso is becoming a "square", shave his mustache when he's asleep the night before. When the inspector fails him, Kelso starts yelling at Fez and Hyde, and when they show him a mirror, he admits that the Hitler mustache is a good burn.
* ''Series/ImpracticalJokers'' did this when the four guys all got a GagHaircut punishment at the end of Season one, when the stylist turned the barber chair towards the mirror. Joe, who hates having long hair, was revealed to have been given a sparkly mullet. Q, who sports wavy black hair, was revealed to have bright red curly locks (think ''[[Theatre/{{Annie}} Little Orphan Annie]]''). Sal's head was shaved down the middle, and the hair in the front of his head was bleached. Murr was given the hairstyle of a [[Film/TheWizardOfOz Munchkinland]] resident.
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', the episode "Face of the Enemy" has Deanna Troi wake up, look in the mirror, and realise that she's been given a Romulan's face.
* ''Series/AlteredCarbon'': When Takeshi Kovacs realizes he's been [[BodySurf resleeved]] in the first episode he threatens the medical staff with a scalpel and demands a mirror over the doctor's objections that it wouldn't help his psychological state. One of the techs hands him a metal tray, in which he momentarily hallucinates his [[Creator/WillYunLee birth sleeve]] before stabilizing and seeing his [[Creator/JoelKinnaman new face.]]
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Giles realizes Ethan Rayne turned him into a Fyarl demon when he sees his reflection in the mirror. And then he breaks some household items during his reaction.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* This happens to Funguy in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''. After he notices the party staring at him, he looks in a nearby pool of water and flips out when he sees that he's become a mushroom.
* This happens to the player character in ''VideoGame/DarkTales: Morella'', because until they see their reflection in the nearby mirror, they don't realize that they have fallen victim to DemonicPossession.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Various of the short episodes of ''WebAnimation/{{Pencilmation}}'' are about the [[JerkassGod Pencil]] making unwanted changes to [[ButtMonkey Pencilmate]] that he doesn't realize until he looks at a mirror and he see them by himself, many times for his own horror.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/AntiHeroes'', when Aldran resurrects Lana with a scroll of Lifeblood, he tells her she should fix her hair and conjures a mirror. Since Lifeblood scrolls turn the revivee into a vampire, she casts no reflection.
* While Art of ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'' was passed out during holiday merriment, his two flatmates shaved his head in strip #122. A contrite Kat shows him the results in a mirror. Art is shocked at first, then displeased. Strangely, Art's huge eyebrows were left intact.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Zuko does it to ''himself''. He gets up after his fever for a drink and to wash his face. Only when he looks in the mirror, he sees to his horror that he has become Zuko-as-Aang. It turns out to have been AllJustADream.
* A slight variant occurs in the ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002'' series. After Keldor is transformed into Skeletor, a horrified Evil-Lyn shows him his reflection. Skeletor sees his head is now nothing but a skull.... and starts laughing manically.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode [[Recap/FuturamaS4E17SpanishFry "Spanish Fry"]], Fry has just had his "human horn" (nose) stolen by alien poachers. Zoidberg agrees to tell him tactfully and promptly shouts "[[BrutalHonesty Fry your nose is gone! We know not where it is but on your face it is not!]]". Bender then shoves a mirror in his face and invokes this trope.
* The scene from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Lisa gets braces, she's given a mirror and she breaks it. That scene was parodying the Joker scene from the original Batman movie.
* A RunningGag in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' is for a character to undergo a magical transformation, ask why everyone else is staring, and Uncle to say "Don't look in the mirror!" Naturally, the character immediately does so and freaks out, and Uncle adds "I told you not to look in the mirror!"
* In the ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/MartinMystery'', Diana's ears grow and she doesn't notice, only complaining that everyone's so loud all of a sudden. Martin then holds up a dinner platter to show her what has happened.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' episode "Criss Cross Crisis", Blossom finds out that she's in Miss Bellum's body when Buttercup (in the Professor's body) holds a mirror up to her. Afterward, Bubbles, in the Mayor's body, walks over to the bathroom mirror and has this hilarious DoubleTake.
-->'''Bubbles:''' Mayor, what are you doing in our house. I'm not in your house, you're in my body. Oh. ''(beat; cue SpitTake)''
* ButtMonkey WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck in his cartoon "Duck Amuck" has his body erased by a devilish artist, then redrawn horribly OffModel. Daffy remarks that he feels strange, but can't pinpoint what's wrong. It's when the artist draws a mirror for him that Daffy sees how hilariously he's been mutated, and rages at the animator.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRabbitOfSeville'' has WesternAnimation/BugsBunny pose as the barber during a stage production of Creator/GioachinoRossini's Theater/TheBarberOfSeville. Elmer Fudd gets duped into acting as Bugs's customer. At one point, Bugs massages Elmer's bald scalp with hair restorer, then with Figaro Fertilizer. In seconds, tendrils start rising from Elmer's scalp, and Bugs holds up a mirror so that Elmer can gaze at the sudden growth on his head. Then the gag kicks in: those aren't hair strands, they're flower stems. Blooms suddenly adorn the tendril ends, causing Elmer to snarl and reach for his trusty firearm.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama Revenge of the Island]]'', when Dakota starts morphing into a radioactive monster, the other campers look horrified and Chris gives her a mirror. At first she thinks it's just a picture of a scary monster, but when Scott tells her it's a mirror, she gets even angrier Chris for what he has done to her.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "What Lies Beneath", Ocellus encounters two unreformed changelings who refer to her as "your highness". Confused, she looks into a reflective rock, and discovers (to her horror) that she has turned into Queen Chrysalis.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', Demona undergoes this at the end of the episode "The Mirror" when she is at first very happy and overjoyed to notice that she is now no longer turning to stone in the day, likely realizing she now has extra time to carry out extermination plots against humans...only to then walk by a mirror and realize, to her horror, that she's now been enchanted into transforming from a gargoyle [[YouAreWhatYouHate to a human]] during the day instead!
* In the ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' episode, "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS2E25WoollyBear Wooly Bear]]", a crate of treacle falls on Percy when he goes to the harbor, and his crew are unable to get the treacle off despite their best efforts. On his way to meet Thomas at the station, a windstorm tosses hay about, causing some of it to stick to the treacle on Percy. When Percy finally arrives at the station, everyone laughs at him, and Thomas calls him a hairy caterpillar. When Percy's driver shows Percy what he looks like in a mirror, he suddenly realizes why everyone laughed at him. He asks his driver to clean him before Toby comes back to the sheds, but by this time, Thomas tells Toby all about what happened to Percy, and the two make jokes about wooly bear caterpillars, much to Percy's ire.
[[/folder]]
----
-->'''Dakota''': What's this? Ooh, a picture of a scary monster? Big deal!
-->'''Scott''': Dude, that's a mirror.
-->'''Dakota''': Aaahh! I'm a monster!
---> -- ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''
When a character undergoes a sudden transformation or change of some kind, they don't always realize [[ObliviousTransformation what's happened until it's too late.]] Part of this is because other characters might not want to be rude and call attention to it, and other times they're alone and have nobody there to react, anyway. So, one of the easiest ways of getting a character to see what's happened to them is by having them look in a mirror, or another reflective surface, and discover it that way.
This can have the dual purpose of revealing it to the character as well as the audience, keeping their features obscured until they look in the mirror, but it can just as easily be a shock only to the character. In this way, it can either work as a RevealShot, or as a bit of suspense, where the audience waits to see how the character will react to their new looks. In either case, the character is likely to scream, possibly dropping the mirror in the process, or causing others to come running and see it for themselves. In more extreme cases, it'll cause them to RageAgainstTheReflection.
In downplayed examples, the "transformation" is something more minor, such as a bad hair-cut. What matters is the way of discovering their new appearance, not the severity of it.
Compare TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf (which isn't about transformation) and HouseOfBrokenMirrors (which may happen before or after this). Related to TomatoInTheMirror (that's about realizing that it's been oneself all along, this one is about transformations that have happened as part of the story that do not necessarily mean that it was oneself all along) and JustWokeUpThatWay. When the audience sees the transformation result before the character does, this overlaps with ObliviousTransformation.
Don't confuse with DescriptionInTheMirror, where a character's appearance is described while they look in a mirror.
'''This trope deals in Reveals, so there's unmarked spoilers ahead!'''
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime And Manga]]
* In ''Anime/TheTwelveKingdoms'', after Youko is pulled into another world, she undergoes a transformation that is subtle, but apparently significant enough that her schoolmate Yuka doesn't recognize her. When Youko asks what's wrong, Yuka silently pulls out a compact and shows it to her.
* In the ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'' episode "What? Swapping Personalities", Mametchi doesn't realize that he's in Chamametchi's body until he looks in a mirror.
* PlayedForLaughs in one episode of ''Anime/YugiohZEXAL''. Yuma walks into class in increasingly strange outfits, oblivious to the snickers and confusion his classmates show him. It's only after he's given a mirror on the third or so day that he realizes that he's dressed like a weirdo.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fanfic]]
* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': Multiple uses:
** Ami only notices her BattleAura after seeing it in a reflection.
** In "Ward Trouble", Count Zatkel only notices his BalefulPolymorph into a chicken, when he sees a reflective shield.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films-- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', Kuzco only sees that he's been transformed into a llama when he rushes to a pond to look at his reflection after seeing that his hand has become a hoof.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', Lampwick doesn't notice that he's turning into a donkey until he starts braying. he then feels his now-furry head, and confirms his suspicions when he looks into a mirror.
* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', Shrek doesn't realize he's [[HumanityEnsues become human]] until he looks at his hands, followed by his reflection in pail of water.
* In ''Animation/TheFrogPrincess'', [[EvilSorcerer Koshchei]] tells Vasilisa to look at a magical mirror after she rejects him. The mirror is actually the artifact which transforms her into a frog, meaning she if ForcedToWatch the process.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films-- Live-Action]]
* Subverted example: in the first ''Film/FantasticFour'' movie, the future Human Torch convinces the guy who we know to be the one who turns into The Thing that something terrible and irreversible has happened to his face. He slowly lifts the mirror, and he looks totally normal.
* Mike O' Donnell, from ''Film/SeventeenAgain'', drives home after falling into a river, looks into the mirror while showering the mud off of his clothes, and sees his transformed teenage self in the mirror, causing him to freak out.
* Subverted in ''Film/Batman1989''. After performing surgery on Jack Napier, the surgeon is horrified by Napier's face when he takes off his bandages. Napier demands a mirror. The surgeon hands him one, but we don't get to see his reflection, only his reaction - sobbing that slowly transforms into [[LaughingMad maniacal laughter]], hinting at his transformation into ComicBook/TheJoker.
* ''Film/{{Freaked}}'': Arrogant, vain movie star Ricky Coogan is captured by MadScientist Elijah C. Skuggs and mutated by the chemical Zygrot-24; the next morning Elijah jovially greets Ricky with a hand mirror to show "The Beast Boy" his new face. Cue screaming and projectile vomit.
--> '''Ricky''': Oh God! That was my ''good'' side!
-->'''Elijah''': Still is, if you ask me.
* Inverted in ''Film/{{Identity}}'': Ed is understandably freaked when he is shown a mirror and sees his reflection as Malcolm Rivers, a convicted serial killer; The problem is, that is Ed's ''real'' face. He is one of Rivers's alternate personalities.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', Eustace first discovers his transformation into a dragon upon seeing his reflection in a pool of water.
* In ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'', Rowley has two pimples on his face. Greg sees them and [[JumpingToConclusionsDiagnosis instantly thinks they're chicken pox]], then shows him a mirror. Rowley [[{{Hypochondria}} assumes it's chicken pox too]] and screams.
* In the book ''Literature/ThingsNotSeen,'' he doesn't know that he's become invisible until he ''doesn't'' see himself in the mirror.
* ''Literature/TheManInTheMirror'' (1910, by Hudson Douglas) has "Bolter" Baxendale awaken after a night of partying in a very ornate room, and dressed in finery befitting a prince. When he sees his reflection in one of the mirrored walls, Baxendale thinks it's someone come to greet him. It's not until his hand, extended for a handshake, bumps against the glass that Baxendale realizes that it's himself looking so dapper. Prince Juric of Jetland arranged this so that Baxendale could pose as the prince in order to safely scope out his potential bride, Princess Ingrid of Marque.
* ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'': Laurence [[YouWakeUpOnABeach wakes up on a beach]] in Japan at the beginning of ''Blood of Tyrants'' with [[LaserGuidedAmnesia no memory]] of how he got halfway around the world. When he finally sees a mirror, he's shocked at how much older and more scarred he looks; he then [[WhatYearIsThis asks about the date]] and learns that his last memories are eight years (and seven books) old.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Happens to Thomas Raith in "[[Literature/SideJobs Back Up]]". Whilst on the trail of a dangerous Stygian Sorceress, she casts an illusion upon him that causes him to resemble an evil looking older man (in the hopes of tricking his brother Harry into mistaking him for the villain and killing him). Thomas doesn't realise until he sees his reflection in the mirror, which allows her to escape.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In the episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'' [[Recap/TheXFilesS04E11ElMundoGira "El Mundo Gira"]], the MonsterOfTheWeek only realizes that he has become this by looking at himself in a mirror.
* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' has Monroe and Rosalee talking about the first time they [[GameFace woged]]. Rosalee says her first time, she didn't realize she'd changed until her brother showed her a mirror.
* ''Series/QuantumLeap'':
** In the first episode, after Sam leaps for the first time his brain is "swiss-cheesed" so he doesn't know who he is or what he's doing there. When he first sees himself in the mirror he jumps back, apparently having a mental image of his face which isn't the face he's looking back at.
** In the early episode "How the Tess Was Won" Sam is trying to woo a woman named Tess on behalf of the man he leaped into, but ends up losing her to another man. Al suggests that Sam look into a mirror where he sees a hispanic man looking back; Al says that Sam got much further than anyone would have expected (Tess is white, and the story takes place in the 1950s). Evidently Sam never looked into a mirror the entire time he had leaped even though it had been upwards of a week.
** In one HalloweenEpisode, Sam looks into the mirror and discovers that ''he has no reflection''.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': When Amber is cursed to turn old, she first only gets a personality change and complains about things like joint-pain or hearing problems. Then Nina catches her in her room, and is shocked by what she sees; Amber is forced to check the mirror to find that she's now covered in wrinkles.
* Downplayed on ''Series/TheLastManOnEarth''. After Mike shows up and starts living with the group, Phil wakes up one morning and goes to prepare for the day. When he looks at himself in the mirror before doing so, he discovers that Mike somehow shaved the hair off of one side of his head.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls The Doctor Falls]]", Bill loses consciousness after undergoing TransformationHorror at the hands of the villains, and when she wakes up she's apparently returned to her usual self. Then the Doctor hands her a mirror, and the reflection shows that she's still transformed and her mind is rejecting the reality to keep her sane.
* In an episode of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', the eighteen year old Sabrina is trying to impress, Josh, a college student in his early twenties, who thinks she's not mature enough for him. She uses a magic face lotion that makes her more mature, and behaves like she's also in her early twenties. However as she continues to use the cream she continues aging until she starts behaving and looking like a middle aged woman. When a young witch she's mentoring shows her a mirror, Sabrina looks like her eighteen year old self. When Sabrina becomes an elderly woman, her aunt Zelda casts a spell, and when Sabrina looks at her reflection again, she sees that she's been turned into an octogenarian.
* In an episode of ''Series/That70sShow'' where Kelso is up for inspection at the police academy, Hyde and Fez, who think that Kelso is becoming a "square", shave his mustache when he's asleep the night before. When the inspector fails him, Kelso starts yelling at Fez and Hyde, and when they show him a mirror, he admits that the Hitler mustache is a good burn.
* ''Series/ImpracticalJokers'' did this when the four guys all got a GagHaircut punishment at the end of Season one, when the stylist turned the barber chair towards the mirror. Joe, who hates having long hair, was revealed to have been given a sparkly mullet. Q, who sports wavy black hair, was revealed to have bright red curly locks (think ''[[Theatre/{{Annie}} Little Orphan Annie]]''). Sal's head was shaved down the middle, and the hair in the front of his head was bleached. Murr was given the hairstyle of a [[Film/TheWizardOfOz Munchkinland]] resident.
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', the episode "Face of the Enemy" has Deanna Troi wake up, look in the mirror, and realise that she's been given a Romulan's face.
* ''Series/AlteredCarbon'': When Takeshi Kovacs realizes he's been [[BodySurf resleeved]] in the first episode he threatens the medical staff with a scalpel and demands a mirror over the doctor's objections that it wouldn't help his psychological state. One of the techs hands him a metal tray, in which he momentarily hallucinates his [[Creator/WillYunLee birth sleeve]] before stabilizing and seeing his [[Creator/JoelKinnaman new face.]]
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Giles realizes Ethan Rayne turned him into a Fyarl demon when he sees his reflection in the mirror. And then he breaks some household items during his reaction.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* This happens to Funguy in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''. After he notices the party staring at him, he looks in a nearby pool of water and flips out when he sees that he's become a mushroom.
* This happens to the player character in ''VideoGame/DarkTales: Morella'', because until they see their reflection in the nearby mirror, they don't realize that they have fallen victim to DemonicPossession.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Various of the short episodes of ''WebAnimation/{{Pencilmation}}'' are about the [[JerkassGod Pencil]] making unwanted changes to [[ButtMonkey Pencilmate]] that he doesn't realize until he looks at a mirror and he see them by himself, many times for his own horror.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/AntiHeroes'', when Aldran resurrects Lana with a scroll of Lifeblood, he tells her she should fix her hair and conjures a mirror. Since Lifeblood scrolls turn the revivee into a vampire, she casts no reflection.
* While Art of ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'' was passed out during holiday merriment, his two flatmates shaved his head in strip #122. A contrite Kat shows him the results in a mirror. Art is shocked at first, then displeased. Strangely, Art's huge eyebrows were left intact.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Zuko does it to ''himself''. He gets up after his fever for a drink and to wash his face. Only when he looks in the mirror, he sees to his horror that he has become Zuko-as-Aang. It turns out to have been AllJustADream.
* A slight variant occurs in the ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002'' series. After Keldor is transformed into Skeletor, a horrified Evil-Lyn shows him his reflection. Skeletor sees his head is now nothing but a skull.... and starts laughing manically.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode [[Recap/FuturamaS4E17SpanishFry "Spanish Fry"]], Fry has just had his "human horn" (nose) stolen by alien poachers. Zoidberg agrees to tell him tactfully and promptly shouts "[[BrutalHonesty Fry your nose is gone! We know not where it is but on your face it is not!]]". Bender then shoves a mirror in his face and invokes this trope.
* The scene from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Lisa gets braces, she's given a mirror and she breaks it. That scene was parodying the Joker scene from the original Batman movie.
* A RunningGag in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' is for a character to undergo a magical transformation, ask why everyone else is staring, and Uncle to say "Don't look in the mirror!" Naturally, the character immediately does so and freaks out, and Uncle adds "I told you not to look in the mirror!"
* In the ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/MartinMystery'', Diana's ears grow and she doesn't notice, only complaining that everyone's so loud all of a sudden. Martin then holds up a dinner platter to show her what has happened.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' episode "Criss Cross Crisis", Blossom finds out that she's in Miss Bellum's body when Buttercup (in the Professor's body) holds a mirror up to her. Afterward, Bubbles, in the Mayor's body, walks over to the bathroom mirror and has this hilarious DoubleTake.
-->'''Bubbles:''' Mayor, what are you doing in our house. I'm not in your house, you're in my body. Oh. ''(beat; cue SpitTake)''
* ButtMonkey WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck in his cartoon "Duck Amuck" has his body erased by a devilish artist, then redrawn horribly OffModel. Daffy remarks that he feels strange, but can't pinpoint what's wrong. It's when the artist draws a mirror for him that Daffy sees how hilariously he's been mutated, and rages at the animator.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRabbitOfSeville'' has WesternAnimation/BugsBunny pose as the barber during a stage production of Creator/GioachinoRossini's Theater/TheBarberOfSeville. Elmer Fudd gets duped into acting as Bugs's customer. At one point, Bugs massages Elmer's bald scalp with hair restorer, then with Figaro Fertilizer. In seconds, tendrils start rising from Elmer's scalp, and Bugs holds up a mirror so that Elmer can gaze at the sudden growth on his head. Then the gag kicks in: those aren't hair strands, they're flower stems. Blooms suddenly adorn the tendril ends, causing Elmer to snarl and reach for his trusty firearm.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama Revenge of the Island]]'', when Dakota starts morphing into a radioactive monster, the other campers look horrified and Chris gives her a mirror. At first she thinks it's just a picture of a scary monster, but when Scott tells her it's a mirror, she gets even angrier Chris for what he has done to her.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "What Lies Beneath", Ocellus encounters two unreformed changelings who refer to her as "your highness". Confused, she looks into a reflective rock, and discovers (to her horror) that she has turned into Queen Chrysalis.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', Demona undergoes this at the end of the episode "The Mirror" when she is at first very happy and overjoyed to notice that she is now no longer turning to stone in the day, likely realizing she now has extra time to carry out extermination plots against humans...only to then walk by a mirror and realize, to her horror, that she's now been enchanted into transforming from a gargoyle [[YouAreWhatYouHate to a human]] during the day instead!
* In the ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' episode, "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS2E25WoollyBear Wooly Bear]]", a crate of treacle falls on Percy when he goes to the harbor, and his crew are unable to get the treacle off despite their best efforts. On his way to meet Thomas at the station, a windstorm tosses hay about, causing some of it to stick to the treacle on Percy. When Percy finally arrives at the station, everyone laughs at him, and Thomas calls him a hairy caterpillar. When Percy's driver shows Percy what he looks like in a mirror, he suddenly realizes why everyone laughed at him. He asks his driver to clean him before Toby comes back to the sheds, but by this time, Thomas tells Toby all about what happened to Percy, and the two make jokes about wooly bear caterpillars, much to Percy's ire.
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