History Main / TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf

* TenthKingdom used an inversion. The Queen used a hypnotic mirror which showed her merely standing behind Virginia, when in fact she was strangling her. It wasn't until Virginia glanced to the side and saw the truth in another mirror that she was able to break free.

* In MercedesLackey's ''Black Swan'' (a retelling of SwanLake), the sorceress Odile tells Odette that von Rothbart won't have any mirrors in his house because "mirrors show the truth." When he asks Queen Clothilde to cover or hide all the mirrors in her ballroom, you know something's up.

* Reversed in the ''FearlessVampireKillers'', it was used as a trap to indicate who was human during the vampire ball. Since vampires cast no reflection.

** Plus the whole magic mirror gate part, see the page quote.

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]
* ''DungeonsAndDragons''. Dragon Magazine #50 had the magical artifact Barlithian's Mirror. Anyone who looked into it saw his or her true self, regardless of any illusions, creature powers (such as a vampire's invisibility to mirrors) or shapechanged form. In addition, a lycanthrope would see its alter ego (''e.g.'', a werewolf in wolf form would see a human and one in human form would see a wolf).
** The supplement ''Open Grave'' uses this trope in one picture - a beautiful noblewoman's reflection reveals her true form as a lich.
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* In ''KingsQuestVI'', there is a mirror with this quality; depending on which path you take, it can be used in one of two different ways. The basic good ending has Alexander using it to SpotTheImposter by forcing a genie to resume his true form. The best ending has him use it against Death himself, reminding Death of all the heartache he's witnessed, causing him to shed a tear (the terms of a wager the two had made.)

-->'''Angel:''' Oh.

* A similar thing happens in {{Persona 3}} with the Lovers boss. You have to break the mirrors that ''don't'' show your reflection in order to get to the boss chamber.

* Daisuke Niiwa from [[D.N.Angel]] can see [[Phantom Thief|Dark Mousy]] in the mirror, standing beside him or in the corner. They regularly have conversations this way. [[spoiler:In one of the late chapters of the manga, a magical mirror enables Dark's reflection to be seen by other people.]]

[[caption-width-right:330:The Lich's Mirrow shows not what you ''are'' but what you ''[[WhatHaveIBecome were]]''.]]

[[caption-width-right:330:The Lich's Mirrow shows not what you ''are'' but what you ''were''.]]

[[caption-width-right:330:"It shows not what you are but what you were."]]

* Not quite. Most of the time Eames's true face was reflected, but on one occasion he was, when in disguise, seated in front of multiple mirrors. Some reflected his true face, others reflected his disguise. Which mirrors reflected his true face and which reflected his disguise changed (almost certainly deliberately) between cuts.