History Main / TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2012-04-01 Slick is sure that being BZOMF'ed didn't affect him, but we see the mirror at the end.]]

* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'':

*** When Ariadne is setting up the double-mirror, both her reflection and Cobb's appear, but once the infinite reflection is set up, the scene is shot such that Ariadne's reflections beyond the first are hidden behind Cobb's.
** This is actually ''Truth In Television'', according to lucid dreamers. One of the distinguishing features of lucid dreams is that inside them, mirrors don't work 'correctly' (i.e., they don't reflect, or reflect something else, or are distorted).

* ''Film/{{Supergirl}}'': During the party scene, Selena looks at her refection in Nigel's cigarette case and sees a Shadow Demon (which would appear physically later in the movie) alongside her own face. She asks Nigel what it is, to which he replies "Over-reaching ambition. Take heed."
* Used at the very end of 2011's ''Film/{{Thor}}'' to show that [[spoiler: Dr. Selvig is being controlled by Loki]].

** [[Film/VenomLetThereBeCarnage The sequel]] carries this forward with Cletus Kassidy talking to his Symbiote while driving a car; Carnage's part in the conversation was shown in the rear-view mirror.

* ''VideoGame/Celeste'': The story's antagonist is introduced on the opposite side of a mirror...and then the mirror breaks.

* ''Series/BeyondBeliefFactOrFiction'': "Mirror of Truth" has this. A vain woman goes to a make-up specialist, only to find the job done not to her expectations, insulting the owner and leaving without paying. The owner swiftly curses her to look as ugly as she is inside. Soon, her fiance calls off the marriage, she tries to fix her face with creams and finally asks a professional surgeon for plastic surgery. The viewer never once sees her face ever since she left the shop, leading to wild expectations about how she looks. [[spoiler:She still is very beautiful, but when she looks in the mirror, she sees a disgustingly disfigured face staring back at her.]]

* ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'': The Lilith Mirror does this, and even reverts the viewer back into his/her/its original form. Though in Moka's case, [[spoiler:the Rosario still affects Inner Moka and keeps her powers locked up]].

[[folder:Mythology and Folklore]]
* According to Japanese mythology, this is usually how you can figure out if someone you know is a [[AsianFoxSpirit Kitsune]] as while they look normal to you, a mirror shows what they really are. However, according to some, the mirror has to be an old one.

* ''Anime/{{Ulysses 31}}'' has the main characters encounter a Sphinx who is in possession of a mirror showing the true personality of people reflected in it. He keeps his SpoiledBrat of a daughter away from it.

* In a ''Magazine/DisneyAdventures'' comic of ''WesternAnimation/{{TaleSpin}}'', the heroes discover a mirror that apparently reveals their souls. Readers do not get to see this, which may be just as well when [[BigBad Don Karnage]] [[NothingIsScarier peeks at it and freaks out]].

* Inverted in ''[[ComicBook/{{Vibe}} Justice League of America's Vibe]]''. Vibe's powers also make him appear as a blur in any photographs or recordings of him, concealing his identity from cameras.

* One issue of Jeff Parker's ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' run has the team and the Avengers trapped in [[EldritchLocation a strange dimension]] where your reflection in the water shows your supposed true self, seemingly meaning a symbolic representation of what kind of person you are. ComicBook/IronMan sees himself as a child holding a model plane (symbolizing him as - ultimately - a {{Manchild}} obsessed with building and control), ComicBook/CaptainAmerica sees himself in his old WWII uniform (he's still the symbol of freedom he was back then), [[TheJuggernaut Juggernaut]] sees a constantly shifting image of his various costumes (symbolizing [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor his struggle for a solid identity]]), and [[TheSociopath Crossbones]] sees himself wearing a gaudy mask of [[BigBad Red Skull]] (he's just a pale imitation of his master). ComicBook/LukeCage, however, doesn't experience this and simply sees himself as normal, suggesting that he is true to himself and assuaging an identity crisis he was going through.
* In the ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo story "Village of Fear", Usagi is a guest in the home of a widowed woman, in a village being menaced by a supernatural beast. While sheathing his sword, he catches a glimpse of her reflection in the blade and realizes she is the beast.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda'': In "Dopplelganger", Ganon uses a magic mirror to kidnap Zelda and replace her with an EvilTwin that would try to trick Link into giving up the Triforce of Wisdom. However, Link is able to learn early on that he is not with the real Zelda when, as the two ride their horses past a body of water, he notices that Zelda's reflection is missing.

* On the cover of ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', Henry Jekyll's reflection is Edward Hyde.

* During Nimdok's scenario in '' VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'', he comes across project PERFECT IMAGE, a Nazi project which shows you yourself with utter objectivity. Not only does it [[spoiler:show Nimdok the truth of his Jewish heritage]], but it's also implied to be [[spoiler:the true reason Hitler committed suicide]], and more directly used to [[spoiler:incapacitate Mengele with a single glance at the mirror, being left immobilized by the idea that his soul could be "so... ''black''..."]].

* Fittingly for the ''Mask of the Betrayer'' campaign for ''Videogame/NeverwinterNights2'', you find a LightAndMirrorsPuzzle in the Red Wizard academy which does the job of one of these mirrors. For you companions it shows a secret aspect of them which even they might not be aware of, but for the PC you get to see them in the eponymous mask.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', you have to break the mirrors that ''don't'' show your reflection in order to get to the Lovers boss chamber.

* Though it's often forgotten about, Eiki Shiki from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' possesses a mirror that reflects the viewer's past deeds. She can also use it to pit the viewer against a copy of herself.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Tokyo Afterschool Summoners}}'':

* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'': This was true of the original series shape-shifter Mumm-Ra; when powered-up, mirrors and reflective surfaces would show him as the old wizened mummy that was his base form, depowering him and causing him to have to flee to his pyramid. Unfortunately, at the beginning of Season 4, the Thundercats ticked off the Ancient Spirits of Evil so much the Spirits not only rebuilt Mumm-Ra's destroyed pyramid, they powered him up so reflections showed his battle or wizened form as appropriate, and he was no longer depowered by seeing his reflection.

* In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow'', 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, forcing him to witness the horror of his own existence, causing him to shed a single tear and lose his wager against Alexander.

* In ''Film/ItChapterTwo'' show thst the Losers Club (excluding Eddie and Stan) look in the mirror and it is revealed that the younger versions of themselves were replaced.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' [[spoiler:under the right lighting conditions, Venom Snake's reflection on the chopper window will flash the image of the character created at the start of the game, foreshadowing that Venom is not the real Big Boss but rather the Medic, whose previous appearance is said character]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'': Scuttle discovers that Vanessa, the woman Prince Eric is going to marry, is really Ursula when he sees her look into a mirror and the reflection is Ursula's.

A subtrope of MagicMirror, GlamourFailure, and LieToTheBeholder. Compare TheShadowKnows and MirrorReveal, which is about literal transformation. Contrast MissingReflection, where the mirror shows nothing at all.

* According to Japanese mythology, this is usually how you can figure out if someone you know is a {{Kitsune}} as while they look normal to you, a mirror shows what they really are. However, according to some, the mirror has to be an old one.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'': This was true of the shape-shifter Mumm-Ra; when powered-up, mirrors and reflective surfaces would show him as the old wizened mummy that was his base form, depowering him and causing him to have to flee to his pyramid. Unfortunately, at the beginning of Season 4, the Thundercats ticked off the Ancient Spirits of Evil so much the Spirits not only rebuilt Mumm-Ra's destroyed pyramid, they powered him up so reflections showed his battle or wizened form as appropriate, and he was no longer depowered by seeing his reflection.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'': This is true of the shape-shifter Mumm-Ra.

** Bael,a Transient from Gehenna and member of the Eastern Rule Makers. The wings in his 5 star unit variant shows that underneath his façade of sophistication hides what he truly is: a sadistic, envious, vicious monster who only cares about himself.]]

* In the webcomic ''Beauty and the Beast,'' [[http://www.batb.thecomicseries.com/comics/400 Beauty can see the Beast's human form reflected in the water]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': In "Baby Doll", the main antagonist suffers from a condition that kept her from aging. Despite being well over 30, she physically looks younger than a pre-teen. When the Dark Knight chases her into a house of mirrors, she stumbles across one that reflects what would look like under "normal" circumstances.