# You can't see me, yet I'm there

You can't see me, yet I'm there
Under blue or red, white or black

I decide if you will live
I can put you to sleep

I'm with you, as you can see
Whether home, on space or sea

There's no use running free
I will drag you back to me

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless
You'll be rendering your life useless

I can harm you, I can kill thee
Yet you crave me and you seek me

# Who/what am I?

Hint 1:

We've been through with each other

Hint 2:

It was you who started the fire, I just kept it alive

• This is starting to seem really broad with all the potential answers.... – North Feb 26 '18 at 2:29
• I think I'll start adding hints to avoid the vagueness – HugoBDesigner Feb 26 '18 at 11:20
• Hint 2 implies the answer is Billy Joel :) – Josh Feb 26 '18 at 13:04
• I did write that hint with the song in mind, so you're not completely wrong ;) – HugoBDesigner Feb 26 '18 at 13:06
• I still have no idea (everything I've come up with has been suggested as answers already). Following until an answer is accepted which is hopefully satisfying. – Josh Feb 26 '18 at 13:38

Are you

Air?

You can't see me, yet I'm there
Under blue or red, white or black

Under the sky: clear skies are blue, sunsets are red, cloudy skies are white, and nighttime is black. credit goes to @TheSpartan

I decide if you will live
I can put you to sleep

Air is necessary for life; Low air pressure or excessive carbon dioxide can make you drowsy

I'm with you, as you can see
Whether home, on space or sea

It's used in tanks for sea and space exploration

There's no use running free
I will drag you back to me

Running through it creates drag (air friction/resistance)

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless
You'll be rendering your life useless

If you poison the air around you, you are putting yourself at risk too

I can harm you, I can kill thee
Yet you crave me and you seek me

Gasses in air can be poisonous, even deadly, but some are necessary for life

HINTS:

Hint 1:

We've been through with each other - You go through air, and air goes through you (your lungs)

Hint 2:

It was you who started the fire, I just kept it alive - The oxygen in air is necessary to keep it alive

• This is a good answer, but try to address the other parts of the riddle okay? – NL628 Feb 23 '18 at 5:19
• You seem to mix up gasses and air a fair bit. Air is a mixture of gasses, and a gas is not necessarily considered air – HugoBDesigner Feb 26 '18 at 19:28
• i think it works because air is always comprised of gasses, but i can be clearer – J Chase Feb 26 '18 at 19:42
• "Under blue or red, white or black" -> how about a cloudless sky (blue), sunset (red), cloudy sky (white), and the night sky (black)? – The Spartan Feb 26 '18 at 21:22
• I've edited the answer in order to accept it, as well as some formatting :) – HugoBDesigner Feb 27 '18 at 12:21

Conspiracy theory:

The US Government

You can't see me, yet I'm there : Under blue or red, white or black

The voting states are either blue or red, the voters are mostly white or black

I decide if you will live // I can put you to sleep

The government can decide if you live, it can put you to sleep by with the death penalty.

I'm with you, as you can see // Whether home, on space or sea

It has a presence everywhere; federal regulations apply to things in your home, satellites in space, and its navy travels the seven seas.

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless // You'll be rendering your life useless

Treason, maybe? Maybe, possibly, this refers to the idea that without government Anarchy and Chaos would reign.

I can harm you, I can kill thee // Yet you crave me and you seek me

Harm? Check. Kill? Check. Yet we need roads and military and schools and the FDA, etc. etc.

• Hah, very creative! Unfortunately, not the answer I'm looking for. – HugoBDesigner Feb 23 '18 at 12:19

Are you

Gravity? Because gravity cannot be seen under normal light, a black light and obviously not red or blue. Gravity can also put you to sleep with G-force knocking pilots out when making tight turns. Gravity is everywhere, including home, in space or at sea. Gravity can almost always pull you back down hence "what comes up must come down". Gravity isn't a living thing meaning you cant kill it with poison. Gravity can harm you or even kill you if you fall from high enough and the new space race means that lots of rich people are clambering to get to other planets with their own gravity.

• Interesting and original answer! Welcome to Puzzling SE! – NL628 Feb 23 '18 at 5:18
• Interesting answer, but not the one I'm looking for :) – HugoBDesigner Feb 23 '18 at 11:33

Is it

Oxygen? Oxygen can't be seen, but you can make it into different colors by releasing those colored fog machine (although that's not changing oxygen's color). You can't live without oxygen, and Nitrogen Dioxide (aka laughing gas) is a sedative used in dentistry. Oxygen is everywhere breathable oxygen (O2), water (H2O) and oxygen compounds/isolated oxygen in space (though not very much). You can't run from oxygen, you'll always try to breathe it back in, Try to Poison oxygen (say with carbon dioxide) you hurt yourself, and oxygen in different forms are harmful (also oxygen is fuel for fire) but under asphyxiation of any form, you try to breathe oxygen in.

• i understand the red and blue part as it is the commonly used color to represent oxygen and nitrogen, but the black and white part is for hydrogen and carbon in this case, so maybe just air ? quite puzzling – Neil Feb 23 '18 at 1:29
• Techinically though there is no "air" in space or the sea.... – North Feb 23 '18 at 1:32
• I've updated the riddle to clear out the misconception about the colors – HugoBDesigner Feb 23 '18 at 2:29
• @North well you technically need air in space and in the sea... – NL628 Feb 23 '18 at 5:14

Are you a..

A Dream?

You can't see me, yet I'm there
Under blue or red, white or black


[You don't see a dream, you dream it. LOL. But it will always be there. Under black or white skin, under red or blue veins, tucked neatly in your brain.]

I decide if you will live
I can put you to sleep


[Dreams are what helps us sleep, keep us dreaming for it. They can also end lives, motivations once broken]

I'm with you, as you can see
Whether home, on space or sea


[Dreams are always with you, wherever you go. They are a part of what is human.]

There's no use running free
I will drag you back to me


[There will always be times one will turn back on a dream but everytime, there will be an opportunity that could present itself to go back to it and pursue it.]

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless
You'll be rendering your life useless


[Like in the 2nd stanza, if you kill a dream, it could very well end you (spiritually, mentally)]

I can harm you, I can kill thee
Yet you crave me and you seek me


[Similar to 2nd and 5th stanze, broken dreams can end you. But we will always seek them.]

• I'm pretty sure this is the correct answer :D – NL628 Feb 23 '18 at 6:02
• Very interesting approach, but not the answer I'm looking for :) – HugoBDesigner Feb 23 '18 at 11:35
• @HugoBDesigner Interesting. I am much looking forward to seeing the correct answer. But I think the colors explanation was very nice for this answer :D – NL628 Feb 23 '18 at 17:46

Are you

You can't see me, yet I'm there Under blue or red, white or black

It's always there, no matter what

I decide if you will live I can put you to sleep

Your subconscious makes a lot of your decisions, for example when you're tired.

I'm with you, as you can see Whether home, on space or sea

It doesn't matter where you are, you always have it

There's no use running free I will drag you back to me

Trying to ignore it won't work

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless You'll be rendering your life useless

????

I can harm you, I can kill thee Yet you crave me and you seek me

?????

• Clever answer, but not the one I'm looking for :) – HugoBDesigner Feb 23 '18 at 11:37

This is a long shot, but I think the answer is

Vision

You can't see me, yet I'm there
Under blue or red, white or black


You can't see a vision, but you have it regarding your eyes color.

I decide if you will live
I can put you to sleep


You can see the danger and run away from it. Thus you live. Close your eyes and you'll sleep.

I'm with you, as you can see
Whether home, on space or sea


You always have your vision with you. As you can see ;).

There's no use running free
I will drag you back to me


You can't run free without seeing. You'll have to open your eyes to get the vision of where you're going.

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless
You'll be rendering your life useless


Poison your eyes and you'll be blind. I am not so sure about useless though.

I can harm you, I can kill thee
Yet you crave me and you seek me


Don't have much for this currently.

• Interesting perspective, but not the answer I'm looking for :) – HugoBDesigner Feb 23 '18 at 19:29
• Oh well, it doesn't harm to try :p – Paul Karam Feb 23 '18 at 19:30

You can't see me, yet I'm there
Under blue or red, white or black


Mood is an intangible thing; the colors are reference to a mood ring

I decide if you will live
I can put you to sleep


I'm with you, as you can see
Whether home, on space or sea


Your mood is an innate part of you

There's no use running free
I will drag you back to me


Reference to being 'stuck in a mood'

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless
You'll be rendering your life useless


When you 'poison the mood' you make things miserable for yourself and everyone around you

I can harm you, I can kill thee
Yet you crave me and you seek me


A persistent negative mood can be painful and even lead to suicide, but we are always striving to be in a good mood

God

You can't see me, yet I'm there Under blue or red, white or black

God is always here, but we can see Him through His works. America (red and blue flag) was founded as one nation under God over all people.

I decide if you will live I can put you to sleep

Yep!

I'm with you, as you can see Whether home, on space or sea

God is always here.

There's no use running free I will drag you back to me

You cannot run from God.

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless You'll be rendering your life useless

God is all-powerful.

I can harm you, I can kill thee Yet you crave me and you seek me

Yep, and we crave and seek to know the Lord.

• Many atheist don't seek the Lord, nor do people of different beliefs besides Christianity. – North Feb 26 '18 at 1:05
• Also I believe God does not "drag" anybody to him... – North Feb 26 '18 at 1:07
• I may have the incorrect answer to the riddle, but I do believe people outside of Christianity seek God (i.e. Judaism, Islam, etc.). I also believe God can draw us to Him (John 6:44), drag might not be the right word, but I was just Trying to make it fit! :P – Crozier Feb 26 '18 at 2:08
• I don't know if trying to put Biblical stuff into something like this is appropriate. "Trying to make it fit" isn't a criteria in puzzling, and stretching riddles so it fits your solution is counter-intuitive when solving riddles (the solution should fit nicely. – North Feb 26 '18 at 2:28
• First thing that came to my mind was John Cena. – Manoj Kumar Jul 9 '18 at 1:31

Are you

Drugs (Pills)

You can't see me, yet I'm there

You cant actually see drugs as they are inside the pills

Under blue or red, white or black

Pills can be many colours

I decide if you will live

They can kill you if you have too many

I can put you to sleep

They can also put you to sleep

I'm with you, as you can see

They are inside your body once ingested

Whether home, on space or sea

Home space or sea

There's no use running free I will drag you back to me

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless You'll be rendering your life useless

If you poison drugs they will just kill you

I can harm you, I can kill thee Yet you crave me and you seek me

They can kill you but they are addictive so you cannot stop taking them

Are you

Nitrogen?

You can't see me, yet I'm there Under blue or red, white or black

Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air we breathe. It is one of the primary gasses in reflecting light in the atmosphere - showing us a blue sky, or a red sky depening on angle of viewing. The Nitrogen is still there even when we can't see the sky, for example under white clouds, or a black night sky.

I decide if you will live I can put you to sleep

We need nitrogen to live. If we don't have nitrogen in our bodies, amino acids cant function properly. Muscles deteriorate. We get sick, then we will cease to be. Nitrous oxide is used as a general anaesthetic which is used to "put you to sleep" when undergoing surgery.

I'm with you, as you can see Whether home, on space or sea

Nitrogen is everywhere. Nitrogen is part of the cholorophyll in plants on our planet. Scientists have discovered clouds of nitrogen in space. Nitrogen is also in the sea due to the nitrification process.

There's no use running free I will drag you back to me

There is no escape from nitrogen. Hah. Decompression sickness can occur if you try to rise from a deep dive too quick. Thus if you ascend too fast, you need to go back down to decompress at the correct rate and let the gasses release from your body at the correct rate. This is pretty weak though.

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless You'll be rendering your life useless

Grasping at straws now... Nitrogen Dioxide is harmful (NO2, Nitrogen "poisoned" with Oxygen). It can cause respiratory problems, which you know... can lead to death. It can also cause reproductive problems I think, which to some might render their life useless.

I can harm you, I can kill thee Yet you crave me and you seek me

Not enough Nitrogen can harm you, too much nitrogen can kill you. We need nitrogen, and seek it through the air we breathe. Alternative: Nitrous Oxide is a popular recreational drug, and incorrect use can result in death. But party goers want to get the short lived high and still seek N2O even when given the associated health risks.

You could be

Heart (Love)

You can't see me, yet I'm there
Under blue or red, white or black


You cannot see your own heart, yet we all have one, despite color or ethnicity

I decide if you will live
I can put you to sleep


The heart is responsible for sustaining your life. It can also put you to "sleep" in cases of heart attacks for example. Also, as the heart is the universal symbol of love, "sleep" could easily be translated as the hypnotic feeling of being in love, falling under the spell of a significant other.

I'm with you, as you can see
Whether home, on space or sea


Your heart is always with you, and you always keep thinking of your loved ones, whether you are by them, or traveling without.

There's no use running free
I will drag you back to me


Even if you get heartbroken, most of the times you still try to get back with that person. You can't help it, it just happens, defying logic.

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless
You'll be rendering your life useless


Literally poisoning your heart would end your life. Metaphorically speaking, poisoning your relationship or your own feelings would get you depressed and behaving in a bad mood, resulting in having no joy in life (and what is life without joy other than useless?).

I can harm you, I can kill thee
Yet you crave me and you seek me


As it is possibly the most vital organ for keeping you alive aside the brain, any mishap of the heart could harm you or kill you. Yet, we all crave happiness from love and seek to be loved.

I'm not sure whether this riddle requires certain knowledge to solve, still I will give it a try.

I guess you are

Copper conductor (copper wire)

You can't see me, yet I'm there

We usually can't see copper wires, since it is either covered with plastic jacket or built inside the concrete wall with jackets.

Under blue or red, white or black

Here comes the vital part: electrical wiring (wiring color code).
We sometimes may found more thinner wires with different colors inside a normal wire. These colors refers to different kinds of cable, such as neutral, ground and different phases from 2-phase/3-phase power. From the link above, blue, red, white and black are applied to wiring by different countries.
For the most obvious example, check Brazil's fixed cable color code.
(OP is from Brazil :D)

I decide if you will live
I can put you to sleep

Copper wire bring electricity to machines, which may capable to decide if someone will live (life support system such as ECMO) or fall asleep (some kind of smart appliances like Nest thermostat?).

I'm with you, as you can see
Whether home, on space or sea

Though copper wire is rarely seen under plastic jacket, we always knew the existence of those electrical wire, whether at home, inside the space station, or under the sea.

There's no use running free
I will drag you back to me

Many people can't live without electricity nowdays, especially a living place without any electrical infrastructure.

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless
You'll be rendering your life useless

Not sure about this part, poisoning cable sounds unreasonable. Yet, I am sure that those who throw any liquid on it may get a electric shock.

I can harm you, I can kill thee
Yet you crave me and you seek me

I think it is refer to electricity than copper wire itself. Electricity can harm, even kill me, but I need them to post on Puzzling!

Hint 1

"We've been through with each other"

Well, we surely been through about 200+ years.

Hint 2

"It was you who started the fire, I just kept it alive"

Wires doesn't produce electricity itself, they transfer electricity to make sure it won't vanish on the half way to the destination.

Hope?That is what i concluded from the hint.

Our hopes were there with us throught. Say we sought something in our mind (It was you who started the fire) but it is kept alive by our hopes (I just kept it alive) because we hope for a thing.

We can't see our hopes yet they are there. Whether under broad day light or night or under any other mood we hope for things to happen(blue and red can be considered as different moods of a person where blue represent calmness and red as alertness/danger/angry etc a person hopes under different moods).

Our hopes decide if we live as poisonous hopes can lead a person to end up life i.e. when they become hopeless. Regarding the line which says that I can put you to sleep, it can be considered as at night a person can fall asleep all the way while hoping for something.

Our hopes are with us all the way through, whether at home or whether we are in sea or space. No matter how hard we try not to hope , we end up hoping for something or the other in any situation in life i.e. we are pulled towards our hopes or vice versa.

If we poison our hopes or in other words having false hopes can make us have a tough time in life. As said earlier our own hopes can harm us and even kill us (if a person goes hopeless in life (!SUICIDE!) which we usually see happening in case when a person ends up his/her life because they become hopeless due to any kind of situation whether money problems,family problem or any other crises). Yet a person does not stop "hoping".

We always end up hoping. :)

• @Shane Hsu what did you meant be completing the incomplete spoilers ? – Maniraj Feb 27 '18 at 10:20
• The markup for a spoiler tag is >!, you wrote >. Welcome to Puzzling.SE! This is very well-detailed for a first answer, I hope you stick around. – F1Krazy Feb 27 '18 at 10:38
• @F1Krazy Thanks for the tip. Will remember that while answering any further questions. And yes will stick around HOPEFULLY, till my brain haggles around all those puzzles out there :).. – Maniraj Feb 27 '18 at 10:47
• any thoughts regarding my answer? – Maniraj Feb 27 '18 at 11:42

I believe you are

The sun

You can't see me, yet I'm there

Looking directly into the sun is not something someone does

Under blue or red, white or black

The air, in daylight, can appear to be blue, when the sub sets it might be red. Clouds might let the sky appear white and if the sun sets completely there is blackness.

I decide if you will live

We would not survive without the sun. And some places on earth might be to cold or dry to live, this all depends on the earth's axis

I can put you to sleep

We sleep at night, when the sun has set

I'm with you, as you can see

The sun is always there

Whether home, on space or sea

The sun can be seem from everywhere

There's no use running free I will drag you back to me

I believe this revers to the gravitational pull the sun has on the earth

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless You'll be rendering your life useless

We need the sun...

I can harm you, I can kill thee Yet you crave me and you seek me

This might refer to nasty things like sunburns and skin cancer. and now matter how bad those things might be, we will always seek out the sun for our own pleasure.

• Very interesting answer and surprisingly fitting! Unfortunately, not the answer I was looking for, but you did get one of the hints right :P – HugoBDesigner Feb 27 '18 at 12:01

Time.

You can't see me, yet I'm there // Under blue or red, white or black

We can't actually see the time (as a physical entity).

I decide if you will live // I can put you to sleep

As we say - Time decides when you will die. We see time before going to sleep.

I'm with you, as you can see // Whether home, on space or sea

Time is everywhere, the 4th dimension.

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless // You'll be rendering your life useless

You cannot change the time (your past etc.), its useless.

I can harm you, I can kill thee // Yet you crave me and you seek me

We all have bad times but still we keep on living.

PS: This is my first ever answer on Puzzling.

• Nice work, but not the answer I'm looking for. The colors are also part of the puzzle ;) – HugoBDesigner Feb 23 '18 at 12:42

## HERE GOES NOTHING

A sadistic girlfriend who just happens to be invisible.

You can't see me, yet I'm there // Under blue or red, white or black

She's invisible, but she's still there. Under a blue sky, white clouds, black hair or red hair? lol

I decide if you will live // I can put you to sleep

Well like, if she wants to kill you, you're pretty screwed. And obviously she can put you to sleep like any other girlfriend...

I'm with you, as you can see // Whether home, on space or sea

If you really like her and vice versa, I suppose she'll always be with you...even if you go to space?

Don't try poisoning me, it's pointless // You'll be rendering your life useless

If you poison her, you're going to go to jail for the rest of your life, which will probably make it useless.

I can harm you, I can kill thee // Yet you crave me and you seek me

Yeah she's sadistic so she always thinks about harming and killing you...too bad so sad. And you crave her and seek her? Sounds highly suggestive...

Probably not the best answer here, but like YOLO!

• That raises the question, how does one go to jail for killing an invisible person? Where's the evidence? :P – HugoBDesigner Feb 23 '18 at 11:39
• LOL you got me there. It's okay; I'll try and think of something else. – NL628 Feb 24 '18 at 6:25

Nothing.

The reasoning?

This riddle, similar to its original variation (unless i'm dreadfully wrong), is simply a wordplay. Replace the 'thing' in question with the word 'Nothing' and each statement playfully comes to life.

To recap, the version i remembered hearing was:

"I am Greater than heaven,

I am lower than Hell,

Rich People Want me,

Poor People Have me,

If you eat me,

You will die.

What am i?"

• Welcome to Puzzling! Could you add some details to your answer about how you came to this conclusion? Answers without explanation are sometimes marked for deletion. – puzzledPig Feb 27 '18 at 4:28
• Hi puzzledpig, ive heard a similar riddle before and im sure this riddle is the same in that only one answer suffices. In this case the word i have stated. Hope this prevents deletion – Naz Shah Feb 27 '18 at 4:31
• Could you explain though? In more detail? – NL628 Feb 27 '18 at 5:50
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