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[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batb_mirror.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Turns out getting turned into a monster causes many broken mirrors.]]

Mirrors are traditionally seen as symbols of [[SevenDeadlySins Vanity]] since the beautiful and narcissistic (or just [[MilesGloriosus plain]] {{narcissist}}ic) constantly stare at their reflection and adjust their hair, clothes, and makeup. A broken mirror isn't a simple [[{{Antonyms}} reversal]] however, a symbol of ugliness and [[GoodSamaritan selflessness]]...but of ugliness and '''''insanity'''''. The mirror casts a jumbled and distorted reflection, with missing pieces and dozens of small, fractured copies (and probably a little blood on it) and is oddly ''silenced''. It can't reflect back a true image, and anyone normal looking at their reflection will feel a little diminished doing so.

So what does it say about a person when all the mirrors in their home are broken, and all the pictures have their face clawed or blacked or cut out? Quite simply, they are not well.

Generally, whoever goes to the trouble of [[RageAgainstTheReflection smashing all the mirrors in their home]] and removing or defacing all their likenesses has had some [[MirrorReveal disfiguring accident]] or [[TomatoInTheMirror ego-destroying]] revelation. The destruction is a kind of "defense" against being reminded how "ugly" they've become, or how far they've fallen. Typical examples include: BeautyToBeast, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] [[GlamourFailure without reflections,]] and victims of a ForcedTransformation. Where this can be especially terrifying is if the resident is normal, or even ''beautiful'' save for one ''[[MinorInjuryOverreaction tiny]]'' scar or flaw, and just thinks they're ugly due to [[FreudianExcuse decades of emotional abuse]].

Friends or loved ones may have to use {{Cooldown Hug}}s, and other methods to get the resident to accept IAmWhatIAm and move on, though that's no guarantee. Compare DramaPanes.

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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'': The first thing the party sees upon entering [[spoiler:the Mad Sorcerer's house]] is a hallway with walls covered in all sorts of different mirrors, all of them broken. It seems to symbolize how [[spoiler:the Mad Sorcerer's identity has been pared away by his patron, the [[SealedEvilInACan Winged Lion]], to make him a more [[EmotionEater filling meal]]. When another character replaces him, all the mirrors are renewed in a small-scale WorldHealingWave.]]
* In ''Manga/GunsmithCats'', one of the villains loses his right hand to Rally. He goes around his place hacking off the right hands of pictures and suits of armor.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In at least one appearance, ComicBook/DoctorDoom looks at his marred face in a gilt-framed mirror only to smash it. He then muses that once the world is his, he might decree to have all mirrors destroyed.
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[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In the opening montage of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' the Beast shreds a portrait of his former prince self with his claws. Broken mirrors abound inside the castle, especially in the west wing.
* From a short in the French animation anthology ''WesternAnimation/FearsOfTheDark'', there's a house where all the photos from more recent years have their heads cut out. But there is a mirror.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheNightFlier'': The vampire in the film habitually smashes every mirror he comes near.
* Erik, at the end of ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004'', smashes all the mirrors in his lair. Overlaps with ExitVillainStageLeft.
* Happened in ''Film/PunisherWarZone'', Jigsaw, a villain whose face wound up looking like patchwork of skin, can't bear to look at himself in the reflection anymore because he used to be a babyface. His brother, [[AxCrazy Loony Bin Jim]] took it upon him to smash every mirror they come across.
* In the movie ''Film/TheSkeletonKey'', all the mirrors in the house are covered up. The reason for this is that [[spoiler:the mirrors reveal the true form of the owner of the house, who is really a voodoo priestess possessing the owner's body. It also causes the old man to be even more stressed since the mirrors remind him of the body he is trapped in.]]
* ''Music/TheWall'': Pink smashes all the mirrors when he [[TrashTheSet trashes his hotel room.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In the InteractiveFiction game ''VideoGame/{{Bronze}}'' by Emily Short, a retelling of ''Beauty and The Beast'', the heroine has moved all the mirrors in the Beast's castle into her room, at first to keep the beast away, and then, later, when she comes to know him, says that she'll keep them there because she knows the beast doesn't like seeing them around the castle.
* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath''. James thinks that [[RoyalBrat Lady Kallystine]] is TantrumThrowing when she hears her smashing all her mirrors, but it later turns out she's the victim of a MagicMisfire that made her ugly (plus she's also throwing a tantrum).
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Granny Weatherwax in ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'' has a sort-of subversion of this--she goes around destroying or hiding every mirror she comes across, however, this is because [[spoiler:her sister is watching them through the mirrors.]]
** When she breaks [[spoiler:Lily's own mirrors]], however, this is played straighter as [[spoiler:the jagged, fractured reflections symbolise ''Lily's'' insanity.]]
** ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' compares [[PsychopathicManchild Mr. Teatime]]'s mind to a fractured mirror -- "all marvelous facets and rainbows, but, ultimately, also something that was [[TheSociopath broken]]."
* ''Eveless Eden'' by Marianne Wiggins. The [[LoveTriangle love rival]] of the protagonist, a Romanian diplomat and spy, has a habit of removing all the mirrors in whatever room he's staying in (given his country of origin, this leads to the ObligatoryJoke about {{Dracula}}). He eventually bleeds to death after he smashes the mirror in a safehouse and cuts himself on the shards.
* ''Literature/TheMalloreon'': One sign that the Dark Prophecy is possessing Zandramas is sparkling lights moving within her skin. When those lights reach her face, she promptly smashes every mirror in her quarters.
* In the novel ''Literature/{{Peeps}}'' by Creator/ScottWesterfeld, the Peeps in question will do then when they first get the virus.
* ''Literature/RedDragon:'' The fact that all the mirrors in the victim's house were smashed up leads the investigators to think the killer might be disfigured.
** The killer's own home has the mirrors smashed, except for a large one he keeps in his weight room which he doesn't break the mirror because he gets off on seeing himself pumped up (he wears a mask so he doesn't see his face).
* A slight variant shows up in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', where Shalash, one of the Ten Heralds (humans revered somewhere between saints and gods by the Vorin church and believed to have AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence millennia ago, but actually still around incognito) goes around destroying every representation of herself that she can find. Statues, paintings, murals... it's started to make the other Heralds ''very'' worried. in ''Oathbringer'' we have a scene from her point of view that indicates she does this because [[StopWorshippingMe she doesn't want people to worship her as a divine being.]]
* In Alexey Pehov's pentalogy ''Literature/WindAndSparks'' the trope is played straight. Alenari rei Vallion, a beautiful noble sorceress, received disfiguring scars during a mages' rebellion. (For which she was nicknamed "Pox".) The only capable healer refused to help her. Alenari had a mask crafted from some precious alloy. She breaks every mirror that reflects her new face, earning her the title "Executioner of Mirrors". Her hatred is so strong, that [[spoiler:she would rather break mirrors than save her life]]. On a related note: she is rumored to kill every beautiful woman she meets, which is probably untrue.
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[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Interesting variation in ''Series/The10thKingdom'': the mirror in question was not smashed by the person looking into it, or in order to keep from seeing something terrible (it was a simple accident), and because of this it is [[MagicMirror no longer magical]]. However, considering the point this happens in the narrative (the smashing of the mirror itself keeps the characters from [[PortalNetwork getting back to our world]], their princely companion is [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody losing his mind in the dog body]] [[FreakyFridayFlip he's been trapped in]], and Virginia just learned (she thinks) that Wolf didn't love her and so she has left him), having the heroine see her shattered reflection in the pieces they've managed to gather is still extremely symbolic.
* In ''Series/{{Angel}}'', the vampire who sired the eponymous hero, Darla, is resurrected from hell ''and'' turned into a human to boot, complete with a human soul. Not a recipe for sanity -- especially given her rap sheet. When Lindsey turns up at her safe house, he finds that all of the mirrors have been smashed. When Cordelia sees this, she confusedly points out that Angel didn't start smashing mirrors when he got his soul back. Angel points out that he doesn't have to look at himself in them.
* ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'': In "The Tale of the Mystical Mirror", a girl visiting the house of her new employer (who owns a beauty salon) notes that there are no mirrors in the house, even in the bathroom. Turns out it was to avoid GlamourFailure.
** She remarked on it, noting that the woman was vain enough to have photos of her winning beauty contests (including ones that are suspiciously too old) should have mirrors all over the place.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The Music/BlueOysterCult LP ''Mirrors'' and its title track are all about this trope.
-->A mirror, is a negative space with a frame,\\
And a place for your face,\\
It reveals, what the rest of us see,\\
It conceals, what you'd like it to be
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': The Lunar Exalted Ma-Ha-Suchi. He used to be a dashing, urbane {{bishounen}} who everyone desired (and not just the women), but centuries of hiding in the [[RealityIsOutToLunch Wyld]] have warped him into a goat-man monstrosity. So now he set out to destroy anything resembling civilization, saying that they breed weakness. But of course the elder Lunars know his real reason. He also has a literal house for this, the Nameless Lair. Once the Salon Provocative, a wonderful temple devoted to the finest beauties of the First Age, Ma-Ha-Suchi destroyed most of the artwork inside once he got back from the Wyld, and only kept around a few things either because they were useful or they were enchanted not to break.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'': No, the mirror in Adam Jensen's apartment hasn't been replaced yet. How did it get broken, anyways? Probably the same way it got broken the last few times...
* ''VideoGame/AHouseOfManyDoors'': There is an entire CITY dedicated to ''literally going to war with your own reflection''. You're not considered a true citizen until your mirror reflection is a walking corpse, so the whole city might be made of mirrors but most of them are shattered. The Fetch-Mirrors obtained from this city allow you to slow-teleport anywhere in the house in two weeks at the cost of shattering the mirror.
* In ''VideoGame/LittleNightmares'', all the mirrors in the Lady's Quarters are broken. [[spoiler:It's a hint that you need to use the one unbroken mirror, hidden away in a boarded-up room, to defeat her by shining light at her.]]
* In ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo15thAnniversary'', Dapper Bones mentions having thrown away every picture depicting himself when he was alive into the ocean. When Lemres considers recovering these photographs via magic, Dapper begs him not to.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* In ''WebAnimation/MurderDrones'', the [[EldritchAbomination Absolute Solver]] seems to absolutely ''loathe'' mirrors and those infected by it can't look into one without their powers activating to break it. [[note]](This is part of the series' use of modified VampireTropes, along with the infected drinking oil and overheating in sunlight.)[[/note]] As a result, Doll's apartment not only contains a mess of half-eaten drone body parts [[spoiler:and her dead parents]] but also a pile of broken mirrors high enough to allow Uzi to [[AirVentPassageway escape into the air vents]] by climbing it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/AliceAndTheNightmare'', Rougina's personal study has a broken mirror, in which [[spoiler:the villains, Jabberwocky, are reflected.]] She's connected to them closer than she should be.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Azula's descent into madness starts with her primping herself in her vanity mirror, which she breaks after a hallucination of her mother Ursa appears in it.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'': In the episode "Hats Off to Smurfs", Vanity turns his own house into this when he sees how disfigured his face becomes after he started wearing a magical yellow hat created by Gargamel.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', Terra's betrayal is accompanied by a bunch of broken mirrors in a carnival. This scene is revisited in "Things Change", the series finale, when [[spoiler:Beast Boy sees Slade, who claims that Terra chose to disassociate herself from him]].
[[/folder]]
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