History Main / SomethingForEveryone

See also EmpathicShapeShifter, which is where the thing's form ''literally'' changes based on the observer; AFormYouAreComfortableWith, which is when this happens specifically to avoid freaking out the observer (or just [[GoMadFromTheRevelation driving them insane]]); and LieToTheBeholder, which is a targeted form of AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder that causes only ''some'' observers to see the illusion. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with TasteTheRainbow.

* ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion]]'':
** [[spoiler:The multiple avatars of Rei/Lilith who appear to guide each individual human through the transition into Instrumentality have the ability to appear in the form of someone that individual loves. There are several shots of cast members getting a last look at/embrace from what appears to be someone they care for, right before bursting into [[strike: orange Tang]] LCL.]]
** With one notable exception [[spoiler:Aoba Shigeru, AirGuitar playing BridgeBunny who only sees a swarm of naked Rei's and promptly freaks. The writers have said this was because Aoba was a nihilist who cared for no one.]]

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'':
** Morpheus did this. He would appear as a cat for cats or Bast and appear human for humans. Desire, on the other hand, works like the AppleOfDiscord naturally.

* ComicBook/{{Galactus}} appears as a member of whatever species looks at him, probably to {{Retcon}} his human appearance into the realm of plausibility.
%%* Elizabeth Chandra in ''ComicBook/RisingStars''.
* Creating illusions of her target's greatest fear or desire is the signature mutant power of Mirage of the ''ComicBook/NewMutants''. She can't really control ''what'' they see, only whether she wants to attract or scare them with it.
* ''ComicBook/{{Nodwick}}'': Near the end of the print comic, the villains create a new type of undead called a 'Masque' and unleash it on the heroes. Anyone who looks at it see a deceased parental- or mentor-figure they trust implicitly (Rowan sees her father, Nodwick sees the old president of his union, Piffany sees the abbess at the SaintlyChurch where she was raised, and Arthax sees the archmage who first taught him wizardry) and are left unable to fight. Fortunately for our heroes, Rowan's pet dragon Orville either isn't fooled or sees one of his parents (his species of dragon is ''extremely'' territorial, and attack and kill even close family as adults) and responds by flambéing the undead monster.

[[folder:Film--Animation]]

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'': The titular Wizard appears differently to each supplicant, depending on what will impress them most. However, Dorothy eventually finds that each appearance is an illusion using various special effects to ensure that no one guesses his true nature.
* The "Holy Grail" in ''Literature/TheMistsOfAvalon'' appears as a chalice which creates food - whichever food one person likes most.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', the love potion Amortentia smells like all the smeller's favorite smells (Harry smells treacle tart, broomstick varnish, and Ginny's perfume, while Hermione smells like parchment, cut grass, and [[WordOfGod Ron's hair]]) and the polyjuice potion has a different consistency depending on who it turns you into (Crabbe and Goyle's looks like mud, Harry's is gold, we don't see what Bellatrix's looks like but it apparently tastes terrible.) In addition, Boggarts appear as one's worst fear, Dementors cause victims to experience their worst memories, and the Mirror of Erised reflects one's greatest desire. Yeah, Rowling loves this trope.
* The second half of the ''Literature/{{Firekeeper}}'' series of novels gives us the Meddler, a godlike trickster. Lacking a corporeal body, he creates a form through the minds of those around him. The end result is that every person sees him differently. Most saw him as a local man. Others, such as Firekeeper's wolf partner Blind Seer, saw another wolf like himself.
* In the old ''Photon'' novels, the nature of the contest between The Interstellar Alliance and the Arrians was eventually revealed to be a [[spoiler:larger-scale version of a chess game being played out between two beings from the ''previous Universe'' whose battle had ended up destroying everything. The chess game played itself out as a reasonably non-violent way to ensure they didn't wind up breaking it all again.]] The appearance of these two beings, as revealed in the novel ''In Search of Mom''? Just like the viewer, right down to gender.
* In the ''Literature/WorldsOfPower'' novel of ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster'', The [[BigBad Plutonium Boss]] did the "worst fear" version. The images the players of the game see is something each fears most.
* Pretty Poison, a succubus from the ''{{Literature/Nightside}}'' novels, appears as everyone's hottest sexual fantasy come to life.
* Verra, a goddess from the ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' novels, ''sounds'' different to different people. When she speaks, each witness hears her say something that's relevant to them.
* TV news reports in Purgatory, from Piers Anthony's ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, customize themselves to the interests of whomever is watching them. Not simultaneously, though--two observers watching the same set at the same time see the same broadcast. While the channels are certainly subjective (the news includes interviews and crowd shots which didn't happen in the real world), nobody uses anybody else's set to watch the news, so the sets could just be pretuned rather than sensitive to the watcher.
* In Clive Barker's ''Literature/{{Weaveworld}}'', the villain Shadwell, who considers himself the world's greatest salesman and schmoozer, is given an enchanted jacket by the sorceress Immacolata. The jacket can produce from its pockets the object [[YourHeartsDesire most desired]] by whatever client Shadwell is trying to make a deal with.
** Similarly utilized in Stephen King's ''Literature/NeedfulThings'', but in the form of TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday.
* In ''Literature/TheAncientOne'', there's a swamp with water that lures people in by smelling like their favorite things, but it's really an extremely dangerous pool of acid.
* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': During a raid on a Slaaneshi cult, the madam uses her magic to project an image the soldiers won't shoot at. Cain sees Amberley, and is about to shoot another soldier in a jealous rage (also motivated by the soldier addressing "Amberley" by the wrong name, i.e. his own girlfriend's) but is distracted long enough for Jurgen to approach and his AntiMagic effect to reveal the madam as an frumpy older woman, who Cain shoots on the spot.
--> Impersonating an Inquisitor is a capital offense.
* ''Literature/ArciaChronicles'': The primordial deities known as the "Great Dragon" and the "Great Eagle" can take on [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith humanoid forms]], but they cannot control their appearance. Instead, each person sees them wearing different faces familiar to themselves: specifically, the Great Eagle's human form always looks like his vis-a-vis' greatest pain, while the Great Dragon takes the shape of the greatest mystery in their lives. When Roman encounters them both in book four, the Great Eagle wears the face of his late father Asten, whom he both loved and respected, while the Great Dragon takes on the form of the wandering mage Uann, who mentored Roman in magic, set him on the path to save the world, and disappeared without a trace in book two.

* Subverted in ''Series/{{Angel}}''. The big bad, Jasmine, uses magic to make herself Awesome In The Eyes Of Others, otherwise she appears as a gross slimy thing. Connor, supposedly a good guy, thinks there's nothing wrong with the gross slimy thing (he wasn't brainwashed) because that's what he grew up with. Gross.
* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', [[spoiler:the Vorlons look to any given person like their cultural equivalent of an angel.]] Londo, however, sees nothing at all - since his people, the Centauri, were [[spoiler:fostered by the Shadows instead]].

* ''Series/RedDwarf'' has Camille, a green blob who appeared as a person's "perfect partner." For Kryten, Lister and Rimmer, she appears as a feminine counterpart to the viewer. For the Cat, she appears as...[[ScrewYourself the Cat]]. The Psirens use a power like this to suck people's brains out with straws.
* In relative obscurity, the final season episode of ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' "Satan, Darling" had a DreamSequence in which Roseanne met the Devil's Advocate, who looked like her [[EvilCostumeSwitch in red]]. It claimed, "I take on whatever form your subconscious chooses to give me. I almost came as a hamburger."
* The salt-vampire monster in "The Man Trap," an early episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.
** And, in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', the episode "The Perfect Mate", has a "gift" which was being transported to end a war. Said cargo turns out to be a deeply empathic metamorph who can become any man's ideal mate.

* ''VideoGame/GrandiaII'' included berries that taste like whatever the eater most fondly remembers eating.
* Hinted at in an overhead conversation in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''. A human, a turian, and a salarian at a bachelor party are watching an [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe asari]] stripper, and each one finds a different part of her attractive.
* The "[[http://www.biosector01.com/wiki/index.php/Zone_of_Nightmares Zone Of Nightmares]]" from ''Bionicle'' forces anyone who enters it to confront whatever they fear most.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'', [[spoiler: the titular character appears to everyone she seduces as their ideal dream girl.]]

* It's possible that the Shadow Thurible in ''VideoGame/DontStarve'', as well as the literal {{Nightmare Fuel}} that fuels it, has this affect on the player characters. However, while the Thurible smells like different things that most likely attract the different characters, the raw Fuel seems to have different properties of things that may frighten them.

-->Uh, Minnow? You might wanna let go of [[WellDoneSonGuy that photo of my dad saying "I'm proud of you, son]]."

* Website/{{SCP|Foundation}}-[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-056 056]] always changes itself into a "better" version of whatever is viewing it, to the point that they can't even find out its natural form via remote observation because it just turns into a more expensive camera.
** And [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-959 SCP-959]], who appears as whatever would distress the viewer the most. [[BadPowersGoodPeople He's a really nice guy]].
* The original concept of [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]] had his face look different to everyone, with him only appearing as TheBlank in photographs due to GlamourFailure. However, the faceless version of him ended up proving so iconic that it just became his regular appearance.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' the titular mice are placed into a sophisticated maze, including a room with a hologram meant to distract them by showing them whatever they most wanted to see. After unsuccessfully trying to find a secret area of the maze and coming full circle, Pinky states that [[GeniusDitz what he most wants to see is a map of the maze]], causing one to appear in front of them.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "Marooned", a giant alien tentacle monster appears to Ren as a female chihuahua in order to trap him. To Stimpy, the tentacle appears as a bag of kitty litter, so he looks perplexed when Ren starts to caress it and talk romantically to it.

-->-- ''Series/RedDwarf'', "Camille"

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* In the movie ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion,]]'' :

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Elizabeth Chandra in ''ComicBook/RisingStars''.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* The "Holy Grail" in ''Literature/{{The Mists Of Avalon}}'' appears as a chalice which creates food - whichever food one person likes most.

* TV news reports in Purgatory, from Piers Anthony's ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, customize themselves to the interests of whomever is watching them.
** Not simultaneously, though - two observers watching the same set at the same time see the same broadcast. While the channels are certainly subjunctive (the news includes interviews and crowd shots which didn't happen in the real world), nobody uses anybody else's set to watch the news, so the sets could just be pretuned rather than sensitive to the watcher.

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* In the unbelievably obscure 1990s PC game ''Commander Blood'', the much-coveted Ondoyants appear as sexually attractive to everyone.

* ''Webcomic/ValAndIsaac'': [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/post/626530511463038977 One strip]] has Minnow find one such object (actually an anglerfish's lure), seeing it as a LostEpisode of her favorite show. Then Isaac steps in.
-->Uh, Minnow? You might wanna let go of [[WellDoneSonGuy that photo of my dad saying "I'm proud of you, son]]".

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "Marooned", a giant alien tentacle monster appears to Ren as a female chihuahua in order to trap him. To Stimpy, the tentacle appears as a bag of kitty litter, so he looks perplex when Ren starts to caress it and talk romantically to it.

* ''Webcomic/ValAndIsaac'': [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/post/626530511463038977 One strip]] has Minnow find one such object (actually an AlluringAnglerfish's lure), seeing it as a LostEpisode of her favorite show. Then Isaac steps in.

* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge 4'': The siren fish project an image of whatever the victim loves to lure them in: each of the heroes sees their love interest (real of imaginary, in Sid's case), Sid's grandma sees a Chippendales sloth with a PornStache, and Scrat, of course, sees his acorn. Cut to reality, where Scrat is now trying to bury the siren into the ground, blissfully unaware of what's really happening.

* ''ComicBook/{{Nodwick}}'': Near the end of the print comic, the villains create a new type of undead called a 'Masque' and unleash it on the heroes. Anyone who looks at it see a deceased parental- or mentor-figure they trust implicitly (Rowan sees her father, Nodwick sees the old president of his union, Piffany sees the abbess at the SaintlyChurch where she was raised, and Arthax sees the archmage who first taught him wizardry) and are left unable to fight. Fortunately for our heroes, Rowan's pet dragon Orville either isn't fooled or sees one of his parents (his species of dragon are extremely territorial, and are driven to attack and kill even close family as adults) and responds by flambéing the undead monster.

* Wiki/{{SCP|Foundation}}-[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-056 056]] always changes itself into a "better" version of whatever is viewing it, to the point that they can't even find out its natural form via remote observation because it just turns into a more expensive camera.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' the titular mice are placed into a sophisticated maze, including a room with a hologram meant to distract them by showing them whatever they most wanted to see. After unsuccessfully trying to find a secret area of the maze and coming full circle, Pinky states that [[GeniusDitz what he most wants to see is a map of the maze]], causing one to appear in front of them.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "Marooned", a giant alien tentacle monster appears to Ren as a female chihuahua in order to trap him. To Stimpy, the tentacle appears as a bag of kitty litter, so he looks perplex when Ren starts to caress it and talk romantically to it.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': During a raid on a Slaaneshi cult, the madam uses her magic to project an image the soldiers won't shoot at. Cain sees Amberley, and is about to shoot another soldier in a jeaous rage (also motivated by the soldier addressing "Amberley" by the wrong name, i.e. his own girlfriend's) but is distracted long enough for Jurgen to approach and his AntiMagic effect to reveal the madam as an frumpy older woman, who Cain shoots on the spot.

* In Clive Barker's ''Literature/{{Weaveworld}}'', the villain Shadwell, who considers himself the world's greatest salesman and schmoozer, is given an enchanted jacket by the sorceress Immacolata. The jacket can produce from its pockets the object [[Your heart's desire most desired]] by whatever client Shadwell is trying to make a deal with.

* In Clive Barker's ''Literature/{{Weaveworld}}'', the villain Shadwell, who considers himself the world's greatest salesman and schmoozer, is given an enchanted jacket by the sorceress Immacolata. The jacket can produce from its pockets the object most desired by whatever client Shadwell is trying to make a deal with.

* [[BigBad The Lone Power]] from the ''Literature/YoungWizards'' series supposedly looks different to everyone. To Nita, he usually looked like a good looking but cruel [[EvilRedheads red-haired man]].

When SomethingForEveryone is in play, if Bob casts a {{Glamour}} spell that is intended to make him irresistably attractive to everyone who sees him, Alice may see him as Creator/OrlandoBloom, while the FaceHugger sees him as [[Film/{{Alien}} Second Officer Kane]]. In the case of an ArtifactOfAttraction, instead of having an innate power to make people want it specifically, it may simply ''imitate'' every observer's most personally coveted object. [[Literature/HarryPotter Lord Voldemort]] will see it as the PhilosophersStone, [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Gollum]] will see it as the One Ring, and so on.

[[AC: Anime and Manga]]

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge 4'': The siren fish project an image of whatever the victim loves to lure them in: each of the heroes sees their love interest (real of imaginary, in Sid's case), Sid's grandma sees a Chippendales sloth with a PornStache, and Scrat, of course, sees his acorn. Cut to reality, where Scrat is now trying to bury the siren into the ground, blissfully unaware of what's really happening.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC: WebOriginal]]