History Main / ResidualSelfImage

* In ''[[Franchise/StarTrek The Wounded Sky]]'' by Creator/DianeDuane, every time the Enterprise uses the experimental drive, the crew members experience a reality based on how they perceive themselves. While Kirk's self-perception is never actually described, [=McCoy=] provides a solid clue when he asks "[[KnightInShiningArmor Is that armor getting heavy, Jim?]]"

* On an episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Cordelia has an out-of-body experience; Skip the demon remarks that her astral appearance works like this.

* The trope image displays SCORPIO, an advanced droid though she ''[[BerserkButton loathes]]'' being labelled such, in ''Videgame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' appearing in human form via holographic technology. It's a point of interest that she chooses to look like this freed from the confines of her physical body, whether or not this is a default display, a disguise she merely favours or that it hints at a [[PinocchioSyndrome deeper longing]] to be [[BecomeARealBoy more than a machine]] is still up for debate.

* In ''Literature/JohannesCabalAndTheFearInstitue'' Cabal and the three FI members journey to the Dreamlands and find their apprances changed to reflect their inner dreams-one looks like a swashbuckler, another a merchant, and the last a magistrate. Cabal himself doesn't change at all (though his gun turns into a sword because guns aren't poetic enough for the Dreamlands) because as one of them puts it "he's already what he wants to be."

* MarionZimmerBradley's ''{{Darkover}}'' uses this trope in "the Overworld", the spiritual[=/=]mental plane that some ''laran'' users (especially healers and monitors in the Towers) operate on. A person's appearance in the Overworld seems to be determined entirely by their self-image. In one memorable case, the Overworld form is a huge crab-like being.

* Non- VirtualWorld example: This is precisely how magical healing in TheCosmere works: You are rebuilt back to your "cognitive ideal." This can be beneficial (e.g. you've never accepted or internalized a lost limb, so it starts to grow back as soon as you get some {{Mana}}) or harmful (e.g. your SlaveBrand doesn't heal because you've internalized the baggage that comes with it, and alterations heal away because they're not part of the template).

* In ''DigimonAdventure02'', this was the HandWave for why the [=DigiDestined=] always had the same outfits in the Digital World regardless of what they were wearing beforehand, and why those outfits were completely different from anything they owned in reality.

* In ''[[Franchise/StarTrek The Wounded Sky]]'' by Creator/DianeDuane, every time the Enterprise uses the experimental drive, the crew members experience a reality based on how they perceive themselves. While Kirk's self-perception is never actually described, [=McCoy=] provides a solid clue when he asks "Is that armor getting heavy, Jim?"

* In ''[[Franchise/StarTrek The Wounded Sky]]'' by DianeDuane, every time the Enterprise uses the experimental drive, the crew members experience a reality based on how they perceive themselves. While Kirk's self-perception is never actually described, [=McCoy=] provides a solid clue when he asks "Is that armor getting heavy, Jim?"

ResidualSelfImage is what you get when a Virtual Reality, SpiritWorld, or other alternate plane of existence designs the appearance of avatars in its domain off of personality and how people think of themselves, rather than real-world appearance.

* On an episode of {{Angel}}, Cordelia has an out-of-body experience; Skip the demon remarks that her astral appearance works like this.

-->"Skip": "You're a remarkably self-confident individual, you know that?"

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Roy discovers that everyone in the afterlife "good" plane looks like their ResidualSelfImage. His father looks the same as he did when he died, an old man, because he always was a GrumpyOldMan, even when he was young. His mother, however, looks young and hot.

* ''TheMatrix'': TropeNamer. A person's avatar within the Matrix is generated by a combination of will and programming parameters established by the Matrix. This appearance can be markedly different from the "outer" self.

* In the third season of AvatarTheLastAirbender, Aang visits Avatar Roku in the spirit realm. While there, Aang has his traditional shaved head and Air Nomad robes, rather than the short hair and Fire Nation disguise he is currently wearing.

In fiction, a world seen through residual self-images will often have BeautyEqualsGoodness in effect, or else the absolute inverse. (Self-hatred might skew things a little.) Gender and (sometimes) species may be different in that VR than in the real world. Odds are, there will be a set of PersonalAppearanceTropes the VR is using to translate personality into looks...

[[folder:WebComics]]
* In ''Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick'', Roy discovers that everyone in the afterlife "good" plane looks like their ResidualSelfImage. His father looks the same as he did when he died, an old man, because he always was a GrumpyOldMan, even when he was young. His mother, however, looks young and hot.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* In ''[[StarTrek The Wounded Sky]]'' by DianeDuane, every time the Enterprise uses the experimental drive, the crew members experience a reality based on how they perceive themselves. While Kirk's self-perception is never actually described, [=McCoy=] provides a solid clue when he asks "Is that armor getting heavy, Jim?"

* In ''The Wounded Sky'' by DianeDuane, every time the Enterprise uses the experimental drive, the crew members experience a reality based on how they perceive themselves. While Kirk's self-perception is never actually described, [=McCoy=] provides a solid clue when he asks "Is that armor getting heavy, Jim?"

* ''TheMatrix'': A person's avatar within the Matrix is generated by a combination of will and programming parameters established by the Matrix. This appearance can be markedly different from the "outer" self.

* {{Marion Zimmer Bradley}}'s ''{{Darkover}}'' uses this trope in "the Overworld", the spiritual[=/=]mental plane that some ''laran'' users (especially healers and monitors in the Towers) operate on. A person's appearance in the Overworld seems to be determined entirely by their self-image. In one memorable case, the Overworld form is a huge crab-like being.

[[/folder]]

* In ''TheOrderOfTheStick'', Roy discovers that everyone in the afterlife "good" plane looks like their ResidualSelfImage. His father looks the same as he did when he died, an old man, because he always was a GrumpyOldMan, even when he was young. His mother, however, looks young and hot.

In fiction, a world seen through residual self-images will often have BeautyEqualsGoodness in effect, or else the absolute inverse. (Self-hatred might skew things a little.) Gender and (sometimes) species may be different in that VR than in the real world. Odds are, there will be a set of AppearanceTropes the VR is using to translate personality into looks...