History Main / ProjectedMan

* Darien's sidekick Selma in ''Series/TimeTrax''. She is almost a VirtualGhost, as her appearance was based on a photograph of Darien's late mother.

* On ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs2'', Chester V has holographic clones of himself that make public appearances for him and also serve as his companions. [[spoiler:In the climax, they try to save him from [[HoistOnHisOwnPetard fallling into his own machine]], but as they are not made of HardLight...]]

** RedTornado (DCComics)
** TheVision (MarvelComics), who also changes his density anyway as a superpower.
** Stel from the [[GreenLantern Green Lantern Corps]] (DCComics) does this too.
* The mutant who uses the nickname Blue has an area of cyberspace mapped out like {{Tron}}, and there he has his own ProjectedMan 'Clu'. The name "Clu" may itself be a ShoutOut to a minor character from ''Tron''.

* When robotic superheroes get heavily damaged (and they frequently do) they will often be projected until their bodies are completed. Examples include:

** Stel from the [[GreenLantern Green Lantern Corps]] (DCComics) does this too at some point.

** A number of computer science textbooks use persons operating levers or buttons to make stuff happen as a visual metaphor for the processes going on in a computer. Perhaps this is supposed to be something similar, with T-AI as the operating system and the keypads representing commands sent to the actual hardware? But yeah, RuleOfCool probably explains it better.
*** It could also be a training program for anyone watching, showing the appropriate keypresses/commands to get the same results on a non-self-aware system. Or a remnant of an interaction-with-local-sapients procedure which makes it seem like Cybertronian technology is less advanced and therefore less threatening.

* Jane, from ''Literature/SpeakerForTheDead'' and it sequels, started out as an extremely complex game/psychology test, but eventually developed sentience, and chose a young woman as her preferred avatar. Although holographic displays are standard for personal computers in this universe, the displays can only project holograms in a limited range above themselves.

* Jane, from the sequels to ''Literature/EndersGame'', started out as an extremely complex game/psychology test, but eventually developed sentience, and chose a young woman as her preferred avatar. Although holographic displays are standard for personal computers in this universe, the displays can only project holograms in a limited range above themselves.

* In ''Anime/TransformersRobotsInDisguise'', T-AI is a sentient computer who projects a holographic image of herself. She even operates equally holographic keypads to make the computer (which is ''her'') do stuff. [[Wiki/TFWikiDotNet Transformers Wiki]] summed up the FridgeLogic of this. [[note]]"Whenever T-AI makes radio contact with any off-base Autobots, she initiates it by pressing a sequence of buttons on a keypad. Considering that these elements are all a part of the same computer, T-AI is in fact projecting and controlling the holographic representation of herself and making it use the keypad that controls T-AI, herself. She is effectively telling herself to tell herself what to do. If you also factor in the fact that the hologram is totally incorporeal, and therefore cannot actually make contact with the keypad, then the assorted beeps and lights that seemingly indicate when the buttons are being pressed are actually being controlled from within T-AI like a player piano, and therefore don't need to be pressed even if the hologram could press them. This gives me a headache."[[/note]] Of course, the RuleOfCool is definitely in effect.

* In later episodes of ''DannyPhantom'' we see that Vlad made himself a holographic version of Danny's mother as his lab assistant. When Danny attacks his laboratory, the hologram and the AI glitches says it prefers to be with the holographic Jack Fenton than with him. He later fixes that "flaw".
** In "Phantom Planet" it turns out he's using at least two holographic Maddies on his space station and at one point they fight over who's the favorite.

* Al from ''QuantumLeap'' isn't actually a hologram, but functions like one from Sam's point of view.

* Similarly Asgard communications technology in ''[[StargateSG1 Stargate SG-1]]'' functions by projecting a full-body hologram of the user to wherever the person they want to talk to is, apparently without the need for an emitter at the recieving end, allowing for some handy IntangibleMan shinnanigans.

* Canal in LostUniverse is a SpaceshipGirl in a {{Meido}} outfit.

* In ''Anime/TransformersRobotsInDisguise'', T-AI is a sentient computer who projects a holographic image of herself. She even operates equally holographic keypads to make the computer (which is ''her'') do stuff. [[Wiki/TFWikiDotNet Transformers Wiki]] summed up the FridgeLogic of this. [[hottip:*:"Whenever T-AI makes radio contact with any off-base Autobots, she initiates it by pressing a sequence of buttons on a keypad. Considering that these elements are all a part of the same computer, T-AI is in fact projecting and controlling the holographic representation of herself and making it use the keypad that controls T-AI, herself. She is effectively telling herself to tell herself what to do. If you also factor in the fact that the hologram is totally incorporeal, and therefore cannot actually make contact with the keypad, then the assorted beeps and lights that seemingly indicate when the buttons are being pressed are actually being controlled from within T-AI like a player piano, and therefore don't need to be pressed even if the hologram could press them. This gives me a headache."]] Of course, the RuleOfCool is definitely in effect.

** Similarly, holographic projections are commonly used for long distance communication, at least for folks important enough to make direct calls to Commander Shepard, a list that is generally limited to leaders or representatives of powerful organizations.

* Subverted in ''RevelationSpace'' by AlastairReynolds, when one character is being rude to what she thinks is a holographic avatar, only to find it's a real person she's talking to. "We used to use avatars, but they put up with too much crap."

* Nearly every Virtual Intelligence encountered in the game ''MassEffect'' is a perfect example of this trope. The one exception is the rogue VI found on Earth's moon. Its rogue status may or may not have something to do with this.

** EDI in the sequel inverts this in that she projects herself as a sphere of blue lights, but is a genuine self-aware AI.

[[caption-width-right:330:Okay, Projected Monogendered Female-Looking Alien. Sue us.]]

* Darien's sidekick Selma in ''TimeTrax''. She is almost a VirtualGhost, as her appearance was based on a photograph of Darien's late mother.

* Nearly every Virtual Intelligence encountered in the game ''MassEffect'' is a perfect example of this trope. The one exception is the rogue VI found on Earth's moon. It's rogue status may or may not have something to do with this.
** These are actually a special case; when a VI is designed for interpersonal interaction (such as Avina, the asari VI on the Citadel) it has a human- or asari-shaped projection. There's actually a VI in almost everything, from your omnitool to your biotic implant to your assault rifle. The rogue VI on the moon didn't have a projection because it was designed for organising drones for combat simulations, not for directing people to the nearest bar or restaurant.

* Cortana from ''{{Halo}}'', who is also a VoiceWithAnInternetConnection and arguably a MissionControl, with a good bit of PlayfulHacker thrown in. She briefly gets HardLight tech during Halo4 while on a [[AbusivePrecursor Forerunner]] ship.

* The move Double Team is depicted this way in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

* Reinforce Zwei was depicted as this in the DistantFinale of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha A's''. She's become a lot more solid since.

* Sora in ''VisualNovel/{{Ever17}}'' (at least until the True Ending, where she becomes a RobotGirl).

* The move Double Team is depicted this way in Anime/Pokemon.

* [[spoiler: Eliza]] of VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution is life live hologram.
** ''DeusExInvisibleWar'' also has NG Resonance, an international pop-star, whose holographic [=AIs=] are playing all over the world. The [=AIs=] can interact with people, and one is hard-pressed to tell that it's not an actual person. Interestingly, while the holograms are polite and friendly, the actual pop-star is a spoiled brat who doesn't care about anyone.