I See Them Too - Television Tropes & Idioms

There's something going on that only you can see or hear. Maybe you have a Spirit Advisor; maybe there's some magic that only you're aware of. You (or the audience) may even start to question your sanity, but you've come to accept that nobody else is noticing this thing.

Then, someone else does. Naturally, you're incredibly surprised.

Compare You Can See Me?.

Examples:

Anime and Manga

In the Afro Samurai manga, a variation occurs— no one but Afro can see or hear Ninja Ninja, and in the anime series, he's simply imaginary or a hallucination. When someone comes along that evidently can see him, Ninja Ninja is the one that's surprised.
In Jojos Bizarre Adventure, many Stand users are relieved the first time they meet another one, since Stands are invisible and intangible to anyone but other users.
- Heck, this is the way Stands were introduced to the series, with main character Jotaro convinced that he is possessed by an evil spirit, until his grandfather Joseph is called in to explain things.
In Natsume Yuujinchou, three people say this to the main character, who has always been lonely because in his childhood, no one would believe him when he says he can see youkai, though only one of then can actually see; the other two can feel their presence and see them under certain circumstances.
- There's a heartwrenching flashback to Natsume's childhood where he is befriended by an older girl who claims to be able to see them too. For the first time in his life, he's not alone. Turns out she's a youkai herself, and just took human form so she could get near him.
Ga Rei's main character is plaqued by spirits. When he meets a girl who is able to see them as well, she promptly recruits him for the government.

Comic Books

Frank Miller's Ronin had a variant when a samurai and his lord are by some Buddha statues, having a conversation. Suddenly, the statues suddenly join in on the conversation and the Samurai yelps that the statues are talking. At that, the Lord notes he's glad his retainer heard them too since he didn't want to think he was going senile. As it turns out, the voices were coming from Mooks who wanted to spook their targets before they ambushed them.

Film

This happens at the end of Ghost. Oda Mae's the only one who can hear Sam until the White Light appears. Then his girlfriend can hear him, too. And a few seconds later, they can both see him as well.
In The Film of the Book Jumanji:
- Alan thinks he's the only person who can hear the drumming coming from the box, until Sarah shows up and can hear it too.
- Also Carl and Alan exchange looks to make sure they both are seeing monkeys on a motorcycle.
In Heart & Souls, Thomas (and the ghosts) are very surprised to meet someone in the hospital who can see the four souls.

Literature

In the Stephen King novel It, the children band together to defeat It once they realize that only they can see it after talking about it to each other.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry's confused when he starts seeing the thestrals when nobody else can. He's less than entirely reassured when Luna tells him that she can see them too, and that he's just as sane as she is.
In The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson, Kaladin is nearly convinced that the spren talking to him is a sign of insanity...then Rock bows to her.

Live-Action TV

This happens a few times in Battlestar Galactica:
- In the finale, it happens simultaneously to Baltar and Caprica-Six—they each realize that the other one is seeing their Spirit Advisor head-counterparts.
- Earlier, Starbuck shocks the Final Five when she plays "All Along the Watchtower" on the piano, as they had been the only ones who could hear it.
- And in the first season, Baltar enters CIC and is unsurprised to see Head Six there, until the Galactica crew start interacting with her and he realises to his shock that she's another Number Six Cylon, posing as human Shelley Godfrey. It Gets Worse.
In Due South, the main character constantly sees his father's ghost; eventually, so does a former comrade of his father's.
In the LOST episode "What Kate Did," Kate thinks she's going crazy because she keeps seeing the horse that helped her escape the marshal. Then Sawyer sees it, too.
- Also, another inmate at Hurley's mental hospital sees Charlie, and in season six, Sawyer can see the young boy who follows Fake Locke, though Richard can't.
- Shannon sees an apparition of Walt (who had been kidnapped by the Others) a few times during season two, and Sayid doesn't believe her until he sees him as well.
In Quantum Leap Sam was generally the only person who could see Al, but on a few occasions children or people with brain conditions would be able to see him too.
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased): Jeff meets a man who's openly skeptical of the existence of ghosts—except it turns out he can see Marty.
For two and a half seasons of Slings and Arrows, Geoffrey is the only one who can see Oliver. Then Oliver makes one of his standard smart remarks to Charles—and Charles answers him back.
Northern Exposure
- There's an episode where Dr. Fleischman is being troubled by a persistent spirit of some kind (possibly themed around the holiday of Yom Kippur?) and Ed, the shaman-in-training, can see it too.
Fleischman: What does it look like to you?
Ed: Sort of... egg shaped. (later) Would you like to be alone with your manifestation?
- Also, when they decide to bring back Adam as a recurring character, the one-off joke of only Joel having seen him is ditched, to Joel's amazement (and annoyance when nobody really cares that he was right).
In the first episode of series 3 of Ashes to Ashes DI Alex Drake walks down an alley and sees the world seem to disappear into a giant starfield. She looks away, and when she looks back the world has returned. Given her circumstances, Alex is accustomed to seeing and hearing bizarre phenomenon that no one else will notice. Then Shaz mentions having seen stars. Then Ray sees them but Chris, who is with him, does not. Later, in the police station Ray and Shaz hear voices, are frightened and reflexively cling to one another in fear as Chris walks in and — not hearing those voices — draws the wrong conclusion. And then, finally, Chris sees the stars while walking with Ray and Shaz (who see them also to confirm that he is not crazy, invoking this trope instantly), and he now seems to have taken on the same extra-awareness as the others.
In Fringe, this is Walter Bishop's reaction to Olivia seeing Peter in her dreams, as Walter had been hearing his voice and seeing him in mirrors. Just in time, too: it happens when Walter is about to try an auto-lobotomy.

Music

"If you see it too, then it must be real", sung in desperation on Wuthering Heights song Lost at Sea.

Video Games

During the Trace Memory games, Ashley is normally the only one who can see ghosts, but she encounters three people who can do the same as well. It becomes important to two plots as seeing D is what startles Bill into his Disney Villain Death and seeing his sister resolves part of Matt's subplot. As for Captain, it's more of a surprise to all parties.
Played with in the Sam & Max game episode The Penal Zone: Harry Moleman thinks he is the only one who sees the ghost of Momma Bosco, and wants to capitalize this ability for profit. Turns out that it is not a special ability at all.
In 6 Days a Sacrifice, Theo talks with Janine about the hallway slowly turning into the basement of DeFoe Manor. Not only does she see it too, for her it's ALWAYS been like that.
Near the end of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 Eli Vance confirms he knows of the mysterious G-Mans existence as well, making him the only character besides Gordon who can see him.

Webcomics

In Count Your Sheep, Ship the eponymous sheep is the imaginary friend of the other two main characters, Katie and her mother Laurie. However, the "Back in Time" segments establish that Laurie's to-be husband Marty was also able to not only "see" him, but talk with him too.
- Eventually, Laurie's sister is finally able to see him while she's pregnant. Ship grumbles that his existence is "hormonal".
This was a major plot point early in A Girl and Her Fed.
Said almost word-for-word in the second arc of Dovecote Crest.
In Nip and Tuck, the Show Within a Show Rebel Cry features a quick forestalling of the sanity problem: he is deeply relieved that the boy can see them, too.

Western Animation

In an episode of The Simpsons, Homer meets a roofer by the name of Ray Magini (voiced by Ray Romano). However, Homer's friends and family claim never to have seen him even when Homer insists they've been together. This culminates in Homer receiving electroshock for a perceived psychiatric disorder. Then Ray shows up and everyone present is able to see him — the previous non-sightings are explained through a series of increasingly-convoluted circumstances.