Mirrored image?

[king2wolves]

In Vampire movies, they can't see themselves on a mirror, so is it possible for human to see his or her werewolf form on the mirror,while still being in human form?

Here's an example

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/252 ... _scale%3A5

[Terastas]

I know we talked about this before, and I think what we came to was that a werewolf would only see his other form in the mirror in a symbolic/psychological way. Anything involving mirrors like that tends to go back onto defining vampires/werewolves/etc magically, and last I checked, magic was the unpopular method.

[KittyRose]

To me, I've always liked this concept of seeing your were-alter ego in a mirror. I think that it could be from stress and forcing oneself into denial (denying the fact that you are a werewolf in the first place). Plus mirrors can have a deeper meaning along with various symbolism.

[Rhuen]

I only like the mirror when its some magical Mirror of Truth type deal, like what some priests in some countries (like Japan) would use to expose shapeshifters and spirits for what they trully are.

It also goes that what we see is an illussion of the mind being created by the creature and a mirror only reflects what is actually there (mostly).

So the vampire being a ghost in the folklore was part of why it had no actual reflection as it was only visible in those cultures where the mirror thing originated for them to people who were either Dhampirs or the next victim of the vampire.

[RedEye]

Magically, Mirrors are usually tellers of truth when they are just plain glass and amalgam. The concept is that the eye can be fooled, but a mirror simply shows the image before it.
Anyone who has done any camera work around a mirror knows this to be pure crap: position it right and the mirror shows what you want it to show.
As to looking into a mirror and seeing your alter-ego, be it Wolf, Cat, Fairy, Mage, or whatthehell ever...that is pure alliteration. A Smooth human would see him/her self: not what they become or think they are.
A Wulf would see him/her self as well- and both Wulf and Smooth would probably reach for a brush or comb automatically.
Now, as to an enchanted mirror; it would do what it was magicked to do, whatever that was.
Black Mirrors are a category of their own: they are dangerous and should never be used for checking your hair, or anything else that isn't purely Magic.

[Terastas]

As to looking into a mirror and seeing your alter-ego, be it Wolf, Cat, Fairy, Mage, or whatthehell ever...that is pure alliteration. A Smooth human would see him/her self: not what they become or think they are.

Well no, they wouldn't literally see their wereform looking back at them in the mirror, but you could use the mirror symbolically to portray the way they view themselves. When people look in the mirror, unless they have amnesia, they won't see just some random human being staring back at them. We can recognize ourselves in the mirror, and we more often than not tend to attach things to the way we see ourselves.

The closest comparison to what I could think of would be in the movie What The [bleep] Do We Know?! when the central character is looking at herself in the mirror and sees her hips being as wide as she is tall. Obviously that's not literally what she's seeing, but it's an easy way of highlighting what she's thinking as she looks at herself without having to spell it out as if the audience is retarded.

No matter what a werewolf looked like outwardly, deep down, he knows he's a werewolf, so he might have trouble looking at his reflection and thinking of himself as anything other than a werewolf, which could be represented as a werewolf in the mirror. You could also turn that around, however, and have a werewolf think of himself as a human being, no different from anyone else except for lycanthropy in his system, and represent that as a werewolf looking in the mirror and seeing his human self.

As long as nobody else sees a different reflection in the mirror, I think the audience will be smart enough to know that it's all symbolic and/or psychological.

[Rhuen]

The problem with the camera is that like the mirror it too lacks a brain that can be tricked.

Kinda like the idea used in Wolf's Rain where machines and camera goggles (used in place of one's own eyes) would see past the illussion they made to look human and just show the wolves in their natural form.

In other words if a mirror can't see a vampire then they shouldn't be able to be photographed or cought on camera.
and if the human form of a creature like a werewolf is also just an illussion than the camera and photo should also see past it just like a mirror.

[Terastas]

The problem with the camera is that like the mirror it too lacks a brain that can be tricked.

Kinda like the idea used in Wolf's Rain where machines and camera goggles (used in place of one's own eyes) would see past the illussion they made to look human and just show the wolves in their natural form.

You beat me to it. There are two possible explanations I could think of to explain the illusions in Wolf's Rain:

1) The illusion works in the mind instead of the eye.
2) The illusion works specifically to fool the human eye.

The human eye is more complex than any electronic we've ever come up with, and it's wired directly to the brain. It's tough as a photographer because the eye immediately focuses in on whatever draws the brain's attention, but the camera doesn't automatically zoom in and focus like the eye does.

If an illusion is mental instead of optical, a camera or a mirror would see right through it because it doesn't have a brain.

In the case of Wolf's Rain, just about anything can break or tamper with their illusion: mirrors, cameras, light casting a shadow, physical contact, etc. On top of that, other animals recognize them immediately as wolves. Their illusion fools nothing but the human beings around them. I believe it's because humans are the only people they are trying to fool with their illusions; if it's designed specifically to fool the human eye, it won't work on anything else.

I don't recommend either for werewolves though, as the shift from man to wolf for werewolves is supposed to be physical.

[Teh_DarkJokerWolf]

To me, I've always liked this concept of seeing your were-alter ego in a mirror. I think that it could be from stress and forcing oneself into denial (denying the fact that you are a werewolf in the first place). Plus mirrors can have a deeper meaning along with various symbolism.

Oh well said Kitty Rose..I bet this would be a problem for those too that believe their were side is evil..Seeing wat is told through story an movies, but being able to see yourself in the mirror just. The same mood there as you are looking into the mirror..Pretty cool idea meh thinks

[Rhuen]

I don't recommend either for werewolves though, as the shift from man to wolf for werewolves is supposed to be physical.

This is why I never thought of those wolves as werewolves.

the mirror thing not only comes across as not "man becoming wolf" but it is (borrowed) from other monsters so it becomes just a stolen thing to add to them.

I would put the wolves in Wolf's Rain as "Sentient wolves" or "Mystical Wolves" long before I would ever classify them as "werewolves".

There was one werewolf in that anime though, that one noble who was a pain through the whole thing,and they did kinda give the impression that something like that might be what the "nobles" were (or somekind of vampires) given that the wolves said they smelled different than humans.

[WerewolfKeeper3]

Quickly writing so i apologize for not reading other posts.
i say sometimes, like when their really angry or upset.
(Shifts the shadow too.)
Usually only for a brief second, like someone thinking they saw something in the mirror, and decided they imagied it.

[PariahPoet]

Don't forget this one, I have a print of it on the wall in my bathroom. (by the mirror, of course)
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/32639755/

[RedEye]

Don't forget this one, I have a print of it on the wall in my bathroom. (by the mirror, of course)
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/32639755/

Now that is what I meant by alliteration. You see your other self looking out of the mirror at you. Wouldn't happen in real life, and no Were' would dare own one that did; but just that reflection carries enormous amounts of feelings and desires.
It also presents the Wulf as a non-monster...very important. You get the feeling that if they were to change places, they would still be the same person...Good! I'm gonna see if I can get a print of the picture, too.

[WerewolfKeeper3]

Agrreed.
Crap.
(Yes! i'm finally rubbing off on you.)
Shut it.
Anyway, i would think, just a thought, that humans wouldn't see it, but the were's would.
What do you think?

[Lycaeon]

This is my first post to the Den's forums. The question of the mirror and the werewolf is something I've been mulling over for a while, being a huge werewolf fan myself.
I would think that in human form one would see just a human and once tranformed, they would see the transformed version. I do think that one would be endlessly fascinated by the change itself and therefore would want to change in the mirror. I remember reading something of this sort while in elementary school.
Personally, I'd be very fascinated if I were a werewolf and transforming, I'd run to mirror every chance I'd get.

[Scott Gardener]

The seeing a wolf in the mirror would work well in magic-based storylines. In those of us who use biomolecular science explanations, we'd have to chalk it to hallucinations or creative visualization. Still, it's an interesting technique, and I'm surprised we don't see it very often.

[Rhuen]

The seeing a wolf in the mirror would work well in magic-based storylines. In those of us who use biomolecular science explanations, we'd have to chalk it to hallucinations or creative visualization. Still, it's an interesting technique, and I'm surprised we don't see it very often.

I see it fairly often, just not in werewolf movies.

Villians turned heroes often see their old selves in mirrors.

in the League of Extrodinary Gentlemen we saw it with Dr.Jeckle and Mr. Hyde and they talked this way.
The Hulk would see his relflection in hallucinations as his other self.
Spider-man with the suit on saw his other self.
and a scene cut from the movie but seen in the cartoon he once saw the face of venom in his own reflection when wearing the symbiote.

and we see it with characters having psychotic breakdowns in many novels, tv shows, and movies where they talk to their reflection and it will often take the shape, or dress of their other personality.

[Midnight]

And also Jessica / Nicki from "Heroes".

If a movie's supposed to be a psychological thriller sort of movie then I could see that sort of scene working well. Just give the audience enough room so that they can think it's what the character sees in the mirror, not what's actually there. A metaphor for something going on inside the character.

An good example of this sort of thing working well (but with something other than a mirror being involved) would be Lady Macbeth and the blood on her hands.

[Shadow_in_the_Moonlight]

maybe one could see ones other self in the mirror only if they are in denial. the whole idea of a werewolf is scientifically impossible, so IF they DO excist then there would HAVE to be some magic involved, otherwise it would simply be impossible. so, getting back to what i started to say, if one is in denial, there other self my try to assert itself, its excistance, as part of themselves, to the human. i imagine one of the most obvious ways of doing so is to force the human to igknowledge the wolf by temporarilly giving said mirror magical propeties and show the human what TRULY lay inside them. Idont think a were who has come to terms with who and what they are would have such difficulties. i would be damn scary though, to just look up and see a wolf where there should be a human looking back, eh? that would just make me piss my pants more'n anything

[king2wolves]

Maybe Transylvanian werewolves and vampires can see their other forms on the mirror.

[WerewolfKeeper3]

king2wolves Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:46 pm Post subject:

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Maybe Transylvanian werewolves and vampires can see their other sides on the mirror.

Hmm, good idea.
(Interesting thought. Still don't get the evil laugh thing though.)
Maybe he's a loco lobo.
(... never say that again please.)
Again with please? who are you and what have you done with WS?
(Shut up, you idiot!)
Never mind, it's you.
(Duh!)

[RedEye]

Maybe Transylvanian werewolves and vampires can see their other sides on the mirror.

You mean like the backs of their heads instead of their faces?

[Harry_Osborn]

Hmmm... Interesting question. I believe if it probably not physically like you see in the image from DA, bit maybe in another way as stated above. I am not quite sure. It may just be like a spiritual looking like thing, however I am FAR from a werewolf expert. I just happen to have a fascination with them. Anyhow yeah I can see where you are coming from since when you become a werewolf it is who you are and part of you.