UnicoDreamA familiar face is almost always read as the dreamer's own feeling about that person, not as news about them. This needs saying first, because this group holds the dreams most likely to damage a relationship if misread.
Strangers tend to stand for a role rather than a person, which makes them easier to read rather than harder.
Body parts belong here too, since what is being read is still the human being.
This is the group where misreading does the most damage, which is why the point bears repeating: a dream about someone you know reports your own feeling about them, not their conduct. Interpretive traditions are unusually consistent on this, and they are consistent because the alternative causes real harm to relationships that were not in trouble.
People who have died form a distinct group within this category. They are rarely read as visitation. Most traditions read them as unfinished business — something not said, a question never asked — and grief research adds that such dreams are common during bereavement and become less frequent over time without intervention.
The dreamer's own role matters as much as the figure itself. Acting, watching, and being the one something happens to are read differently even when the other person is identical.
Body parts are included in this group, because what is being read is still the person. Hands stand for the capacity to act, feet for the path being walked, and teeth for something that holds everything up without being noticed until it loosens.