Invisible Vehicle, Visible Pilot
Sometimes an invisible vehicle acts as an Invisibility Cloak.
But other times it doesn't.
This trope happens when the vehicle itself is invisible, but the driver or pilot and passengers can be seen from outside the vehicle.
Examples of Invisible Vehicle, Visible Pilot include:
Comic Books
- Wonder Woman’s invisible jet is the classic example, if not the Trope Codifier.
Live-Action TV
- Wonder Woman's invisible airplane, in the late-1970s series, as seen in the image above.
Web Original
- Parodied in the "invisible bike" Caturday macro.
Western Animation
- Invader Zim: The Megadoomer
- SpongeBob SquarePants when Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy drive their invisible boat-mobile, they are both very visible while the boat is not.
- Played for laughs in Family Guy in a cutaway showing Wonder Woman sitting on what seems to be nothing (in what is supposed to be her invisible plane). Superman flies beside her and attempts to strike a conversation, but awkwardness ensues when she informs him that she was currently using the invisible restroom.
Real Life
- In WWI someone came up with a plane that had lots of parts that were clear. The engine and pilot were still visible, but from a distance, much of the plane being ‘invisible’ was helpful (e.g. avoiding detection from anti aircraft spotters). The idea turned out to be a failure: exposure to the sunlight quickly degraded invisible parts in a fashion that renders them non-transparent and flying through dust tend to make plastic surfaces matte as well.