Basic Trope: A reflective surface (most commonly a Mirror) reveals the Shapeshifter's true identity.
- Straight: Alice doesn't realize that Bob is a Trickster God until she notices that his reflection looks like a Satyr.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice doesn't realize that Bob is an Avatar of Nyarlathothep until she glimpses his reflection in a puddle of water and goes hopelessly insane.
- Alice's mirror reveals that Bob, Charlie, Diana and everyone else she knows are monsters and that she's the only normal human in the bunch.
- Downplayed:
- Alice notices that Bob's reflection has a pair of horns. Bob starts wearing a hat, which nets him a free pass in most day-to-day situations.
- Bob's reflection looks exactly like he does... until Alice notices that it's not reversed like everyone else's.
- Justified:
- Bob is a Vampire with a weakness to silver, which won't even deign to reflect him. However, his reflection appears normal on any non-silver surface.
- Bob is a Master of Illusion whose magic directly manipulates the perception centers within his victims' brains. However, as the effect is purely psychic and he is neither an actual Shapeshifter nor actually changing either sound reverberation or light refraction, he cannot affect anything that displays reality objectively. Mirrors, sound echoes, audio/video recordings and deep footprints are still reliable giveaways and Bob actively avoids leaving any of these.
- The mirror is enchanted to show the true nature of anything reflected in it.
- Inverted:
- Bob is a normal human, but his reflection always looks monstrous.
- Bob is a monster, but his reflection always looks human for some odd reason.
- The mirror reflects (and magnifies) Bob's worst qualities. For example, if he's a Jerkass, the mirror shows him as a Complete Monster.
- Alice has taken over Bob's body. She thinks of herself as Alice, and thus we see her that way on screen, but her reflection shows Bob because that's the physical body she's wearing.
- Subverted: Alice sees the true form of Bob, but remarks that it's obvious to anyone who knows Bob.
- Double Subverted: But then she notices that Bob not only looks older, but also hides a tail that she didn't know about before.
- Parodied: Shapeshifter Bob steps into a roomful of Funhouse Mirrors. Hilarity Ensues.
- Zig Zagged: Bob is non-human of some nasty race, polymorphed into human and forced to live in human society. Alice knows that her mirror causes Glamour Failure and tries it out on Bob, but the mirror shows him in human form. Later, she discovers the truth from a different source and decides that Bob isn't acting human anymore, but became one.
- Averted: Bob's actual appearance perfectly matches his reflection, or the mirror's reflection is always inaccurate.
- Enforced: The writers want to reveal Bob's true identity to the viewer and not to Alice. His demonic reflection is there for their sake and does not (presumably) appear so in-universe.
- Lampshaded: "People say I've got a nice face. I never knew how right they were until they invented the photograph."
- Invoked: Alice placed Bob under a curse, condemning him to be alone forever. How long can a friend/co-worker/business partner/neighbor/lover go without seeing his reflection or meeting someone else who has?
- Exploited: Alice is out to expose Bob to the world, so she makes sure to carry at least three mirrors with her at all times.
- Defied: Bob studies and labors long and hard until he can craft a spell to ensure that his reflections look perfectly fine.
- Discussed: "Funny how a guy as vain as Bob doesn't have a mirror in his bathroom or bedroom..."
- Conversed: "How did Dracula get away with it for so long? Wouldn't someone see a disembodied opera cape walking around in the mirror and start asking questions?"
- Deconstructed: Bob has a pathological (but entirely justified) aversion to mirrors. His would-be dupes become suspicious at his odd behavior and strange choice of meeting places, causing otherwise airtight gambits to fail spectacularly.
- Reconstructed: Alice, however, decides that Bob just has a strange phobia and kindly tells Bob that she'll do her best to avoid his triggers. Bob offers his deepest thanks and coyly asks if she's told anyone else...
- Played For Laughs: Bob's reflection has a life of its own and cheerfully reveals Bob's every thought.
- Played For Drama: Alice seeing Bob's true form is a massive Drama Bomb that triggers a Genre Shift for the remainder of the story.
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