History Main / TheShadowKnows

** The [[http://www.impawards.com/1999/star_wars_episode_one_the_phantom_menace_ver1.html teaser poster]] for ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' shows the child Anakin Skywalker casting Darth Vader's shadow, which can be seen as the picture on the {{Foreshadowing}} page.

* In a [[http://www.storminforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Smallville-Season-10-Poster.jpeg poster]] of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Clark casts a [[{{Superman}} caped shadow]].

* Simply for depiction's sake, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing from ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' provides the trope picture. Nothing has actually been shown yet of his shadow being that of his true werewolf form.

* The titular ''Webcomic/{{Erma}}'''s grandfather looks like a hunchbacked, frail, even kindly old man. His shadow, though, is that of a jagged warrior, and can stretch for ''miles''. There is a reason he is both TheDreaded and ruler to the yokai, and it is not because he is weak.

* The [[http://www.impawards.com/1989/posters/warlock.jpg poster]] of ''Film/{{Warlock}}'' has the good-looking villain casting a shadow showing him for what he really is: [[TheAntichrist a being of pure evil]].

* The famous 1893 ''Puck'' cartoon [[https://library.osu.edu/site/cartoons/2017/10/04/new-exhibits-looking-backward-looking-forward-and-cartoon-couture/looking-backward-joseph-keppler/ “Looking Backward”]] shows five well-dressed gentlemen from TheGildedAge trying to stop [[AnImmigrantsTale a poor immigrant]] from disembarking his ship, while their shadows show that [[BoomerangBigot they were once poor immigrants themselves]].

* In ''Film/GhostRider'', the scene when Johnny is signing the contract that will enable Mephisto to transform him into the Ghost Rider features a couple lightning flashes that illuminate Mephisto's shadow and offer a brief glimpse at an outline of his true form, which vaguely resembles the appearance of his comic counterpart and is clearly far from human.

* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'' and ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'', you can unlock an alternate costume of Sparda, the main character's demon father. While he looks like an ordinary (if, very, very pretty) human, the shadow he casts is of his [[SuperMode demon form]].

* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' and ''Devil May Cry 3'', you can unlock an alternate costume of Sparda, the main character's demon father. While he looks like an ordinary (if, very, very pretty) human, the shadow he casts is of his [[SuperMode demon form]].

* A [[DownplayedTrope very subtle]] example in [[https://youtu.be/e4HfFwVy-h0 this animatic music video]] for Music/SuppersReady, the [[FalseProphet Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man]] uses a hand clasping the sun as his symbol on a window above his congregation. When he captivates his audience with a show of his [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic abilities]], the firelight makes his shadow combine with the symbol on the window, making the hand now appear to be twisted horns on his head, [[TheAntichrist hinting at who he actually is]].

* Part of TheReveal in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Almost Got 'Im". In the commentary, the animators admit it makes no sense, but it's [[RuleOfCool such a great visual they kept it in the episode]].

* In "Film/TheFaculty" around the end of the film, the Hive Queen [[spoiler:tries to appeal to Casey, using the Marybeth disguise she's been using for the whole film. The shadow in the room, however, is a tentacled mass that keeps moving and nearly covers it, all coming from a average-sized teenager.]]

''Manga/{{Cuphead}}'' has a scene where he and Mugman are pleading with the Devil, whose taunting them with the throat slash gesture. His shadow, however, is shown to have already decapitated them. It doesn't indicate anything (except maybe for how difficult the game is and how players can die a lot when playing).

* Used at least once in the AnimatedAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/{{Spawn}}''; in the second episode, the fat little midget [[MonsterClown Clown]] casts the lanky, eerie shadow of the Violator, his true form.

%%* The [[http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/lseUMLyGxIYNaTbJn5ytwnc2iuJ.jpg poster]] for ''Film/WhatAboutBob''.

** Speaking of Batman, this trope is used in the Elseworlds one-shot ''Batman of Arkham'', where Bruce Wayne ran Arkham Asylum to cure the insane criminals he turns in as Batman during the early 1900's. Jonathan Crane appears as a secondary antagonist, and while he never becomes the Scarecrow, his shadow is shaped like one.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Castiel]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/castielwings_7960.jpg does this on purpose]] to reveal his true nature.

* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': A variation on this occurs on [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-10-page-04 the cover of Chapter 10]], whose meaning is more symbolic than literal. The page prominently features the {{magical girl}} Heartful Punch in the foreground, while the shadow of a different girl holding a spear can be seen against the background. This girl turns out to be Heartful Punch's mother, the former magical girl Moonlight Spear, whom this chapter reveals [[spoiler:was killed in a monster attack years ago and [[BequeathedPower transferred her power as a magical girl to her daughter]]]].