History Main / MirrorRoutine

Unfortunately, since mirrors have traditionally been a way to see through a glamour (e.g., how Dracula doesn't reflect), there are two variants here, one the inverse of the other: Either Bob is the true person (or at least the [[OurSoulsAreDifferent soul]]) and Alice-in-the-Mirror is what others see, or Bob is what others see and Alice-in-the-Mirror is his true form. Whichever you use, establish it well.

** In the MickeyMouse cartoon ''Disney/LonesomeGhosts'', a ghost does this to Goofy, who mentions at the beginning, "For a moment I thought it wasn't me." After a while of doing this, Goofy finally catches on and says, "I know you, you're a ghost!"

* On ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'', Chuck's EvilCounterpart Fastener stands in front of a mirror that Chuck is examing. Chuck starts goofing off with Fasterner mimicing his actions. Then Fastener smacks Chuck in the face, and zips behind him before he can get reoriented. With Fasterner's reflection now in the mirror, Chuck tries to punch him...and rips his hand open on the glass.

* ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' once utilized this in 'The Three Bears' strip. Pa used a mirror frame to distract Hank with this while Ma and Ted robbed the store. It [[GoneHorriblyRight worked a little too well]], as Hank decided that the 'mirror' was so good, that he should use it to check out his new hat. After Hank sees his 'reflection' with the old hat, he catches on, and then proceeds to knock-out Pa off panel, and then disguise as him to trick Ma and Ted into giving him the food back.

* Played with in the Creator/BetteMidler flick ''Film/{{Big Business|1988}}''. She's playing identical twins who don't know about this, and meet for the first time -- walking along a mirrored surface. Neither wants to foil the other, they just happen to do the same movements at the same time -- except, you know, mirrored.

* A surprisingly horrifying example in ''Film/FourteenOhEight'': the protagonist tries to articulate his troubles by gestures to a stranger he sees in the window of the house across the road. He manages to attract attention to himself, but then the stranger suddenly begins repeating protagonist's own moves. And when the hero finally realizes that [[MindScrew he sees his own reflection in the opposite window]], [[MirrorScare the reflection gets attacked from behind...]]

* In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: The Nightmare Machine'', Zak ends up in a hall of funhouse mirrors that, with holographic aid, distort reflections in improbable ways. After a while in there he comes across [[TheCameo Lando Calrissian]], assumes he's a particularly cool-looking reflection, and tries posing. Lando grabbing him is one of the book's PseudoCrisis chapter ends.

* Happens a few times in ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'', usually with Benny in drag mirroring a woman. The "disguise" fails when they start to strip....

* Done in an episode of ''Series/MadTV'' spoofing ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', where Nikki (the one with the split personality) believes the "her" in the mirror is someone different, and performs a series of elaborate stunts in front of the mirror to prove it.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Phil of the Future}}'', Pim dresses up as Debby's grandmother to sneak out of a {{Slumber Party}}.She poses as a mirror in front of Debby's real grandmother, but gets caught when she accidentally sneezes.
* {{Played for Laughs}} in the ''Series/{{Wizards of Waverly Place}}'' episode "All About You-Niverse". Alex performs this routine to avoid spotted by her mother through a portal to a {{Mirror Universe}}, but immediately drops the act when her mother falls for it.

* A musical incorporating the songs of Creator/GeorgeGershwin, ''Crazy For You'', has the unintentional version happen partway through. Both characters (one is disguised as the other) are drunk ([[DrowningMySorrows due to lost love]]), and don't realize they're not seeing a reflection until one raises their glass in a toast and the other doesn't. They both shrug it off.

* In the first ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', some shape-changing enemies try to pull this in the seventh dungeon, an ice palace, where every room ''looks'' like it has a mirror covering its wall, but is actually divided by a giant wall of glass. Eventually you find a hole in the "mirror", and bump into your "reflection".

* ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' did it to simplify the graphics processing. In story, a room had a large mirror on the wall. The game actually used a mirrored room, a duplicate of Mario, and an invisible force field. Not a ''perfectly'' mirrored room, of course. The trick in that room is to find something that isn't a perfect mirror and use that as a level entrance. In the remake, Luigi can phase through the mirror into the copied room, where things get [[WhiteVoidRoom weird]].

* On ''Website/ScrewAttack'', a [[http://www.screwattack.com/shows/originals/clip-of-the-week/clip-week-alternate-dimension Clip of the Week]] video has the staff opening a portal to an alternate dimension and meet with their dopplegangers. Stuttering Craig and his double (played by Craig's brother) silently size each other up. Then they whack each other in the crotch.

* Fred Flintstone does this on Billy's dad in ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' once. Apparently, Billy's dad catches on eventually, and keeps going after Fred has left.

* ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' has a shapeshifter escaping from the heroes this way. He has the advantage of being on the other side of glass.

** When Jackie first met Viper, they were dressed identical when they passed, causing Jackie to think he was looking in a broken mirror.

* ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'': One of these occurs at the beginning of "Rapunzeltopia", when short-haired Rapunzel meets her long-haired alter ego:

-->'''Short-haired Rapunzel:''' A frying pan? Who are you? Because, that's kind of... my thing. ''[The other Rapunzel lowers her hood] ''Okay...

* The ''Film/MissionImpossibleRogueNation'' special effects team used this to film Benji's ImagineSpot about donning a LatexPerfection mask. In the movie, Benji has the mask fitted, then the camera seamlessly pans to a mirror showing his disguised reflection. In reality, Benji's actor, Creator/SimonPegg, sat in front of a hole with a mirror frame around it, facing a flipped duplicate of the set. The man Benji wanted to disguise as sat on the opposite side of the hole, and copied Pegg's motions as best as he could. Ilsa's actress, Rebecca Ferguson, also had a body double portray her reflection in the scene. Reversed in Ethan's case, as Creator/TomCruise played the reflection, and his body double filled the role of the "real" Ethan.

** WesternAnimation/BugsBunny does this to Elmer in the cartoon ''Hare Tonic'' to convince Elmer that he is turning into a rabbit.

* A variation of this is done in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura''. The Mirror card [[InvokedTrope deliberately]] [[CaptainObvious mirrors]] Sakura's actions in order to reveal its identity.

* Done in the Creator/VincentPrice vehicle ''Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs'' (1966), between Price's title villain and Ciccio Ingrassia's hero/comedy relief.

* In ''[[Franchise/CrashBandicoot Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced]]'' the fight against Fake Crash has him copying the player's movements. If you touch him you'll die, so to damage him you had to lead him into the [[BossArenaIdiocy traps in the stage]] without getting killed by them yourself.

* There is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeL0xdVTy_g deleted scene]] in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' where Sarah Connor installs new hardware into the head of the Terminator while he sits in front of a mirror. In the movie, the mirror and its reflections are genuine. In real life, Creator/LindaHamilton's identical twin stood on the other side of the mirror and copied her sister's movements. This was done so that the camera could make a continuous shot from the back of the Terminator's head (actually a dummy) to looking down inside it; Arnold sat on the other side of the fake mirror while Leslie Hamilton pretended to fiddle with his head. Also, it's done to fool ''us'' the audience, and you know what? [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome it works]].

* There is a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeL0xdVTy_g deleted scene]] in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' where Sarah Connor installs new hardware into the head of the Terminator while he sits in front of a mirror. In the movie, the mirror and its reflections are genuine. In real life, Linda Hamilton's identical twin stood on the other side of the mirror and copied her sister's movements. This was done so that the camera could make a continuous shot from the back of the Terminator's head (actually a dummy) to looking down inside it; Arnold sat on the other side of the fake mirror while Leslie Hamilton pretended to fiddle with his head. Also, it's done to fool ''us'' the audience, and you know what? [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome it works]].

* When the title character of ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' leaves a room and returns, what was a window into another room seems to have changed into a mirror--at least, the figure on the other side perfectly mimicks Ruby. When she's forced to smash the glass, however, the figure remains, and its face [[BodyHorror distorts]] as it squeezes into the room.

** It happens again in "Scooby's Gold Medal Gambit" when the Chameleon disguised himself as Scooby, this time [[FullBodyDisguise in full-body]], even though the suit part was not as detailed.

* ComicBook/TheBeano once utilized this in 'The Three Bears' strip. Pa used a mirror frame to distract Hank with this while Ma and Ted robbed the store. It [[GoneHorriblyRight worked a little too well]], as Hank decided that the 'mirror' was so good, that he should use it to check out his new hat. After Hank sees his 'reflection' with the old hat, he catches on, and then proceeds to knock-out Pa off panel, and then disguise as him to trick Ma and Ted into giving him the food back.

* Used in ''Airheads'' when Pip first leaves the radio station. He encounters a police officer, and they perform the basic routine. Pip tries to throw off the cop with some kind of dance move, but the officer reaches for his gun, causing the inept rocker to flee.
* Sarah Jessica Parker made a dance movie in the 1980s called ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun''. During the final round of competition, twin dancers successfully pull off a quick intro that way and are called Mirror Image.

* Also used in ''Repli-Kate'': Kate and her clone both mistake each other for a reflection, unintentionally mirror each other's movements, and walk away without a clue what just happened.
* Creator/RobertoBenigni does a quick mirror routine with an IdenticalStranger in ''Johnny Stecchino.''

* The IdenticalStranger version features in the [[PolishMedia Polish comedy]] "Miś", in which the protagonist opens the door and takes his doppelganger for a mirror salesman. Then he shuts the door in his face.

* Subverted in the ''Series/{{Suite Life Of Zack and Cody}} episode "Midsummer Nightmare''. A heated argument breaks out during this routine.

A similar setup is used when the character seen by the audience isn't the character seen by the other characters (e.g., a FreakyFridayFlip situation, or a person using a glamour to hide his true form). If Bob is hiding in Alice's body, sometimes the show will continue to show us Bob, but have everyone react like they've seen Alice, and the MirrorRoutine is a decent way to clarify what's going on.

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in Music/TheMonkees' film ''Film/{{Head}}''. Peter thinks Davy's trying to do [[MirrorRoutine "the old mirror routine"]] in the studio restroom, but Davy's actually trying to warn Peter about a huge MagicalEye in the mirror.

* In the Creator/CirqueDuSoleil show ''ZED'', the title character briefly encounters a double of himself, and their performances are mirrored until they seemingly merge into one being again.

* A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i8f7pcJUdM 2016 commercial]] for the Seattle Mariners baseball had 2016 Mariner Robinson Cano, and former Mariner Edgar Martinez perform such a routine. Robinson adjusts his hat, and Edgar adjusts his hat. Robinson touches his ear, and Edgar touches his ear. Robinson holds up a lamp, and Edgar holds up the light bat, a baseball bat-shaped lamp [[CallBack that he made in a commercial 15 years earlier.]] Immediately afterwards, two coaches [[ComicallyMissingThePoint decide that Robinson Cano's swing is a mirror image of Ken Griffey Jr.]]

* [[http://antiheroescomic.com/comic/66 Stick figures can do it too]], as seen in ''Webcomic/AntiHeroes'' with ghost illusionist Kaalinor stumbling upon the very mook he took the appearance of.

* Another silent-era example: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4VdIZLiRec Charley Chase]], in his 1924 short ''Sittin' Pretty''. (which, incidentally, was directed by the same director who went on directing... ''Film/DuckSoup''.)

* Played with in the Bette Midler flick ''Big Business''. She's playing identical twins who don't know about this, and meet for the first time -- walking along a mirrored surface. Neither wants to foil the other, they just happen to do the same movements at the same time -- except, you know, mirrored. ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkZ43zj01b0 Video]])