My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That

"Hey, I have heat sensors. I know what you were thinking when she gave you that smile..."

— Talking Gadgetmobile, Inspector Gadget (1999)

Unresolved Sexual Tension is always fun when played for laughs and amusement. Two characters are totally into each other but it's never acknowledged, just heavily implied. That is, until a character with some form of Super-Senses comes into the picture.

See, Super Senses let you see things like body temperature, pheromone levels, or simply a better ability to read body language. What can you infer from those signs? Why, UST of course. This person just proclaimed for all to hear that one character is attracted to the other, or two characters are attracted to each other. This usually causes embarrassment on the part of the other characters and everyone tries to ignore it for the sake of awkwardness. It can be seen as a form of lampshading the UST.

Usually the character announces this innocently, due to not being aware of This Thing You Call Love. Sometimes, though, they're deliberately trying to play The Matchmaker or just amusing themselves at the aroused person's expense. Be aware, if you are possessed of unusually keen senses, that doing this in Real Life is not a good idea. Real people tend to take it a lot worse than fictional ones.

Of course, it doesn't always have to be UST. Sometimes it's a one-way Love Interest, or just simply sexual attraction because, well, it's what the sensors indicated.

Frequently phrased in Spock Speak. Also, compare Dirty Mind-Reading (for telepathic examples) and Or Are You Just Happy to See Me? (for examples where arousal is readily evident without the need for special senses).

Depending on the situation, can easily be a Moment Killer.

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Examples

Anime & Manga

• Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
  • Chachamaru does this to someone who's trying to deny their attraction to Negi. Chachamaru even offers to replay a video of it.
  • Of course, Chachamaru's creator does this to Chachamaru herself by looking through her memory files and finding a folder full of pictures of Negi.
  • In first episode of Shin Negima, class rep is strutted by an array of sensors indicating body temperature, heartbeat rate, etc. Result? Obviously in love.
• Subverted in Ah! My Goddess: Belldandy senses a sudden increase in Keiichi's heart rate and temperature when he's stressing out over whether to tell her he loves her, and immediately concludes that he's coming down with an illness. Well, the poor schmuck is lovesick.
• Migi of the manga Parasyte comments to the hero about this. Of course, everyone's right hand knows what they want, it's just that for most people it can't talk. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't manifest its knowledge of his desires by morphing into a giant penis.
• In Love Hina, Motoko experiences physiological symptoms of love around Keitaro, much to her dismay. Turns out to just be the flu. At least in the anime, it comes across as ambiguous, or perhaps as a combination of the two. It's certainly that way in the manga as well, what with her Suspiciously Specific Denial.
• Funniest line in Chobits is said by Chi: "Pervert! Hideki is a pervert!" In one translation, that line (mostly, being reassigned to Hideki compels her to call him "my master") is also given to Sumomo/Plum.
• Ren from DearS can tell when she's arousing her master. (And, of course, she's completely ready to hop in bed with him.)
• Future GPX Cyber Formula: Even though Asurada doesn't really know or care of any love-related conflict around Hayato, Asuka, and Randoll, he still detects his partner's heart rate increasing by 1.2 times and demands to know what a kiss is.
• Urusei Yatsura: Kuruma's 'spiritual make up' machine was supposed to reveal what made Ataru's personality so rotten but it inadvertently ended up doing this. Out of all the women he obviously lusts after the machine says that he loves Lum the most. Then it said he loved Shinobu the most. Then it blew up. Apparently, who Ataru wanted to tap the most created a Logic Bomb.
• In Space Brothers, JAXA staff notice that Mutta's heartrate increases while interacting with Serika. Hoshika, knowing what's causing it, tells them to ignore it.
• In the manga adaptation of Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth's Persona 4 route, both Mitsuru and Yukari accuse the other of being attracted to Yu. Both times, Aigis scans the accused and detects "a sudden rise in body temperature and heart rate".
• In Magi: Labyrinth of Magic, Aladdin is confused when the Rukh that he sees around Hakuryu are pink while he's talking to Morgiana. Hakuryu apparently understands the significance of that enough to be extremely embarrassed that Aladdin pointed it out.

Audio Drama

• In the Big Finish Doctor Who drama "Harvest of the Sycorax", all the inhabitants of a space station have Fitbit-like devices called Pads that monitor their emotional state. When Zanzibar, the companion-substitute, is joined by one of her co-workers, Shadrak, we get this:
  Both their Pads: I am detecting heightened blood pressure and emotional response.
  Doctor: Aww.
  Zabzibar: What?

Comic Books

• Blue Beetle: In the New 52 series, the Scarab can sense Jaime's metabolic arousal. It sensed his arousal once when he was around his friend Brenda and again when the Red Lantern Bleez pounced on him.
• Empowered: The Caged Demonwolf (an Eldritch Abomination imprisoned in some power-draining alien bondage gear and kept on Emp's coffee table) has this role. Unusually for this trope, he is also an unashamed voyeur who will gleefully encourage whatever desires he's sensing in the hope that it'll give him something sexy to watch and/or listen to, and his trademark speech pattern means his descriptions are anything but clinical and detached.
• Ms. Marvel: Machine Man states as much in Ms. Marvel (2016) #18:
  Machine Man: "I analyze your every word, identifying subconscious speech patterns that betray your poorly hidden lust for my rock-hard robot body."
• Pacific Rim: Tales from Year Zero: Variation. While studying Sergio's brain, neuroengineer Caitlin notes a dopamine spike. She wonders if it's OCD before realizing he's attracted to her.
• X-Men: In X-Men: Kingbreaker, when Korvus hurts himself in battle, his "healbot" from the Shi'ar world senses that "his body temperature and heart rate has increased" as he watches Rachel Summers with whom he had a fling. Korvus responds with a definitive "shut up," as he is embarrassed by the robot's intuitive perceptions.
  • A variant from Astonishing X-Men, in which Kitty Pryde and Colossus, after having sex for the first time the previous night and trying not to make a big deal out of it, walk nonchalantly into the dining room where Wolverine is eating. Logan looks up, looks at Kitty, looks at Peter, and just says:
    Wolverine: 'Bout time.

Fan Works

• The Bugger Anthology: Dalek Sec notes that "the female has become very sweaty" when Rose Tyler catches sight of the Doctor.
• "Fetching" by Salmon Pink has Krypto the Wonderdog dragging Tim Drake to a horny but embarrassed Conner Kent.
• Many a Naruto fanfic has explored this with the Hyuuga. Since they have the Byakugan they are taught to pick up on body language, heart rate, using eyes to analyse someone and tones of voice. NO. MATTER. HOW. SUBTLE.
  • Naruto: Arashiodori has Hiashi at dinner with his family and Naruto. He then gives a rather amusing overview of Naruto's various reactions to a grown-up Hinata rather subtly flirting and seducing Naruto.
• In Sword Art Online Abridged, Yui can apparently access players' biometric data, as seen after an encounter with Recon.
  Kirito: You know, you really should be nicer to your boyfriend.
  Leafa: He's not my boyfriend!
  Kirito: [laughs] Yeah, okay.
  Yui: Regardless of label, you must care for each other. Both of your heartrates increased by twenty-two percent when he arrived.
  Kirito: Hear that? Science says you like him.
  Leafa: Yeah?! Well, maybe I'm scared of him! You ever think of that?! He's got a big knife!
  Kirito and Yui: [hysterical laughter]
• The Chrono Trigger fic Fighting Fate has Robo picking up on Crono and Marle's mutual crush.
  Robo: I have been observing their behavior. Marle will often look at Crono until he looks at her and then she will turn away. The surface temperature of her face and her heart rate increases. Crono has also been making a point of sitting next to her and touching her when we are not directly observing. This data suggests that the two are interested in a romantic relationship with one other with an 89% confidence level.
  Lucca: [bursts out laughing] I'm sure they'll both be disappointed that they've been so obvious. Anyway, earlier, before we found you, Marle had assumed that he and I were together.
  Robo: This only had a 32% probability.

Films — Live-Action

• In one of the Not Quite Human movies, Ridiculously Human Robot Chip is able to tell that his human sister has a crush on a guy at school.
  Becky: What makes you think I like him?
  Chip: Your skin flushed, your breathing rate changed, and your body temperature rose two degrees.
  Becky: Three degrees means I like him, two degrees just means... I think he's okay.
  Chip: Oh. Well, his body temperature rose three degrees. Does that mean he likes you?
• In Transformers (2007), Sam obviously has a crush on Mikaela. Then the Autobots show up, Ratchet sniffs, then delivers the precious line, "The boy's pheromone levels suggest that he wants to mate with the female." Sam and Mikaela glance at each other awkwardly before quickly looking away.
• In the romantic comedy Just Like Heaven, when the guy is visiting the owner of a Pagan-esque shop to see if he can get Reese Witherspoon to stop haunting him, the shop owner can immediately read the auras of both people in the shop — and proceeds to inform them both that they've got some pretty strong feelings for each other! "Righteous."
• Race to Witch Mountain has Sara (the girl with Psychic Powers) commenting that the scientist lady found The Rock's character attractive. This, of course, sets him to wondering about it, spacing out for just long enough to let himself get caught by the mobsters chasing him, and for him to lose track of the kids in a crowded casino.
• The My Favorite Martian movie sets up the friendship of Tim and Lizzie. Early on, circumstances force Martin to take Tim's form so that he can get rid of Lizzie, who showed up at a bad time. He ends up kissing her. Later, Martin reveals that the process of taking Tim's shape caused him to read Tim's unconscious mind and found an attraction to her, which is why he thought kissing her was appropriate.
• Bicentennial Man: Andrew points out that he can observe Portia's pulse and breathing rate have increased, and even that she's putting out pheromones, using this to conclude that she is in love with him. She says it is completely unfair of him to scan her like that, but he counters with "love isn't fair".
• The Scarab in Blue Beetle (2023) is fully in tune with Jaime's body, and thus dryly informs him that it can detect a rush of blood to his nether regions just before he kisses Jenny in the end.
• Johnny English Reborn: The love interest is a psychologist who specialises in reading body language. When she and English share an intimate moment he gently spoofs this by listing her emotional indicators (dilated pupils, flushed cheeks, etc) that indicate they're going to kiss.
• In the Dudley Moore movie Lovesick, the ghost of Sigmund Freud (it Makes Sense In Context) reads Dr. Benjamin's new client as being as interested in him as he is in her thanks to dilated pupils, quickened breathing, etc.
• Spaceballs: After many scenes of bickering, Lone Starr and Princess Vespa are about to reach the "kiss" part of Slap-Slap-Kiss when the sleeping Dot Matrix's "Virgin Alarm" activates, emitting a loud klaxon and ruining the moment.
  Dot: That was my virgin alarm. It's programmed to go off before you do.
• In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, new girl Mantis is able to pick up on Peter's feelings for Gamora, and is happy to share this with the whole group. Drax is... amused, to say the least.
  Drax: HAHAHAHAHA! SHE JUST EXPOSED YOUR DEEPEST DARKEST SECRET! YOU MUST BE SO EMBARRRASED! AHAHAHAHA!
• Played for Drama in Ex Machina. Ava can tell from Caleb's micro expressions that he's attracted to her. Caleb then accuses her creator of deliberately setting this up. He's right, as Ava's appearance was based on his porn search preferences to find a type he'd be attracted to.
• Queen of Outer Space: When fleeing Queen Yllana's guards, one of the Venusian women says, "Yllana's detection devices are relentless. They might even track us down by our heartbeats." She happens to be in a Security Cling with one of the Earthmen who says, "Boy, I'm really givin' her a target right now."
• In Hot Bot, the Sexbots can detect arrousal in humans. During the television interview, Sophia lays her hand on Nigel's chest and tells him that his heart rate is elevated, and then adds that he is getting erect.

Literature

• Isaac Asimov:
  • "Liar! (1941)": The mind-reading robot, Herbie can tell that Dr Calvin is in love with a co-worker. He tells her that he doesn't understand how love works, and asks her to bring him romance novels to try and get some education on the subject.
  • The Naked Sun: The humaniform robot, R. Daneel, is suspicious that Elijah is falling for the prime suspect in the murder they're investigating:
    R. Daneel: And though I cannot share human reactions to stimuli, I would judge, from what has been imprinted on my instruction circuits, that the lady meets any reasonable standard of physical attractiveness. From your behavior, moreover, it seems to me that you were aware of it and that you approved of her appearance.
    [...]
    R. Daneel: Are you perhaps being influenced by extraneous motives of your own, Partner Elijah? Mrs. Delmarre is an attractive woman and you are an Earthman in whom a preference for the personal presence of an attractive woman is not psychotic.^note The specific phrasing is due to Culture Clash/Values Dissonance: Mrs. Delmarre grew up on a world where being in the same building as someone was barely tolerable, never mind the same room. She was, however something of an oddity in not minding it as much.
• In The Quest for Saint Aquin (a 1951 short story by Anthony Boucher), the Mechanical Horse of the protagonist, a priest, notes the priest's attraction when he insists on going back to a bar with an attractive waitress.
• Discworld:
  • A vampire named Sally is able to discern Angua and Carrot's feelings for each other by reading their heart rates. Unusual in that this wasn't news to anyone.
  • Gaspode the Wonder Dog can also tell when two humans are attracted, often well before they can. To his way of thinking, human sex can already be going on when the potential mates are sitting on opposite sides of a campfire, steadfastly refusing to speak to one another, as in Moving Pictures. Noted again in The Fifth Elephant.
  • You Bastard, the camel mathematician... ahem, regular camel whose skills aren't really anything special compared to some of the camels whose postulates he uses in his work, can likewise spot a hookup-in-the-making in Pyramids.
• In the Mercy Thompson books, this trope makes it impossible for homosexual werewolves like Warren to remain in the closet. To make matters worse, werewolves are socially conservative. It's a testament to Warren's fighting skill that he's survived as a gay werewolf for over 150 years.
• The Lords of Creation: In The Sky People, Venusian cave princess Tessa of the Cloud Mountain People knows that Marc Vitrak is attracted to her from his scent. Of course, even the fellow members of the Earth expedition can detect this because, as one of them points out, Marc is wearing a loincloth which makes it clear that he's... aroused.
• Subverted in the Prince Roger series. One of Despreaux's fellow marines monitors her biometrics to know when to send in a Moment Killer to keep her and Roger from getting it on. Oddly enough, this doesn't work on Roger. Nothing raises his heart rate or blood pressure except exertion.
• The Dresden Files: "Emotionally sensitive" wizards (empaths) such as Molly are capable of this. Also the White Court vampires, due to the nature of their powers.
• A short story by the Strugatsky Brothers in their Noon Universe features a group of humans called Readers who are able to effortlessly read minds. One of them mentions a scientist who is constantly trying to fill his mind with complex formulas in order to mask his thoughts. The Reader agrees that he has no idea what the formulas mean but understands the attraction the scientist feels towards a pretty female colleague (i.e. what the guy was trying to hide) perfectly.
• In the Uplift series, dolphins are able to learn a lot about one another thanks to sonar. Male arousal is obvious to passive sonar, female arousal could only be determined by directed, intentional probing, which is rude.
• In Worm, many, many Thinkers can do this. In particular: Tattletale has super intuition, to such a degree that she can play her power off as reading minds.
• Journey to Chaos: One of the abilities that Eirc picked up during his vision quest in Ceiha was the ability to see love between two people reflected in their spirits. When Tiza talks about her two best friends, Eric assumes she's referring to himself and Raki; "you couldn't possibly refer to Nolien because your soul shines too bright around him for mere friendship."
• Feed (2002) features an instance of this. Characters are able to live the memories of their friends and family via the titular devices. Titus' father allows his family to relive a boating trip he took for business purposes. The problem? He saw an attractive co-worker and got very aroused. Made worse when you consider that his entire family was able to sense it and feel what he felt.
• In Touch (2017), Caspar's empathy powers include sensing romantic or sexual interest. This is mildly Played for Drama when he teases his friend James (in private) about his attraction to another boy. James, being unsure of his sexuality and a recent rape victim, isn't really ready to deal with these kind of feelings yet and doesn't appreciate them being pointed out to him.
• In Shadow of the Conqueror, a Lifebinder's enhanced scent can reveal emotions, which Daylen uses to get a feel for people's intentions. When he uses it on Jena, he finds out that she's massively aroused just looking at him because of his resemblance to Dayless.
• Sonnie's Edge, by Peter F. Hamilton. The lesbian protagonist seduces the mistress of a Repulsive Ringmaster, but she turns out to be an assassin. The story then flashbacks to the assassin's POV, and her enhanced senses note the signs of sexual excitement in her target.

Live-Action TV

• Dorian from Almost Human, who seems to have Matchmaker tendencies in regard to his partner John Kennex, has not only mentioned the possibility of Detective Stahl being attracted to him, but has demonstrated the ability to tell that John has not (ahem) tapped anything recently by noting that John's testicles are filled to capacity.
  John: You scanned my balls?
• Angel:
  • When Illyria meets Connor for the first time, she comments that "This one is lusting after me." Which led to one of the funnier lines of the fifth season, when Connor tells Angel that he's "always had a thing for older women", and Angel mutters "They were supposed to fix that."
  • Illyria also detects Wesley's attraction when she shapeshifts into the form of Winifred Burkle despite his abhorrence over her impersonating his former love interest.
  • Lorne who can read auras when people sing also detects Angel's feelings for Cordelia
• The Big Bang Theory:
  • Leslie discovers Leonard's attraction to Penny after noticing his pupils dilate.
  • Sheldon Cooper often makes remarks like this, treating working out other peoples' emotional responses as a purely intellectual exercise, without stopping to consider whether saying it in public might not be a good idea.
• This becomes a major plot element in the Norwegian SF series Blindpassasjer when the alien doppelganger fails to respond "correctly" to the sexual advances of the original's lover (because they are in the wrong location).
• Dark Matter (2015): A Sexbot has sex with One, then asks Two if she wants to know what he likes in bed. When an irritated Two asks why she'd want to know that, the bot proceeds to list the signs of attraction she'd picked up from her when One is in the room.
• Doctor Who: A milder example in "Doomsday", when Rose recognizes the Doctor on a screen:
  Dalek Sec: The female's heartbeat has increased!
  Mickey: Yeah, tell me about it.
• Done in House after House and Cuddy hook up (maybe). House uses some kind of heat sensor to detect that Cuddy got warmer in his presence and thus is actually attracted to him. Or maybe just angry. Or both.
• Knight Rider:
  • In the original series, KITT generally seems more knowledgeable and sly with his remarks.
    Michael Knight: KITT, go to Manual; we're stopping.
    KITT: Why? Is there a young lady in the vicinity?
    Michael Knight: How did you know that?
    KITT: Really, Michael, you're so predictable.
  • However, in the 2008 reboot, KITT is essentially completely naïve about the whole process of human relationships, and it is played on pretty heavily in several scenes, mostly between Michael and Sarah, but also a few times between Zoe and Billy.
• In the Legend of the Seeker episode "Listener" a young mind reader rescued by Richard and Kahlan informs them both that yes, their to-date undisclosed feelings for each other are mutual, which opens an important can of worms.
• Lost: In "Every Man for Himself", Sawyer is fitted with a heart monitor with unknown consequences if he reaches 140 bpm. When Kate starts to change nearby, he almost triggers it.
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Referenced in a non-UST example. Mary is trying desperately to keep her boss Lou Grant from finding out that she messed up a crucial situation. While spinning a whopper of a coverup story — and clearly feeling guilty about it — she confesses that she was lying.
  Lou: I know you are.
  Mary: You do?
  Lou: You're sweating, you're stammering, you're staring at the floor... Either you're lying to me or I'm a hell of a lot sexier than I thought.
• In Pushing Daisies, Napoleon LeNez smells the pheromones that Ned is releasing in the presence of his girlfriend.
• The 1972-3 series Search (and its pilot film Probe) featured agents who carried tiny scanners that transmitted images, sound and physiological data back to a base station and a crew of monitors. At least one of the agents (all male) was prone to sudden increases in heart rate and like symptoms upon encountering an attractive woman, which was promptly and loudly announced in the control room (and in the hearing of the agent, too, thanks to the comm gear he wore), leading to a number of running jokes. In the earliest episodes, the technician who did this had a distinct jealous streak; eventually, she somehow got out of the control room and ended up as Girl of the Week for one episode, after which she vanished.
• Sherlock:
  • Sherlock realizes that Irene Adler's feelings for him are genuine because he Sherlock Scanned her biological reactions to him (pulse and pupil dilation) on multiple occasions, which allows him to finally figure out the code on the phone.
  • Also used earlier in the episode, when Sherlock deduces that Molly clearly has a crush on someone. Taken to hilarious/heartbreaking levels when the otherwise perspicacious Sherlock completely fails to realize that the person she's crushing on is him.
• Smallville:
  • The episode "Instinct" has Maxima (thanks to her mental powers) tell Lois that she is in love with Clark, and vice-versa, even if they don't know it yet.
  • Zatanna also detected those two. With magic!
• Stargate SG-1: In "Divide and Conquer", long-time maybes Sam and Jack are exposed as liars by an alien lie-detecting device, because when describing an off-world event they did not recount the emotional intensity of the experience. This prompts the eternally ship-supporting line by Jack:
  O'Neill: Because I care about her. A lot more than I'm supposed to.
• This one gets played around with a lot in various Star Trek series, usually as a subversion. For example, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lwaxana Troi's frequent insistence that Captain Picard has the hots for her, and Lal's hilarious misinterpretation of human social interaction in Ten-Forward in "The Offspring".
  • It goes way back to Star Trek: The Original Series:
    • In fact, it goes all the way back to the original pilot, "The Cage". Shortly after Number One and Yeoman Colt are beamed down to Talos IV minus the men in the landing party, the Talosian Keeper describes in clinical detail how the two secretly feel about Captain Pike.
    • In "Mudd's Women", Kirk asks the computer to describe the effect the title women are having on the crew, and it starts to describe the male crewmen (except for Spock) as having increased perspiration, respiration, pulses and so on. Kirk has it struck from the record in an aside.
    • In "Amok Time", Dr. McCoy deducing what Spock's Pon Farr is from a medical examination would also count.
  • Star Trek: Voyager:
    • In "Parturition", Neelix attacks Tom Paris over his attraction to Kes. She's convinced he's wrong about this, but when she shares her frustration with the holographic Doctor, he gives her a list of telltale physiological changes he's noticed in Paris when Kes is nearby.
      EMH: Whenever you walk into the room, his respiration increases, his pupils dilate, and the coloration of his ears turns decidedly orange. Until I noticed the pattern, I thought he was suffering from Tanzian flu. It's there for anyone to see. Maybe not in the same diagnostic detail as I see it...
    • Happens twice in "Revulsion", in which certain Voyager crewmembers show anything but for each other.
    • First, B'Elanna and Tom flirting in Medbay:

      B'Elanna: Does this mean you're too tired to meet later in my quarters?
      Tom Paris: Are you sure your heart can take it?
      EMH: I'm detecting elevated hormonal levels. If you two don't take it easy, I'll have to declare a medical emergency.

    • Seven of Nine's classic comment to Ensign Kim as she offers to have sex with him:

      Seven: I may be new to individuality, but I am not ignorant of human behavior. I've noticed your attempts to engage me in idle conversation, and I see the way your pupils dilate when you look at my body.

    • Later on, Icheb's Borg-enhanced senses lead him to conclude that B'Elanna is attracted to him. She isn't, of course, but she briefly plays along to get him to shut up. (Icheb isn't very good at this — at one point he thinks B'Elanna has some kind of intestinal parasite, only for Seven to inform him we call this particular condition pregnancy.)
• Werewolves in Teen Wolf can smell a person's arousal or sexual attraction.
• Cameron, a Terminator in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, only has to observe two secondary characters conversing to get a reading.
  Cameron: She doesn't love you. Not in the way you love her.
• Wizards of Waverly Place has a g-rated version in "Wizards vs. Werewolves", in which Mason gives Alex a magic pendant that glows when the person wearing it is in love with the person who put it on them.

Video Games

• Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly: When Silver gushes about the qualities of his online date Pearl, Amanda, an alien, detects that his hormones are boiling.
• Disgaea: Hour of Darkness gave us this lovely quote:
  Multi-Purpose Super Robot Thursday: BEEP BEEP BLIP BEEP...
  GORDON KEEPS STARING AT JENNIFER'S THIGHS. PERVERT PERVERT PERVERT...
  • A non-sexual example, Flonne also falls afoul of Thursday's sensors. After telling Laharl that "He's the worst-!" before being cut-off by another character, the party is suddenly intrigued by what the mild-mannered Flonne was about to say before being interrupted. Thursday somehow calculates the answer and is about to reveal it before Flonne smashes him to prevent her secret from being revealed.
• Dragon Age: Inquisition: Cole is a Spirit of Compassion that can sense thoughts of love and lust around him... and tends to blurt them out loud.
  Cole: Sweet, soft, and silky. Her dress, and also under her dress. Are you going to talk to Josephine?
  Blackwall: Maker's balls, get out of my mind, would you? You make me sound like a dirty, old bastard!
  
  Cole: The Iron Bull, a woman in the last village wanted you to pick her up and take her clothes off.
  Iron Bull: [not missing a beat] Most people do.
• In Immortal Souls, the Mad Scientist-ish leader of the Templars tries ordering one of his captive vampires to kill the main character. When she goes easy on him instead, on account of having a mad crush on him, the leader notes that his Power Armor's "sensors detected pheromones release, possibly clouding her judgment".
• In The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II, you can have an optional scene with the game's main protagonist Rean Schwarzer and his classmate Alisa Reinford where Alisa asks to come inside Rean's massive Super Robot Divine Knight Valimar with him because she wants to see the view that he sees. When they do come in together, they share a moment and when face-to-face, Valimar tells them that they should seek medical attention because of a greatly increased heart-rate.
• In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, there is a minor sidequest involving the Item Check girl, Peatrice, and her developing a crush on Link. If you choose not to reject her, Fi takes notice.
  Fi: Master, your interest in this young woman is clear. I can see your aura shining brightly with joy in her presence. ...I strongly recommend that you do not mention this when you next encounter Zelda.
• Mass Effect:
  • Played with in Mass Effect 2. If you're in a Romance Sidequest with anyone on the ship, salarian doctor Mordin will offer some amusing safe-sex advice. If you're sticking with the LI from the first game (or never had one to begin with) he'll assume you've been hitting on him, interpreting subtle cues (such as the movement of your lower eyelids) as if you were another salarian. "Cross-species body language... awkward."
  • Mass Effect 3 has a mild example between Shepard and Javik (the latter has empathic abilities such as touch-telepathy). During his last major conversation on the Normandy, he'll question Shepard about their love interest (if any).
    Javik: You and the human soldier / asari / turian / quarian are...joined?
    Shepard: You could say that.
    Javik: I'm not. Your pheromones are.
  • In the Citadel DLC, EDI reveals that Cerberus outfitted her with sensors to check body language, for example by measuring pupil dilation and thermal readings of erogenous zones. It was the latter that proved that, despite her claims that she was just joking, Specialist Samantha Traynor really wanted to have sex with EDI's voice.
• Planescape: Torment:
  Nordom: I estimate Fall-from-Grace to be found attractive by the male sex of 321,423 separate species. Give or take five.
  Fall-from-Grace: Oh? Does that include modrons?
  Nordom: I am no longer able to answer that question. I do not know.
  • Besides the fact that Modrons are genderless, the actual reason he can no longer answer that is because he is no longer a Modron.
• Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse: Inverted in the episode "They Stole Max's Brain!"
  Max: Why don't we just cruise for chicks?
  Skun'Ka'Pe: Strange. My scans indicate you don't even like girls.
• In Star Control II, the neo-Dnyarri names a couple of your crew members with crushes on you. Then, when you tell them he's been listening in, they start envisioning creative ways of killing the neo-Dnyarri instead. It's hilarious.
• In StarCraft, Kerrigan before she gets infested, if you click on her enough, will give the phrase "Doesn't take a telepath to know what you're thinking." She even calls Raynor out the first time they meet.
  Kerrigan: Captain Raynor, I've finished scouting out the area and... you pig!
  Raynor: What? I haven't even said anything to you yet!
  Kerrigan: Yeah, but you were thinking it.
  Raynor: Oh, yeah, you're a telepath. Look, let's just get on with this, okay?
  • The above conversaion gets a Call-Back in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.
  Kerrigan: Isn't there — Really, Jim? *laughs* Six years later and you're still a pig.
  Raynor: What can I say? Old habits die hard.
• At the end of Star Fox Adventures, after Krystal comes on board and Slippy teases him about being slightly tongue-tied:
  R.O.B.: My sensors indicate that Fox's temperature is rising. Are you all right, Fox?
  [the organics other than Fox laugh]
  Fox: I'm gonna be just fine.
• A version in which the one with the sensors, Visas Marr, also wants to tap that comes from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II if you're playing a male character. Also has the standard version, where talking to Kreia will have her advise you against getting intimate with Visas after she joins the party.

Webcomics

• Happens a lot in Schlock Mercenary.
  • The problem with hanging out with cyborgs:
    DoytHaban: Indeed, with my sensor arrays, you might as well have been shouting "I'm in love with someone" the whole time we spoke.
    Elf: Sensors? So you're a voyeur, then?
    DoytHaban: Hey, I wouldn't be a man if I didn't look.
    Elf: But it's cheating to be able to scope women out while still making eye-contact.
  • Notably here with Tag, the ship computer:
    Doctor Bunnigus: You've been watching me?
    Tag: I watch everything.
    Doctor Bunnigus: I'm... not sure how I feel about that.
    Tag: Infrared emissions indicate that you are feeling a mixture of embarrassment, anger, and arousal... shifting to anger exclusively.
• Zig-Zag in Sabrina Online can◊ tell◊ when someone's had sex the night before.
  • Possibly explained by the fact that, at some level, they are still animals, and that ZZ is the owner of a porn movie studio.
• Spamusement: Spam email promise "We have located several horny women in your area!" gets the Visual Pun treatment.
  • Meet local girls in Low Earth Orbit tonight!
• The lesbian pirates' ship in I Was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space!!! has a "Gaydar" device that "detects lesbian thoughts". At one point, Susie uses it to summon help.
• A variant appears in Goblins, when Max, trying to figure out why his attempt to erase a demiplane failed, interrogates Minmax and Kin. He concludes that "as childishly cliched as it is, the previously unnoticed detail is love." Effectively, a case of "My research indicates you want to tap that." He does, however, clarify that it isn't just physical attraction in their case, as many other versions had sexual attraction.
• In Gunnerkrigg Court, Reynardine's sense of smell is all he needs to know what Parley and Smitty have been up to. And a few strips later, Coyote smells the same thing, and is even more blunt about it.
  • Reynardine is also able to tell who Kat's new special someone is (and approves).
• Happens in Shortpacked! here. Though in this case it's "want to tap me."
  "My sensors indicate your body temperature is now rearranging in [a] way similar to the bodies of meatfolks who want to engage in—oh."
• Parodied in this Questionable Content, where Momo tells Martin she suspects Dale and Marigold are attracted to each other. He thinks she's done a biometric scan, and she explains it was more "My sensors indicate he can't stop staring at her chest"... and that Marigold likewise stared at Dale's butt when he stood up.
  Marten: Yep. They're totally gonna bang.
  • Additionally, Bubbles possesses "situational awareness protocol" which have detected Tai and Dora checking her out.
• In Skin Horse, Moustachio says something similar to Nick, but the point he's making is that if a Steampunk robot whose empathic systems comprise "two springs and a vial of mercury" can tell how he feels about Dr Lee, then Everyone Can See It.

Western Animation

• Justice League Unlimited:
  • In the episode "The Greatest Story Never Told", Booster Gold's floating robotic companion gives him the following advice regarding a female physicist:
    Skeets: Sir, according to my thermal sensor readings of Dr. Simmons, you just missed a prime opportunity to... well, I believe the phrase is, "kiss the girl".
    Booster: Kissing girls is for heroes, Skeets.
  • And in another episode, "Far from Home", Green Arrow discusses Brainiac 5's (a descendant of Brainiac from the 30th century) growing attraction to Supergirl:
    Green Arrow: Admit it, genius: you're in love with her.
    Brainiac 5: Ludicrous. We just met. Moreover, as a Coluan, I'm ruled by intellect, not emotion.
    Green Arrow: So in love with her...
    Brainiac 5: Increased sweat gland production... Shortness of breath... Inability to concentrate... I thought it was guilt, but... I am in love! How did you know?
    Green Arrow: Just call me Cupid, junior. I never miss.
• Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a blind girl who can sense vibrations through earth (as well as having pretty good hearing), pulls this when Katara denies having feelings for Jet.
  Toph: [in a singsong voice] I can tell you're lying.
• A wonderful variation from the The Legend of Zelda (1989) cartoon. Zelda has spent the entire series denying that she loves Link. Due to a wacky accident, Link's spirit gets separated from his body, so he and Zelda go on a quest to find his body and pull him together. While everyone can hear his voice, Zelda is the only one who can see him. When Ganon learns this, he mutters that that must mean that she loves him. Link and Zelda overhear this, and Link shouts for joy at this undeniable proof that she does love him — thus giving away their location and starting a fight scene with the bad guys.
• Daria: "Guys can always tell when other guys are into someone."
• Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot: An evil A.I. comments to Dr. Slate that her body temperature rises each time it mentions Lt. Hunter, suggesting she either has a crush on him, or the two of them are plotting against it. Both were true.
• In the Young Justice (2010) tie-in comic, the Scarab notes that Wonder Girl causes "bio-chemical" changes in Jaime's system. So far, they seem to be Ships That Pass in the Night, despite also being quite popular.
• Holger gains this power in season 4 of Detentionaire, becoming able to sense when two people have a thing for each other.

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