Juxtaposed Reflection Poster

A handy way to instantly convey multiple facets of your focal character/s, setting, or general premise is to put them next to a reflective surface (like a mirror, a window, a body of water, or a very shiny kitchen floor) and dedicate a part of your key visual to reflecting them. Instead of a mirror image, however, the reflection is different in some way.

Common ways to play the Juxtaposed Reflection Poster include:

• Showing the character at a different point in time. The reflection will be an older or younger version, showing either how far they've come or how far they have yet to go.
• Representing a desire or dream they may have for themselves. There is no guarantee they will achieve or realize it, although they could, but it primarily serves to symbolize what they want.
• Displaying another aspect of your character. Perhaps they live a double life, and said double life is shown in the reflection.
• Supernatural shenanigans, such as an Alternate Self. In horror films, the reflection might have subtle differences to highlight insidious goings-on.

Compare The Shadow Knows (another aspect of a character is shown through their shadow), The Mirror Shows Your True Self (a supernatural creature's true form is reflected in a mirror), and Mirror Monster (a supernatural creature who shows up in or around mirrors), Inverted Portrait (a stylized depiction of a character upside-down).

Other related poster tropes involve Back-to-Back Poster, which mirrors/parallels two different characters but can also be used to contrast aspects, and Juxtaposed Halves Shot, which meaningfully splits a body shape in two — the two can overlap if the juxtaposition is via a reflection.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Moriarty the Patriot: One of the chapter cover pages features William leaning up against a window, peering out morosely, while his reflection stares back at the viewer with his eyes ablaze and a smirk indicating his Lord of Crime persona.
• SPY×FAMILY: To outsiders, the Forgers are a typical civilian family. One of the anime posters◊ diagonally reflected the Forger family on the sidewalk they're walking on, showing in said reflections that Loid is secretly a spy, Yor is secretly an assassin, and Anya is secretly aware of both her parents' identities.

Comic Books

• Complementary covers of issue 44 of Batman (Tom King), Bruce/Batman and Selina/Catwoman's Wedding Episode, see Bruce and Selina standing in front of mirrors in their wedding garb, while reflections of themselves in their "super" identities (Batman and Catwoman) look back at them from the mirror.
• The cover of JLA: Earth-2 shows members of the Justice League standing on a reflective floor with images of the corresponding Crime Syndicate members as reflections (or vice versa, in some versions).
• The cover of the anthology My Only Child, about families under China's One Child Policy who lost said child, shows a childless older couple with the moon above, reflected by a happy family with a child silhouetted by the sun below.

Films — Animation

• A teaser poster for Coco has Miguel stand with his back to the audience and a guitar slung over his back. In the puddle by his feet one can see Hector and Imelda, skeletal denizens of the land of the dead, in the reflection.
• The LEGO Ninjago Movie: The teaser poster depicts Lloyd Garmadon in his civilian clothes with Ninjago City in the background standing over a body of water with him in his Green Ninja costume in a bamboo forest reflected in it.
• Mulan (the 1998 version): One promotional image, often used as the home video cover art, has Mulan in her civilian clothing looking straight at the camera, holding up a sword. Where the sword overlaps her face, it shows a reflection of her disguised as a male soldier.

Films — Live Action

• Avengers: Endgame: One of the teaser posters released in the lead-up to the show has the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first three leading men, Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man, standing in current costume beside a body of water. Their reflections in the water show how they were in their first films (Thor has longer hair and Mjölnir like he did in Thor, Captain America is a scrawny young man like he was at the beginning of Captain America: The First Avenger, and Iron Man has the prototype armor he built in Iron Man) emphasizing how far the characters have come since then.
• The Curse of La Llorona: One of the posters◊ has the titular ghostly woman (known for abducting children) stand next to two children with their backs to the camera. In the water's reflection, the children are gone and she's facing the audience.
• Enchanted: One of the posters◊ has a navy blue strip with the title in gold, cutting the image in two. The upper part depicts a close of Giselle/Amy Adams' wide-eyed face, with New York in the background. The lower part depicts Giselle (upside down) with the same expression but animated, with Andalasia in the background. This immediately establishes the duality of the film's two settings: the animated fairy tale world and live-action New York.
• Flashbacks Of A Fool is about a washed-up actor (Daniel Craig) reminiscing on his younger Glory Days (when he was played by Harry Eden). A recurring motif in the marketing is Craig's Joe Scot standing while being mirrored against Eden's Joe Scot, who is washed blue to represent the past. While not reflected, other timeshifted actors in the film are also shown alongside their younger selves.
• The Greatest Showman: One of the posters◊ has Barnum stand in an empty area with his arms outstretched. The bottom half reflects this pose in puddles on the ground, but shows him dressed as a ringmaster and surrounded by a lively circus performance, showing that he'll eventually found the well-known circus of his dreams.
• Glass: The teaser poster shows the three main characters of the trilogy: Dunn, Price, and Crumb, seated on chairs from the neck down. Their reflections show their "true selves", the Overseer, Glass, and the Beast, standing up and looking intimidating.
• Hell And Back Again: The top half of poster for this documentary of a soldier having difficulty adjusting back to civilian life shows the soldier, his wife, and their home. Reflected in the pond below them is the soldier by himself wearing full gear in a warzone.
• Leaves of Grass (starring Edward Norton) has a variation: straight-laced professor Bill is walking on a white background. Reflected on a black background below him is his not-so-straight-laced twin brother Brady.
• Look Both Ways is a Split Timelines Plot diverging from whether or not Natalie gets pregnant after sex with Gabe. The poster shows Natalie's "two lives" — one advancing her creative career, the other a pregnant soon-to-be-mom: posed similarly and aligned on promotional material.
• Mulan (2020) has a Sweet Polly Oliver plot. The Dolby poster◊ shows Mulan dressed as a male soldier holding "his" sword by a pond. Her reflection in the water is womanly, with loose robes and long hair.
• A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge: One poster has Jesse embracing Lisa as he stares at his reflection in a mirror. Half of the reflection's face is a skull with an exposed eyeball and has Freddy's claws resting on Lisa's back. Part of the reflection is cut (maybe it's a window) to show a dark-blue sky with a lightning and the silhouette of a crow.
• The Princess Bride: One DVD cover has Wesley and Buttercup holding hands, with Wesley in his Dread Pirate Roberts garb and Buttercup in her red dress on top, and the two in their peasant garb from the opening scene reflected on the bottom. As a bonus, the title is stylized so it can be read upside down if you flip the image over.
• Spider-Man 3: The poster◊ shows a black-suited Spider-Man corrupted by the Symbiote against a skyscraper window reflection showing his good red-and-blue outfit.
• X-Men: First Class: Teaser posters show a young Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr next to bodies of water. The respective reflections show Xavier in a wheelchair and Lensherr in a cape and a helmet. As this is a prequel, it is a Foregone Conclusion that they'll become the men in the reflections: Professor X and Magneto.

Literature

• Warrior Cats: The original cover for "The Darkest Hour" showed Firestar drinking from a puddle of water and seeing a lion staring back at him, reflecting the plot of him being the eventual leader of LionClan in the fight against TigerClan and, later, BloodClan. It's also symbolic of his overall bravery and destiny to be a great leader.

Live-Action TV

• Black Widows: A key visual sees the titular three widows with severe hair and black dresses posing above a lake. Their reflections in the water show them with looser hair and white outfits.
• The poster for the first season of Cruel Summer shows nemeses Kate Wallis and Jeannette Turner each looking into a mirror and seeing the other's reflection staring back at them, reflecting how they've effectively switched lives.
• David Makes Man: One of the posters has a school-aged David in uniform and outside his run-down apartment standing over a puddle. His reflection is older and more confident. The show is about how he gets out of poverty.
• An early episode of Endeavour has Morse look into a rear-view mirror only for the viewer to see John Thaw looking back at Shaun Evans.
• Frequency is about a father, Frank, in 1996 who can communicate with his daughter Raimy in 2016. The poster◊ has Frank and Raimy stand in their respective times (differentiated with an Orange/Blue Contrast) while also being reflected in the bottom poster... but Frank's reflection is Raimy, and Raimy's reflection is Frank.
• Future Man: Season two's key visual has Josh, Tiger, and Wolf walking dressed in outfits from different time periods. Along with the surrounding scenery, they are reflected in the bottom half; their reflections are also dressed in outfits from various eras, fitting for a show whose premise is that the three of them travel through different time periods.
• The Haunting of Hill House (2018): One of the posters◊ shows the five adult Crain siblings next the titular creepy house. The mirror image below them is of their younger selves from the time they lived in said creepy house.
• Mythic Quest: One poster has a variation — the cast of game developers is sitting at a reflective table, which shows characters from the titular MMO in the reflections.
• The Outsider's poster shows a creepy figure reflected in the surface of a lake◊...except there's nobody standing over it that would cast the reflection. The identity of the killer who caused the Plot-Triggering Death is the Driving Question, and the symbolism of the poster is eventually explained with El Cuco, a creature capable of Humanshifting, who would have no definitive appearance anyway.

Video Games

• Fable:
  • Fable's box art shows the young Hero of Oakvale looking into a pool. Looking back up at him is a menacing older version, reflecting the player character's moral choices and subsequent destinies. To drive this home, alternative versions of the box art show other life paths the hero's life can take.
  • Fable II's box art shows the young Hero of Bowerstone looking over a pool. Reflected back at them is a demonic being, emphasizing that the player has a choice between good and evil.
• League of Legends: The champion splash art◊ for Nidalee shows her as a human while her cougar form is reflected in the water below.
• One piece of promotional artwork◊ for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds shows Link standing in front of Lake Hylia in Hyrule, with the Mirror Universe of Lorule in its reflection.

Western Animation

• Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: One of Netflix's promotional posters has Kipo on one knee on what seems a lake, with her fist touching the water, while her friends are standing in the background and on her sides. While their reflections are normal, Kipo's is the Mega Jaguar.

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