History Main / AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder

* Yvonnel in ''[[Literature/HomecomingDrizzt Homecoming]]'' has several artists of Mezoberranzan draw her portrait, telling them that they should only draw exactly what they see. She ends up with a hall full of very different paintings (some even with MulticoloredHair), because she appears to everyone as their ideal of beauty.

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* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion, seen in the page image. She is a being made out of memories siphoned off from Sora, and her appearance is different to many people when they look at her. Who they see is mainly dependent on the individual's relationship to her or to those connected to Sora. Roxas, Axel, Riku, Naminé, and a few others see her as a black-haired girl with Kairi's face - this is the appearance Xion also sees herself as. Axel writes a report that indicates he may have initially seen her as Naminé, although it's unclear if he was merely commenting on their resemblance; Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku and Naminé occasionally would see Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied Riku sees her, very briefly, as Sora when he finds her at the Destiny Islands. Towards the end of the story, Xion's appearance becomes very unstable and starts to oscillate between looking one particular way, to looking like Sora to everyone, even to those who would see her as someone else.]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xion_full_8.png]] ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' has Calendar Girl, who hides her face out of disgust of being disfigured, wearing a mask. However, when the mask is revealed, she's still has model looks -- despite this, she breaks down crying at how hideous she is.

* The ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA'' story dealing with the aftermath of ''Day of Judgment'' sees Comicbook/TheSpectre having this applying to Hal Jordan when he took over as its host, making it hard to convince the Justice League that he was who he said he was.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion, seen in the page image. She is a being made out of memories siphoned off from Sora, and her appearance is different to many people when they look at her. Who they see is mainly dependent on the individual's relationship to her or to those connected to Sora. Roxas, Axel, Riku, Naminé, and a few others see her as a black-haired girl with Kairi's face - this is the appearance Xion also sees herself as. Axel writes a report that indicates he may have initially seen her as Naminé, although it's unclear if he was merely commenting on their resemblance; Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku and Naminé occassionally would see Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied Riku sees her, very briefly, as Sora when he finds her at the Destiny Islands. Towards the end of the story, Xion's appearance becomes very unstable and starts to oscillate between looking one particularly way, to looking like Sora to everyone, even to those who would see her as someone else.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. She is a being made out of memories siphoned off from Sora, and her appearance is different to many people when they look at her. Who they see is mainly dependent on the individual's relationship to her or to those connected to Sora. Roxas, Axel, Riku, Naminé, and a few others see her as a black-haired girl with Kairi's face - this is the appearance Xion also sees herself as. Axel writes a report that indicates he may have initially seen her as Naminé, although it's unclear if he was merely commenting on their resemblance; Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku and Naminé occassionally would see Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied Riku sees her, very briefly, as Sora when he finds her at the Destiny Islands. Towards the end of the story, Xion's appearance becomes very unstable and starts to oscillate between looking one particularly way, to looking like Sora to everyone, even to those who would see her as someone else.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. She is a being made out of memories siphoned off from Sora, and her appearance is different to many people when they look at her. Who they see is mainly dependent on the individual's relationship to her or to those connected to Sora. Roxas, Axel, Riku, Naminé, and a few others see her as black-haired girl with Kairi's face - this is the appearance Xion also sees herself as. Axel writes a report that indicates he may have initially seen her as Naminé, although it's unclear if he was merely commenting on their resemblance; Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku and Naminé occassionally would see Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied Riku sees her, very briefly, as Sora when he finds her at the Destiny Islands. Towards the end of the story, Xion's appearance becomes very unstable and starts to oscillate between looking one particularly way, to looking like Sora to everyone, even to those who would see her as someone else.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. She is a being made out of memories siphoned off from Sora, and her appearance is different to many people when they look at her. Who they see is mainly dependent on the individual's relationship to her or to those connected to Sora. Roxas, Axel, Riku, Naminé, and a few others see her as a girl with a face very similar to Kairi's, alongside black hair - this is the appearance Xion also sees herself as. Axel writes in a report that indicates he may have initially seen her as Naminé, although it's unclear if he was merely commenting on her resemblance; Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku and Naminé occassionally would see Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied Riku sees her, very briefly, as Sora when he finds her at the Destiny Islands. Towards the end of the story, Xion's appearance becomes very unstable and starts to oscillate between looking one particularly way, to looking like Sora to everyone, even to those who would see her as someone else.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. She is a being made out of memories siphoned off from Sora, and her appearance is different to many people when they look at her. Who they see is mainly dependent on the individual's relationship to her or to those connected to Sora. Roxas, Axel, Riku, Naminé, and a few others see her as a girl with a face very similar to Kairi's, alongside black hair - this is the appearance Xion also sees herself as. Axel writes in a report that indicates he may have initially seen her as Namin&eacute, although it's unclear if he was merely commenting on her resemblance; Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku and Naminé occassionally would see Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied Riku sees her, very briefly, as Sora when he finds her at the Destiny Islands. Towards the end of the story, Xion's appearance becomes very unstable and starts to oscillate between looking one particularly way, to looking like Sora to everyone, even to those who would see her as someone else.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. She is a being made out of memories siphoned off from Sora, and her appearance is different to many people when they look at her. Who they see is mainly dependent on the individual's relationship to her or to those connected to Sora. Roxas, Axel, Riku, Naminé, and a few others see her as a girl with a face very similar to Kairi's, alongside black hair - this is the appearance Xion also sees herself as. It is possible that Axel may have initially seen her as Namin&eacute, although it's unclear if this was the case; Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku and Naminé occassionally would see Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied Riku sees her, very briefly, as Sora when he finds her at the Destiny Islands. Towards the end of the story, Xion's appearance becomes very unstable and starts to oscillate between looking one particularly way, to looking like Sora to everyone, even to those who would see her as someone else.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. Her appearance depends on who sees her. Roxas, Axel, Riku, and a few others see her as a girl with a face very similiar to Kairi's, alongside black hair. Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku sees Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied he sees her, very briefly, as [[HoYay/KingdomHearts Sora]] when he finds her at the Destiny Islands:]]
--> [[spoiler:"Feeling uneasy, Riku lifted his blindfold just a bit to look at her. And just for an instant… she looked like someone else. Not Kairi or Naminé— but ''him''."]]

* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' and its sequel series ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' Aphrodite's appearance is not only different for each person who sees her, but her appearance will change while they are looking at her to better reflect the individual's idea of ideal beauty. [[ShipTease When Percy sees her, he thinks she looks like Annabeth.]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{Marville}}'' -- just as the comic takes [[GoingCosmic a very odd turn for the philosophical]] -- Al and Mickey use their TimeMachine to find out the meaning of life at the very beginning of time, where they encounter "a man who may or may not be {{God}}". At first, Mickey sees [[GrandpaGod a traditional bearded old man in white robes]], while Al sees him as ''a superhero'' (Al claims he's a dead-ringer to {{Franchise/Superman}}, [[LawyerFriendlyCameo though his colors are different]] and [[BroughtToYouByTheLetterS he has a letter J as his logo]]). After the two squabble about the "true" appearance of God, he suddenly turns into a shared appearance of [[DivineRaceLift an unassuming black man]], [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith insisting that the two simply call him "Jack"]] as he begins his revelations.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. Her appearance depends on who sees her. Roxas, Axel, Riku, and a few others see her as a girl with a face very similiar to Kairi's, alongside black hair. Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku sees Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied he sees her, very briefly, as Sora when he finds her at the Destiny Islands:]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. Her appearance depends on who sees her. Roxas, Axel, Riku, and a few others see her as a girl with a face very similiar to Kairi's, alongside black hair. Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku sees Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied he sees her, very briefly, as Sora when he finds her at the Destiny Islands.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. Her appearance depends on who sees her. Roxas, Axel, Riku, and a few others see her as a girl with a face very similiar to Kairi's, alongside black hair. Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku sees Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied he sees her very briefly as Sora when he finds her at the Destiny Islands.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. Her appearance depends on who sees her. Roxas, Axel, Riku, and a few others see her as a girl with a face very similiar to Kairi's, alongside black hair. Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her. In the manga adaption of ''Days'' Riku sees Xion as Kairi, while in the novel adaption it's implied he sees her very briefly as Sora on the Destiny Islands.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. Her appearance depends on who sees her. Roxas, Axel, Riku, and a few others see her as a girl with a face very similiar to Kairi's, alongside black hair. Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', this is TheReveal for [[spoiler:Xion. Her appearance depends on who sees her. Roxas, Axel, Riku, and a few others see her as Kairi with black hair. Xigbar sees her as Ventus. Xemnas sees her as Sora. Saix sees her as a faceless puppet, which is part of the reason why he calls her [[ItIsDehumanizing "it"]] and can't understand why Axel cares about her.]]

* The ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA'' story dealing with the aftermath of ''ComicBook/DayOfJudgment'' sees Comicbook/TheSpectre having this applying to Hal Jordan when he took over as its host, making it hard to convince the Justice League that he was who he said he was.

* The ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA'' story dealing with the aftermath of ''ComicBook/DayOfVengeance'' sees Comicbook/TheSpectre having this applying to Hal Jordan when he took over as its host, making it hard to convince the Justice League that he was who he said he was.

* One Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica story featuring Hal Jordan as Comicbook/TheSpectre had this applying to Hal, making it hard to convince the Justice League that he was who he said he was.

* Comicbook/ManThing in ''Comicbook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' has the "Ear of the Beholder" version: when he's SuddenlySpeaking, everyone hears the accent, sentence structure, and terminology they associate with authority, whether that means a wise master or a crime boss. This is because he's actually speaking the Universal Language.

* ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness:''

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'': Nue Houjuu's ability is to conceal the true nature of objects, including herself. With the object's identity obscured, it will appear as different things to different people as their minds try to fill in the blanks to explain what they're seeing.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': Implied to be the case with the Asari. For some reason, every sentient race sees them as looking like blue members of their own species, with bipedal features for those with 4 legs or those without. The effect has yet to be properly explored in universe as even the theories which scientists propose do not explain why the effect carries over to film, security cameras, and other methods of recording images.

[[folder:Web Comics]]