Invisibility cloak - overdone trope? Can I still use it?

If it works for your story, use it. As you note, items that grant invisibility date back to antiquity. Rowling has no more exclusive claim to it than Riordan or anyone else.

As for the mechanics - that's up to you. The term "invisibility cloak" is likely to be associated with HP for many readers, so I'd suggest some other term, or another enchanted item, but you can certainly use the idea. And an item needn't cover the whole body to affect it, in magic. The famed magic helm only covered the head, after all. Magic rings that affect the whole body (or the world) are nothing new in fiction (or in RPGs), and that only covers a little skin around one's finger; it's only a problem if you draw attention to it, or contradict it in your own magic rules. Write your rules to fit your story - ideally giving both advantages and disadvantages that advance the plot and create tension. (If you try too hard with the logic, you'll collapse the whole idea of magic anyway. Draw a line around your impossibility, and stick with it.) The same goes for what goes invisible when it's activated: if it works for your story to have clothes - say, clothes in direct contact with the skin - disappear, do that. If you have to be naked, or keep repeating an incantation under your breath, or it doesn't work in moonlight, do that. If it makes you "invisible" only in the sense that it somehow prevents people from noticing you (a common workaround if you don't want to deal with the mechanics of what goes invisible), do that. You're the god of magic in your world... use it as you see fit.

I wouldn't use a cloak. Even though it's not technically Rowling's, you're going to be accused of copying, and nobody needs that. I think a ring is out of bounds, too. How about something different? An invisibility potion? An incantation? Even having three wishes and using one of them for invisibility would be preferable, IMO.

I disagree. Why should HP own the invisibility cloak trope? How many stories use invisibility spells? Many.

There are real life invisibility cloaks. If one based theirs on actual science it could easily distinguish itself from magical cloaks.

I am biased a tad. My characters use heat cloaks to hide but then I'm writing sci-fi, not fantasy.

I wouldn't use it. For me, as reader, it instantly identifies with HP, and will therefore generate instant comparison.

Maybe an invisibility spray, in a handy aerosol can.

caw

Could you give your cloak a pedigree that reminds people the device predates Potter? Like:

She gasped. This was the fabled Mantle of Arthur, granting anyone who wore it invisibility.

or

He stroked the fabric. "You're sure this is the same cloak worn by the soldier who solved the riddle of the twelve dancing princesses?"

What about a hooded cloak where it's activated by pulling the hood on? (Or is that already done?) Now you see me - now you don't. I wouldn't worry about the technicalities of how it works or what it covers. Either you're invisible or you're not.

Good luck

How about the Hoodie of Invisibility? the Buttons of Invisibility? the Belt of Invisibility? the Pendant of Invisibility? the Overcoat of Invisibility? the Mask of Invisibility? There's endless possibilities in Invisibility artifacts, & you can make them work however you like for your story, since your story is yours and none of them exist. (If you're going to stick to real-world rules, the Cloak of Invisibility is a go, because they've made prototypes already.)

Rowling may not OWN the cloak of invisibility idea, but it is now so firmly identified with that one major work that it becomes automatically compared as a copy. Likewise Tolkien's idea of a ring that makes the wearer invisible. Best to find something new, IMO.

caw

Just call it a cape. "Pete? Where are you? I can hear you but I can't see you. What have you done?"

"Nothing. Are you blind or something?"

"Stop mucking about. This isn't funny."

Then discover Pete's pulled the hood up cos it 's raining or whatever. Or maybe he pulls it down because it's stopped raining and hey presto! He's back! Use imagination.

Good luck.

Bufty said:

Just call it a cape. "Pete? Where are you? I can hear you but I can't see you. What have you done?"

"Nothing. Are you blind or something?"

"Stop mucking about. This isn't funny."

Then discover Pete's pulled the hood up cos it 's raining or whatever. Or maybe he pulls it down because it's stopped raining and hey presto! He's back! Use imagination.

Good luck.

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Or, not a cape: the hoodie of invisibility! I like the hood up/hood down part. And, what would be more commonplace than a teenager in a hoodie? Unlike a cape, which stands out in a crowd until it goes invisible.

I LOVE the hoodie of invisibility. Obviously, it wouldn't work unless the story is set in a contemporary setting, but it's just different enough that I think you could get by with it.

CathleenT said:

I LOVE the hoodie of invisibility. Obviously, it wouldn't work unless the story is set in a contemporary setting, but it's just different enough that I think you could get by with it.

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I now need to add to my list of things I want to see before I die, a book in which the Rain Poncho Of Invisibility is used. Kind of like Unbreakable, but not with all the Bruce Willis stuff.

Cape of Fade, Cloak of Ether, Hoodie of Hide, Invisible Veil... all kinds of different words or phrases available.

Shadow, gone, disappear...

I wouldn't use cloak of invisibility... too tired.

Or, the Ugly Sweater of Invisibility.

Granny was a skilled witch, but a bad knitter. When she first sent me that Giant Sweater of Exceeding Ugliness, I was appalled. Then, I discovered that wearing it made me invisible. At first, I thought that people were merely looking away so as to not scorch their eyeballs, but, no, when I put the sweater on, no-one could see me, or what I was wearing. A blessing all 'round.

Bufty said:

What about a hooded cloak where it's activated by pulling the hood on? (Or is that already done?)

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Sheila, on the '80s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, had a hooded cloak that worked as you describe.

Am I the only one who thinks a cloak of invisibility is totally fine? Phrenic's right, calling it something different solves your problem, and taking from that idea, what if a cloak of shadows instead? So you have the built-in limitation that you have to stick to shadowed areas, or away from lights for it to work.

readers make associations. as you've said, people associate other stories with Harry Potter due to signifiers such as invisibility cloaks. it's unfortunate, but people will likely think of Harry Potter when they read that phrase. I would transfer the idea to another item, if possible

Phrenic said:

Hoodie of Hide

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frimble3 said:

Or, the Ugly Sweater of Invisibility.

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I think it's not that you *can't* do it... but that doesn't necessarily make it a good idea either. There are so many easy ways to get around it that I would spare myself the trouble.

My instinctual response to this would be to take into account other options, though as it seems you've already done this I would then say that if the item being a cloak specifically is really that significant to you then just follow your gut and go with the cloak! - but make it your own. What are the flaws to your cloak? What does it look like, feel like? Does it allow complete invisibility or partial invisibility? Are some people allergic to the fabric and incapable of using it? You can definitely get away with using a common instrument from something hugely mainstream if you make your take on it unique - JKR wasn't the first to write about wands after all, but she injected a unique magical charm to the entire relationship between wand/wizard and strange character-like nature to wands that made it enjoyable to read, even if it was something I had initially thought I had read before.

Just my two cents.

I agree with not using the word 'cloak' as it is too much associated with HP. Yes, this trope is used a lot, but it is also something that resonates with children and young adults. Hell, even I still wish I had one of those things and I'm 24 by now! So definitely go for it if it works in your story, I don't think there is any kid/teenager out there who will sigh "oh no, another invisibility clothing item" and stop reading.

I was at first going to say: "shouldn't be a problem" because the first thing I think of at reading 'cloak of invisibility' is Siegfried and the Nebelung saga and one or two fairy tales and most definitely not HP. But judging by the previous comments clearly many people do associate the two.

You could stress the mythological or fairy-tale link (if the story allows it) but in the end, really, you can't control people's reaction. HP is far more in the public mind that myths and fairy tales, so yeah, some people are bound to make the association and may even feel like you've copied it. People don't really need much to go on before thinking that. I remember hearing once "how that Tolkien-fellow obviously ripped off Brook's Shannara series."

If there is no real link with mythology possible, you might as well go with some random item of invisibility. It's magical anyway, you can get away with a lot without having to resort to complete and thorough explanations of how it works in the details.

I wouldn't use it, and certainly not without a significant spin. And I mean a bigger spin than just offloading the property onto another item. This isn't a cloak of invisibility, it's a girdle of invisibility! Largely because I think invisibility items are overused and run the danger of coming across as uncreative and cliched.

I confess that when I saw "Invisibility Cloak", my first thought was the old Dungeons and Dragons treasure list. At least, I think there was a Cloak of Invisibility in the First Edition DMG. I may be wrong. It's been awhile.

I was originally thinking that it shouldn't be a problem once the reader got past the initial "Hm, HP much?" reaction, but now I re-read your original post and saw that you're writing for middle-grade. So yeah, it could be problematic. And, of course, if you use a Ring of Invisibility, you're liable to draw comparisons to The Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, I don't have a solution for you. Let us know what you come up with.

underpope said:

I confess that when I saw "Invisibility Cloak", my first thought was the old Dungeons and Dragons treasure list. At least, I think there was a Cloak of Invisibility in the First Edition DMG. I may be wrong. It's been awhile.

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Had a ring of invisibility, but no cloak of invisibility, although I'm sure games were using them for years all the same.

Of the cloaks in the dmg, there was the cloak of displacement, which caused the wearer to be perceived as being in a slightly different location. And there was the cloak of elvenkind, which I believe sort of camouflaged the character's figure in a chameleon-type effect.