History Main / TheShadowKnows

* In {{MAR}}, One of Alvis' opponents has an ARM which clones him infinitely. Alvis figures out where the real one is hiding by the shadow he casts.
* In {{Soul Eater}}, Death the Kid's shadow is occasionally shown as a skull. It doesn't [[TheReveal quite]] reveal anything the audience hasn't already been told, but generally accompanies a violent reminder that he is a death god.

* In the Stravaganza series, if you are in a world that is not your own, you will be marked by a lack of shadow. If you see your shadow has returned, your sleeping body in the other world is dead.

** FridgeLogic suggests that this is the result of lazy telepathy. If he can make them not see HIM standing right there, he should be able to do the same for his shadow itself.

* In ''[[ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne]]'', the boss Ongyo-ki performs a DoppelgangerSpin, creating three shadow clones, and hits you hard whenever you attack one of them. How do you beat him? If you fight him during a full moon, only the real one casts a shadow.

* In the {{Pokèmon}} games that take place at Hoenn, you sometimes bump into invisible obstacles on your path.Looking at their reflection in the water over a bridge reveals them to be none less than Kecleon.

* In ''{{The Secret Of Kells}}'', when Pangur Ban is in spirit-form [[spoiler:as he/she's being sent to free Brendan]] you can see [[ViewerGenderConfusion him/her]] casting the shadow of a cat.

* One of the stock magical powers in ''{{WITCH}}'' is an illusion spell called Glamour that can alter one's appearance but not their shadow. This is later used to reveal that [[spoiler: the Oracle demanding the return of the Heart of Candracar in ''I is for Illusion'' is a disguised Nerissa]].

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/werewolf5_4045.jpg]]

* In {{MAR}}, One of Alvis' opponents has an ARM which clones him infinately. Alvis figures out where the real one is hiding by the shadow he casts.

* In ''{{Okami}}'', in order to free a little sparrow from her cage, you must drag an old lady into the light coming out from a hole in the ceiling to reveal her (and her "husband's") true form, evil monsters.

* While not "shapeshifting" per se, one of the rules of [[LieToTheBeholder the Mask]] in ''ChangelingTheLost'' is that your shadow always retains features of how you were changed in Arcadia. If you're a mountain goat aspected Beast, your shadow may have horns; if you're an earth-like Elemental, then your shadow may be craggy.

** Either MADMagazine or early CrackedMagazine (back when it was basically a rival to MAD) had a series of features with the name depicting people in a normal setting, while the shadows cast on the wall depict what they (or at least one or more of the people shown) ''really'' want to do in that situation, such as beating the crap out of their domineering boss.
** There was also a old MADMagazine (this troper inherited them from his father) that depicted various B-list superheroes who were parodies of existing ones, one of whom was a Shadow-parody whose only ability was to cloud ''his own'' mind.

* Supernatural: [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Castiel]] does this on purpose to reveal his true nature. [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/castielwings_7960.jpg]]

Compare LivingShadow, which occasionally overlaps this trope.

* In the ''DoctorWho'' two-part story beginning with "Silence In The Library", the Vashta Nerada are flesh-eating insect swarms that resemble [[LivingShadow shadows]], and use this fact for camouflage. As such, anyone they're stalking appears to have an extra shadow that lacks a light source.

* The TropeNamer is of course ''TheShadow'', who happens to be a good example, as his Shadow is still visible when he clouds the minds of his enemies to hide from their sight.
** Either MADMagazine or early CrackedMagazine (back when it was basically a rival to MAD) had a series of features with the name depicting people in a normal setting, while the shadows cast on the wall depict what they (or at least one or more of the people shown) ''really'' want to do in that situation, such as beating the crap out of their domineering boss.
** There was also a old MADMagazine (this troper inherited them from his father) that depicted various B-list superheroes who were parodies of existing ones, one of whom was a Shadow-parody whose only ability was to cloud ''his own'' mind.
* In ''TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', Midna can be seen still on Wolf!Link's back in his shadow, even when she's not there.
** Also in ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link To The Past]]'', when Link uses the InvisibilityCloak, his shadow is still visible.
* The Villain Molecu-Lar in ''{{Silverhawks}}'' could take any form, but was often given away because his shadow was always of his true form.
* According to JorgeLuisBorges' ''Book of Imaginary Beings'', the Peryton is a mythological monster said to come from ''{{Atlantis}}'', that resembles a [[BiologicalMashup stag with the wings and hindparts of an eagle]], but casts the shadow of a man.
* In ''I Capture the Castle'', when the family first meets Simon, Cassandra notes that from the angle where she stands, his shadow looks like a devil. She references this incident later when she has misgivings about him.
* In DavidEddings' ''Sparhawk'' series (specifically, The Tamuli), the Delphae -- AKA The Shining Ones -- are capable of using their mastery of light to make themselves perfectly invisible. It's only one of several invisibility-techniques in that world (others involve messing with minds and messing with time), and like all of them, it has a drawback -- their shadows are still visible, and can be spotted. It never actually comes up anywhere outside of an initial warning, though. Despite the Delphaic companion of the main cast doing lots of invisible scouting, nobody ever notices her shadow. Ah well.
* [[JRRTolkien The One Ring]] makes its wearer invisible, but in bright light their shadow can still be seen. That's how the goblins almost recapture Bilbo in ''TheHobbit''.

* ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the episode "Identity Crisis", a shadow in a video recording from a mission reveals that there was an invisible character in the shot.
* There's a play (I think- it could have been a movie or TV show), whose name I can't remember, where a soldier receives a beautiful photograph of his wife and child smiling and waving to him. all he can focus on is the shadow of the photographer on the ground, wondering who he is.

* In ''[[DevilMayCry Devil May Cry 1]]'' and ''[[DevilMayCry 3]]'', you can unlock an alternate costume of Sparda, the main character's demon father. While he looks like an ordinary (if, very, [[WhiteHairedPrettyBoy very pretty]]) human, the shadow he casts is of his [[SuperMode demon form.]]
* In ''[[ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne]]'', the boss Ongyo-ki performs a DoppelgangerSpin, creating three shadow clones, and hits you hard whenever you attack one of them. How do you beat him? If you fight him during a full moon, only the real one casts a shadow.

* In the DoctorWho two-part story beginning with ''Silence In The Library'', the Vashta Nerada are flesh-eating insect swarms that resemble [[LivingShadow shadows]], and use this fact for camouflage. As such, anyone they're stalking appears to have an extra shadow that lacks a light source.

* In ''[[DevilMayCry Devil May Cry 3]]'', you can unlock an alternate costume of Sparda, the main character's demon father. While he looks like an ordinary (if, very, [[WhiteHairedPrettyBoy very pretty]]) human, the shadow he casts is of his [[SuperMode demon form.]]