History Main / SomethingForEveryone

* In the movie ''[[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.]]

** 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.

* In ''HarryPotter'', the love potion Amortentia smells like all the smeller's favorite smells, 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.

* In ''{{Babylon 5}}'', [[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 fostered by the Shadows instead]].

** And, in 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.

* Subverted in ''{{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.

* Elizabeth Chandra in ''RisingStars''.

* In Clive Barker's ''{{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.

* [[MarvelUniverse 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 ''Rising Stars''.

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

* In Clive Barker's ''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.

* Subverted in ''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.

** With one notable exception [[spoiler: Aoba Shigeru, {{Air Guitar}} playing {{Bridge Bunny}} who only sees a swarm of naked Rei's and promptly freaks]].

[[AC: Comic Books]]
* Morpheus from ''TheSandman'' 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.

** In descriptions it's directly stated that Desire will look whatever you desire the most, whether that is man, woman or something else. Making it appear an attractive, androgynous human just helps the reader to keep track of the character.
* [[MarvelUniverse Galactus]] appears as a member of whatever species looks at him, probably to RetCon his human appearance into the realm of plausibility.

[[AC: Film]]

[[AC: Literature]]

* 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.

[[AC: Live Action Television]]
* The salt-vampire monster in "The Man Trap," an early episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.

* In ''{{Babylon 5}}'', [[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 fostered by the Shadows instead]].

* Subverted in ''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.

[[AC: Video Games]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]

* The salt-vampire monster in "The Man Trap," an early episode of ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.

* The Illusion Card from ''CardcaptorSakura'' has this effect, taking a form to each viewer depending on what frightens them the most or what they desire. For example, Sakura saw her mother, allowing the card to have a strong hold over her, while Tomoyo, anticlimactically, merely saw a food item because she was hungry.

-->-''RedDwarf'', ''Camille''

* ''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.

* ''{{Grandia}} II'' included berries that taste like whatever the eater most fondly remembers eating.

* WebOriginal/{{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.

* [[SCPFoundation SCP]]-[[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.

* In the ''WorldsOfPower'' novel of ''BlasterMaster'', The [[BigBad Plutonium Boss]] did the "worst fear" version. The images the players of the game see is something each fears most.

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<<|SpeculativeFictionTropes|>> [[sf]]

* In the new ''DoctorWho'' series, psychic paper has whatever you're expecting written on it. This apparently works even on electronic locks.

* [[SCPFoundation SCP]]-[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-056 056]]

-->-'''Red Dwarf''', ''Camille''

See also EmpathicShapeShifter and LieToTheBeholder. Sounds like but has nothing to do with TasteTheRainbow.

* Subverted in ''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 the gross slimy thing (he wasn't brainwashed) is awesome because that's what he grew up with. Gross.
** It's less that he thinks it's awesome than that he doesn't think that makes Jasmine automatically evil.

See also EmpathicShapeShifter and LieToTheBeholder

See also EmpathicShapeShifter