History Main / ResidualSelfImage

* On an episode of ''Series/{{DoctorWho}}'' called The Doctor Falls, Bill

* On an episode of ''Series/{DoctorWho}'' called the "Doctor Falls"

* In ''Anime/MushokuTensei'', when Rudeus first meets Hitogami in his dreams, Rudeus perceives himself as the thirty-something Japanese man he was before he died, rather than as the boy he's been living as in the ten years since he reincarnated.

* In ''Anime/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.

* At the start of ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'', Matsuri is [[GenderBender transformed from male to female]], which also [[RapidHairGrowth lengthened]] and [[LightGirlDarkBoy bleached]] his hair. Despite this, his thoughts often show his original body besides his current one (even his hair in unchanged). A chapter appropriately titled "The Shape of the Spirit" shows this is more than a visual, as when Matsuri [[SoulFragment put some of his spiritual energy into Lu]] to exorcise an ayakashi from her, she sees his male form (for the first time, confusing her). Matsuri has remained quite literally a boy in a girl's body.

* At the start of ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'', Matsuri is [[GenderBender transformed from male to female]], which also [[RapidHairGrowth lengthened]] and [[LightGirlDarkBoy bleached]] his hair. Despite this, his thoughts often show his original body besides his current one. A chapter appropriately titled "The Shape of the Spirit" shows this is more than a visual, as when Matsuri [[SoulFragment put some of his spiritual energy into Lu]] to exorcise an ayakashi from her, she sees his male form (for the first time, confusing her). Matsuri has remained quite literally a boy in a girl's body.

Compare to HealthyInHeaven.

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...

** Roy discovers that everyone in the afterlife LawfulGood plane looks like an ideal version of themselves. His father looks the same as he did when he died, an old man, because he always was a GrumpyOldMan at heart, even when he was young. His mother, however, looks young and hot, because she never stopped thinking or herself as a 19-year-old looker.

[[caption-width-right:350:Perhaps SCORPIO [[PinocchioSyndrome has]] [[PinocchioSyndrome dreams]] to become [[BecomeARealBoy organic]].]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Roy discovers that everyone in the afterlife LawfulGood plane looks like an ideal version of themselves. His father looks the same as he did when he died, an old man, because he always was a GrumpyOldMan at heart, even when he was young. His mother, however, looks young and hot, because she never stopped thinking or herself as a 19-year-old looker.

* Non-SpiritWorld or VR 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).

* The trope image displays SCORPIO from ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic.'' She is a highly advanced droid that ''[[BerserkButton loathes]]'' being labelled as such. Several instances have her 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.

[[caption-width-right:350:Perhaps SCORPIO [[PinocchioSyndrome has]] [[HiddenDepths dreams]] to become [[BecomeARealBoy organic]].]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

--> '''Morpheus''': (''speaking to Neo in the Construct'') [...] Your clothes are different; the plugs in your arms and head are gone. Your hair has changed. Your appearance now is what we call 'residual self image'. It is the mental projection of your digital self.

* Non- SpiritWorld or VR 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).

[[folder:Live Action Television]]

[[folder: Videogame]]

* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' being part of ''The Matrix'' has this for all the rebels.
** Also ''VideoGame/EnterTheMatrix'' for every rebel, both examples are also an example of BeautyEqualsGoodness.

* 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 at heart, even when he was young. His mother, however, looks young and hot.

* In the third season of WesternAnimation/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 ''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.

* On an episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Cordelia has an out-of-body experience after her powers begin to take a toll on her body. Skip the demon, her guide, remarks that astral appearances works like this; he says that most people he meets project an idealized image of themselves, and is impressed that just looks like herself.
-->Skip: "You're a remarkably self-confident individual, you know that?"

* The trope image displays SCORPIO from ''Videgame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic.'' She is a highly advanced droid that ''[[BerserkButton loathes]]'' being labelled as such. Several instances have her 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.