History Main / InvisibilityWithDrawbacks

** The ''invisibility'' spell has retained the same drawbacks in most rules editions, which were specifically designed with warriors, rogues, and [[GlassCannon evocation spellcasters]] in mind. The standard ''invisibility'' spell ends immediately if the affected party makes an attack or casts a spell. More advanced versions of the spell, such as ''greater invisibility'', remove this limitation.

* Although it isn't explicitly stated, observation of the Chozo Ghosts in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' makes it clear that they have to become visible to throw those projectiles.
** And all invisibility is simply shifted visibility. No enemy is invisible to all the visors, after all. Said Ghosts are always visible to the X-Ray Visor; the Cloaked Drone is ''only'' visible to the Thermal Visor; the second form of the Metroid Prime itself is only visible to one Visor at any given time, but which one that is changes... Once you have all the visors, you'll need to switch them from time to time, but that's it for enemies being able to hide completely.

** Touching enemies and taking damage will make you visible for a short time and make you flash your team color. Being set on fire or soaked with jarate or mad milk effectively neutralizes it for a while.

* The One Ring from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' grants extremely good invisibility, even so far as to make dust and mud and carried objects invisible too. However, [[SealedEvilInACan it also eats away at your soul.]]

See also SeeTheInvisible. SisterTrope to TeleportationWithDrawbacks, by being another good power for stealth, usually with drawbacks.

The most common drawback is that the invisibility stops working when the character attacks, or attacking is otherwise prevented. It can also be very short-lived, or only work when the character is standing still. Can become a [[UselessSuperpowers Useless Superpower]] if said invisibility only works if say, it's pitch black or only when no one is looking. Another common drawback is losing invisibility when doused in water (most common with sci-fi invisibility). Sometimes dust or other substances can stick to the invisible character and give away their location.

See also SeeTheInvisible.

* Nao from ''{{Anime/Charlotte}}'' can only be invisible to one person at a time.

* ''{{Anime/Charlotte}}'': Nao Tomori’s ability, but she is limited to becoming invisible to one person of her choice at a time.

** Templar Assassin's ''Meld'' requires her to stand completely still to maintain its invisibility, making it poor for escaping from enemies with half a brain on its own and only being good for setting up ambushes if you can predict the enemy's movements well. However, breaking invisibility with an attack [[BackStab grants that attack bonus damage]] and an [[DamageIncreasingDebuff armor-reducing effect]], letting her briefly turn invisible in the middle of combat to backstab enemies in the face. The Shadow Amulet's invisibility has the same drawbacks without any of the benefits and takes a few seconds to kick in to boot, but at least it can be used to [[ItemCrafting build items that don't have the "stand still" restriction]] on their invisibility.

The most common drawback is that the invisibility stops working when the character attacks, or attacking is otherwise prevented. It can also be very short-lived, or only work when the character is standing still. Can become a [[UselessSuperpowers UselessSuperpower]] if said invisibility only works if say, it's pitch black or only when no one is looking. Another common drawback is losing invisibility when doused in water (most common with sci-fi invisibility). Sometimes dust or other substances can stick to the invisible character and give away their location.

The most common drawback is that the invisibility stops working when the character attacks, or attacking is otherwise prevented. It can also be very short-lived, or only work when the character is standing still. Can become a {{Useless Superpower}} if said invisibility only works if say, it's pitch black or only when no one is looking. Another common drawback is losing invisibility when doused in water (most common with sci-fi invisibility). Sometimes dust or other substances can stick to the invisible character and give away their location.

The most common drawback is that the invisibility stops working when the character attacks, or attacking is otherwise prevented. It can also be very short-lived, or only work when the character is standing still. Can become a UselessSuperpower if said invisibility only works if say, it's pitch black or only when no one is looking. Another common drawback is losing invisibility when doused in water (most common with sci-fi invisibility). Sometimes dust or other substances can stick to the invisible character and give away their location.

The most common drawback is that the invisibility stops working when the character attacks, or attacking is otherwise prevented. It can also be very short-lived, or only work when the character is standing still. Another common drawback is losing invisibility when doused in water (most common with sci-fi invisibility). Sometimes dust or other substances can stick to the invisible character and give away their location.

It's very common for the power of invisibility to have some inherent drawbacks that limit it to only being situationally useful. This is an incredibly universal trope across both fantasy and science fiction genres. It's most common in videogames and tabletop games but frequently appears in other media. Invisibility needs to be balanced or it will become a GameBreaker. Also, writers don't want an invisible assassin to start going around and murdering main characters. If a monster or villain is invisible, this can often take the form of a plot point that the hero can exploit as a weakness.

* In the Literature/CaptainFuture {{reconstruction}} novel ''Avengers of the Moon'', our hero uses a man-portable version of his spaceship's fantome generator to infiltrate the moon habitat of a high-ranking politician. RealityEnsues as he has to consider such problems as power supply (only ten minutes using his batteries), being able to navigate when you can't see, and how to hide his footprints. The solution they come up with is for Captain Future to walk in behind, and [[HandyHelper holding onto]], his RobotBuddy Grag, who pretends to be a [[ObfuscatingStupidity simple maintenance robot]]. Later Captain Future uses the fantome generator in a shootout by switching it on, moving his position and aiming his weapon at where he can hear the enemy is (sound can still travel through the field) then turning it off again, giving himself a momentary advantage over his opponents.

It's very common for the power of invisibility to have some inherent drawbacks that limit it to only being situationally useful. This is an incredibly universal trope across both fantasy and science fiction genres. It's most common in videogames and tabletop games, but frequently appears in other media. Invisibility needs to be balanced or it will become a GameBreaker. Also, writers don't want an invisible assassin to start going around and murdering main characters. If a monster or villain is invisible, this can often take the form of a plot point which the hero can exploit as a weakness.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''Literature/TheGanymedeTakeover''. A soldier of LaResistance uses an [[RealityWarper illusion machine]] to turn himself invisible. Unfortunately on turning it off again he insists that ICantSeeMyself, even though everyone else can see him. It's a result of the [[SideEffectsInclude psychological effects of the illusion machines]], which send the users crazy.

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' the invisibility status effect makes the target able to dodge all physical attacks, but also makes them 100% susceptible to magic. This led to a bug [[OneHitKill that let you one-shot bosses]] [[UselessUsefulSpell with normally unreliable insta-kill spells]].

** In ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved''[='s=] campaign, you had to rely on melee attacks in order to remain unseen if you were cloaked, since enemies would see you if you fired your gun. In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}''[='s=] campaign, doing an attack of any kind would drop your cloak. Additionally, ''CE''[='s=] and ''2''[='s=] active camouflage was incapable of hiding [[LaserBlade Covenant energy swords]], which would continue to glow brightly.
** In ''Reach'' and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', a player with active camo would cause the radar of nearby enemy players to go haywire; this was a double-edged sword, since it allowed people to know when there was an cloaked enemy nearby. Additionally, ''Reach''[='s=] and ''4''[='s=] active camo would muffle their user's audio, reducing their situational awareness.

*** As well, the Federation Cruiser Refit (that's the ''Constitution''-refit) has a Console which allows photon torpedoes to home in on cloaked units.

[[folder: Real Life ]]
* The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft was practically undetectable to Cold War era radar. Even with heavy upgrades and software modernization, which allowed limited detection but not active tracking of the F-117, anti-aircraft radar couldn't "lock on" to the plane until it opened its weapon bay doors to attack, which reduced its electronic invisibility enough to make them vulnerable. The plane could not attack and be stealthy simultaneously. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_F-117A_shootdown This is how the Yugoslav shot them down]], and the fatal flaw convinced the [=USAF=] to retire its entire fleet of them to redistribute funds for the far superior B-2 and F-22. [[note]]Opening the weapon bay doors of newer stealth aircraft still causes them to be more vulnerable, but not enough to be detectable before destroying whatever can detect them.[[/note]]

It's very common for the power of {{invisibility}} in video games and other media to have some inherent drawbacks that limit it to only being situationally useful.

The most common drawback is that the invisibility stops working when the character attacks or prevents attacking while active. The most limited form even only works when the character is standing still. This is often introduced by game designers to [[InvisibleMeansUndodgeable prevent it from becoming]] a GameBreaker and keep invisibility balanced with other options. In other media it's often used as a plot point which the hero can exploit.