History Main / VisibleToBelievers

* DoubleSubverted in ''Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes'' by Creator/HansChristianAndersen. A pair of con men sell the titular Emperor a set of "clothes" that are supposedly invisible to anyone unfit for his position or hopelessly stupid. It's subverted because of course there are no clothes, but double subverted because everyone pretends to see them because of social pressure and the fear of looking like an idiot.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* Yokai in ''Manga/GeGeGeNoKitaro'' are inly seen by humans who really believe in them willingly.

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* In the ''Nellie and the Dragon'' books by Elizabeth Lindsay, nobody can see Gertrude the Dragon unless they already believe she exists. At first, that's just Nellie, but later her best friend also comes to believe. Gertrude can still interact invisibly with people who don't believe in her, which gets Nellie into quite a bit of trouble.
* The children's book ''O'Diddy'' by Jocelyn Stevenson is built on this torpe, combined with a dose of AccidentalNightmareFuel: when an imaginary friend's child partner grows too old to believe in them, the imaginary friend is still around, but invisible and unable to interact with them in any way. The only way to avoid an AndIMustScream situation is to seek out another child to befriend. [[spoiler:Or to do what O'Diddy does at the end, and convince the grown up child to believe again.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', witches like Beatrice, and magic in general, can supposedly only be seen by those who genuinely believe in them in the human world. [[spoiler:That's because they don't actually exist in the human world.[[note:Those we see either live in the metaphysical plane, or are actually {{Imaginary Friend}}s.[[/note]] "Seeing" Beatrice only means that you know her identity and understand her true nature (i.e. that she is a character played by someone) -- as is the case with Genji, Kumasawa, Nanjo, and Maria (although the latter ''really'' believes Beato is a witch).]]]]

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', {{Perception Filter}}s are explained to work to this way. If you don't want to/don't have a reason to believe there's an anachronistic blue police box on the street corner, a second floor on your house that shouldn't be there, etc., then you simply won't see anything. But if you ''do'' want to believe there's something there, the perception filter falters and you become aware of the thing it was shielding.

* In the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series, a master of the Kurain channeling technical can host a dead person's spirit accurately and on command. During a channeling, the medium's physical body changes and she effectively becomes the other person. Phoenix Wright's assistants Maya and Pearl have done this in court, many times, yet very few seem to see the physical change (some, like Miles Edgeworth, seem actively resistant to seeing it due to a strong bias against spiritual powers).
* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', witches like Beatrice, and magic in general, can supposedly only be seen by those who genuinely believe in them in the human world. [[spoiler:That's because they don't actually exist in the human world.[[hottip:note:Those we see either live in the metaphysical plane, or are actually {{Imaginary Friend}}s. "Seeing" Beatrice only means that you know her identity and understand her true nature (i.e. that she is a character played by someone) -- as is the case with Genji, Kumasawa, Nanjo, and Maria (although the latter ''really'' believes Beato is a witch).]]]]

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' Raven guards three super powered children all the while telling the oldest one her imaginary friend isn't real but at the end of the episode he's what saved all their lives.

* In ''Manga/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', there is a deity called Oyashiro-sama that people believe in. They think a lot of things about it that simply aren't true. For instance, they call Oyashiro a guy, only the REAL Oyashiro is....[[spoiler:a FEMALE.]] Not only that, some people, like Takano, believe Oyashiro-sama approved of the horrible deeds that the villagers committed in the past. In reality, [[spoiler:Takano is the true monster, while Oyashiro-sama is nothing more than an innocent girl goddess who wishes for peace for her friends.]] However, for the majority of the series, Hanyuu is there, but invisible to everyone except for Rika and people who are at a high enough level on the Hinamizawa Syndrome.

* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "The Koos is Loose". Dee Dee has an imaginary friend named Koosalagoopagoop. Dexter is able to interact with him as well, but is skeptical of his existence. When Dexter, after constant pestering by Koosy, demands that he disappears forever by thinking him away, Koosy complies. [[DownerEnding It is only then that Dexter realizes]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone that he likes Dee Dee's imaginary friend almost as much as she does.]] Later on, it's revealed that Koosy still exists, with Dee Dee actually travelling to ''his'' world (where it turns out that she's ''his'' imaginary friend) and Koosy later showing up as a construct of [[ThePowerpuffGirls Bubbles']] imagination.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The banquet in ''Film/{{Hook}}''. Everyone starts gorging themselves around Peter, and he can't understand it. When they tell him to simply imagine the food, it finally appears. No, actually, judging by everyone's surprise after it happens, ''his imagination overrides '''theirs'''''.

* In ''Film/TheSantaClause'', in the Workshop, Judy the elf states this to Scott, adding, "kids don't need to see this place to know that it's there. They just... know."

* The short story "Faith" by Sherwood Smith revolves around this.

* Unicorns in ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'' are visible as themselves only to those who believe they exist -- otherwise they look like horses. This leads a witch who imprisons a unicorn for a side-show to create an illusionary second horn that everyone sees.
* ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'': When the Pevensie children are returned to Narnia for the first time, at first only Lucy sees Aslan. Edmund doesn't see Aslan but he believes her (since she was right about Narnia [[Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe the first time]]) but the older Peter & Susan veto Lucy, thinking that either she's fibbing or imagining things. But after they've been lost for hours they finally give in and let Lucy lead the way - Lucy is following Aslan. Slowly, Edmund & Peter start to see him. Eventually even Susan sees him, even though she sees him before she admits to it.
* ''Literature/{{Parzival}}'': When Parzival and his pagan half-brother Feirefiz enter the Grail Castle, it turns out Feirefiz cannot see the Holy Grail because he is not a Christian. As soon as Feirefiz has renounced Jupiter and let himself be baptized, he can see the Grail.
* DoubleSubverted in ''Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes'' by Creator/HansChristianAndersen. A pair of con men sell the titular Emperor a set of "clothes" that are supposedly invisible to anyone unfit for his position or hopelessly stupid. It's subverted because of course there are no clothes, but double subverted because everyone pretends to see them because of social pressure and the fear of looking like an idiot.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', {{Perception Filter}}s are explained to work to this way. If you don't want to/don't have a reason to believe there's a blue anachronistic police box on the street corner, a second floor on your house that shouldn't be there, etc., then you simply won't see anything. But if you ''do'' want to believe there's something there, the perception filter falters and you become aware of the thing it was shielding.

* In the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series, a master of the Kurain channeling technical can host a dead person's spirit accurately and on command. During a channeling, the medium's physical body changes and she effectively becomes the other person. Phoenix Wright's assistants Maya and Pearl have done this in court, many times, yet very few seem to see the physical change (some, like Miles Edgeworth, seem actively resistant to seeing it due to a strong bias against spiritual powers).

* Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' appears when enough people in the general vicinity believe in his existence.

* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Literature/VoyageOfTheBasset'' (and the {{film}} it inspired, ''VoyageOfTheUnicorn''); the titular ship's motto, "Credendo vides", is translated in - universe as "By believing, one sees." In fact, a more accurate translation of the latin might be "you believe as you see".

[[folder:Film]]

* DoubleSubverted in "Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes'' by Creator/HansChristianAndersen. A pair of con men sell the titular Emperor a set of "clothes" that are supposedly invisible to anyone unfit for his position or hopelessly stupid. It's subverted because of course there are no clothes, but double subverted because everyone pretends to see them because of social pressure and the fear of looking like an idiot.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', PerceptionFilter{{s}} are explained to work to this way. If you don't want to/don't have a reason to believe there's a blue anachronistic police box on the street corner, a second floor on your house that shouldn't be there, etc., then you simply won't see anything. But if you ''do'' want to believe there's something there, the perception filter falters and you become aware of the thing it was shielding.

[[folder:Mythology]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

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[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

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* In the [[Franchise/AceAttorney]] series, a psychic practice of channeling deceased spirits exists and can be performed by a master accurately and on command. During a channeling, the medium's physical body changes as she effectively becomes the other person. Phoenix Wright's assistants Maya and Pearl have done this in court, many times, yet very few seem to see the physical change (some, like Miles Edgeworth, seem actively resistant to seeing it due to a strong bias against spiritual powers).

To the skeptic, when the door slammed on its own, it was "just the wind". When TheHero suddenly got his HeroicSecondWind, it was [[ItWasWithYouAllAlong because they believed in themselves]], and surely not the invisible MacGuffin everyone else believes in. However, the point to this trope is that the skeptic is ''wrong'', because [[RuleOfPerception the story tells us the thing they don't believe in is there]]. The degree that the skeptic can't perceive the object may vary, such as being able to feel, hear or otherwise sense ''something'', but not completely know what. Or they may not perceive the thing ''itself'' in any way (passing right through it, for example), but be able to detect its effects on the surroundings, such as other objects moving by themselves.

This is an object that, in order to see it (or hear it, touch it, etc.), you have to already believe it's there. However, this doesn't change the fact that they ''are'' there, even if you have no way to sense them.

* In ''Manga/{{Higurashi}}'', there is a deity called Oyashiro-sama that people believe in. They think a lot of things about it that simply aren't true. For instance, they call Oyashiro a guy, only the REAL Oyashiro is....[[spoiler:a FEMALE.]] Not only that, some people, like Takano, believe Oyashiro-sama approved of the horrible deeds that the villagers committed in the past. In reality, [[spoiler:Takano is the true monster, while Oyashiro-sama is nothing more than an innocent girl goddess who wishes for peace for her friends.]] However, for the majority of the series, Hanyuu is there, but invisible to everyone except for Rika and people who are at a high enough level on the Hinamizawa Syndrome.

* Fairies and elves are this way in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. There's clearly a scene in which Puck is interacting with confused non-believers, who can't see him even though he's right before their eyes. Those that believe in fairies, however, can see him with no problem.
* In ''Manga/{{Higurashi}}'', there is a deity called Oyashiro-sama that people believe in. They think a lot of things about it that simply aren't true. For instance, they call Oyashiro a guy, only the REAL oyashiro is....[[spoiler:a FEMALE.]] Not only that, some people, like Takano, believe Oyashiro-sama approved of the horrible deeds that the villagers committed in the past. In reality, [[spoiler:Takano is the true monster, while Oyashiro-sama is nothing more than an innocent girl goddess who wishes for peace for her friends.]] However, the for the majority of the series, Hanyuu is there, but invisible to everyone except for Rika and people who are at a high enough level on the Hinamizawa Syndrome.

Compare EnlightenmentSuperpower, PowerBornOfMadness, AchievementsInIgnorance, ImaginaryFriend, NotSoImaginaryFriend, InvisibleToNormals and LivingDream.

* Fairies and elves are this way in ''{{Berserk}}''. There's clearly a scene in which Puck is interacting with confused non-believers, who can't see him even though he's right before their eyes. Those that believe in fairies, however, can see him with no problem.

* In ''TheSantaClause'', in the Workshop, Judy the elf states this to Scott, adding, "kids don't need to see this place to know that it's there. They just... know."

* Unicorns in ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'' are visible as themselves only to those who believe they exist -- otherwise they look like horses. This leads a witch who imprisons a unicorn for a side-show to create an illsuionary second horn that everyone sees.

* JapaneseMythology has this system in place for the "kami", the gods/spirits/ancestors that control natural phenomena. In Shinto mythology, the kami are {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of natural phenomena, objects, or concepts that reside in an "invisible world" outside of human perception, but that is still part of the real world. In order to see them, the first step is to already believe they're there, but that's not the only requirement. OnlyThePureOfHeart will be able to fully see and interact with them.

* In ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'', witches like Beatrice, and magic in general, can supposedly only be seen by those who genuinely believe in them in the human world. [[spoiler:That's because they don't actually exist in the human world.[[hottip:note:Those we see either live in the metaphysical plane, or are actually {{Imaginary Friend}}s. "Seeing" Beatrice only means that you know her identity and understand her true nature (i.e. that she is a character played by someone) -- as is the case with Genji, Kumasawa, Nanjo, and Maria (although the latter ''really'' believes Beato is a witch).]]]]

* Played with in the webcomic ''CountYourSheep'', where Katie's "imaginary friend" Ship is real, but can only be seen by certain people. At first that's Katie and Katie's mom Laurie (whose imaginary friend Ship was when she was Katie's age), but later the strip introduces Laurie's mom -- who can see Ship, but repeatedly denies that she believes he exists ''even when she's talking to him and there's nobody else around'' -- and Laurie's CoolBigSis -- who ''can't'' see Ship, even though she believes he exists.

[[folder::WesternAnimation]]
* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in the ''DextersLaboratory'' episode "The Koos is Loose". Dee Dee has an imaginary friend named Koosalagoopagoop. Dexter is able to interact with him as well, but is skeptical of his existence. When Dexter, after constant pestering by Koosy, demands that he disappears forever by thinking him away, Koosy complies. [[DownerEnding It is only then that Dexter realizes]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone that he likes Dee Dee's imaginary friend almost as much as she does.]] Later on, it's revealed that Koosy still exists, with Dee Dee actually travelling to ''his'' world (where it turns out that she's ''his'' imaginary friend) and Koosy later showing up as a construct of [[ThePowerpuffGirls Bubbles']] imagination.
* In one episode of ''TeenTitans'' Raven guards three super powered children all the while telling the oldest one her imaginary friend isn't real but at the end of the episode he's what saved all their lives.

* DoubleSubverted in "TheEmperorsNewClothes'' by Creator/HansChristianAndersen. A pair of con men sell the titular Emperor a set of "clothes" that are supposedly invisible to anyone unfit for his position or hopelessly stupid. It's subverted because of course there are no clothes, but double subverted because everyone pretends to see them because of social pressure and the fear of looking like an idiot.

* DoubleSubverted in "The Emperor's New Clothes'' by Creator/HansChristianAndersen. A pair of con men sell the titular Emperor a set of "clothes" that are supposedly invisible to anyone unfit for his position or hopelessly stupid. It's subverted because of course there are no clothes, but double subverted because everyone pretends to see them because of social pressure and the fear of looking like an idiot.

* DoubleSubverted with in "The Emperor's New Clothes'' by Creator/HansChristianAndersen. A pair of con men sell the titular Emperor a set of "clothes" that are supposedly invisible to anyone unfit for his position or hopelessly stupid. It's subverted because of course there are no clothes, but double subverted because everyone pretends to see them because of social pressure and the fear of looking like an idiot.

* Unicorns in ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'' are visible as themselves only to those who believe they exist -- otherwise they look like horses.

* The banquet in ''{{Hook}}''. Everyone starts gorging themselves around Peter, and he can't understand it. When they tell him to simply imagine the food, it finally appears. No, actually, judging by everyone's surprise after it happens, ''his imagination overrides '''theirs'''''.
* The title character in ''DropDeadFred'' is an ImaginaryFriend who was sealed in a Jack-In-The-Box for many years, until his creator accidentally releases him. Presumably if he hadn't been sealed up he'd have been out in the world even if he had no longer been believed in.