History Main / AngelUnaware

Often used to underscore the importance of SacredHospitality.

[[AC: {{Folklore}}]]
* In Chinese folklore, famous government officials (especially ones well known for a strong sense of justice) were said to disguise themselves in plainclothes to better [[strike: spy]] understand the people he was ruling over.
** This is also a very common thread in Arabian or Islamic folktales, too.
*** The Jewish folktale "TheSwordOfWood" has a king visit a cobbler without him knowing who he is.
*** This was probably where the King of Jordan got the inspiration to do it in RealLife (and more than once).
* Toyama Kagemoto is celebrated in both folklore and JidaiGeki for [[WalkingTheEarth Wandering The Earth]] (well, Japan at least) in disguise and righting wrongs after he reveals his true identity in dramatic fashion.

* Michael Valentine Smith from ''StrangerInAStrangeLand'' by Robert Heinlein is revealed to be The Archangel Michael of the Bible.

** More to the point, this trope was played straight with ArchangelGabriel, who had been hiding as [[spoiler: The Trickster]] since ''seasons'' prior.
*** He has been hiding on Earth for millenia and done such a good job of it that other magical beings and even non-Christian gods do not realize that he is an angel and not one of them.

** And then the season 5 finale happened: [[spoiler: [[AuthorAvatar Chuck]] finishes writing his story and vanishes with a knowing smile on his face. Debate is raging in the fandom about whether this means the writer was literally God.]]

* In DungeonsAndDragons the god Bahamut sometimes [[WalkingTheEarth walks the material plane]] in the form of an elderly man who is accompanied by seven trained canaries.

[[caption-width-right:345: [[CaptainObvious The shadow gives it away.]]]]

* In DnD the god Bahamut sometimes [[WalkingTheEarth walks the material plane]] in the form of an elderly man who is accompanied by seven trained canaries.

* In one version of ''LoveActually'', RowanAtkinson's character was going to be like this.
** He still is, they just didn't have time to make it explicit. The only thing that was altered in his 'storyline' is a shot of him fading away as he walks off at the end.
* ''MaryPoppins''. Only on celluloid. The original... not so much.
** Based on what some angels are described as doing in the Bible, the print-version of Mary would fit right in.

** In fact, this is also a very common thread in Arabian or Islamic folktales, too. This troper is particularly fond of the Jewish folktale "The Sword of Wood."

*** You must appreciate exactly how often this sort of thing happens in Greek and Roman tradition. Even the fact that Evander treated Heracles nicely as a stranger was treated as a throw away line in the ''[[TheAeneid Aeneid]]''.
**** In the Latin language, "hostis" means both "guest" and "enemy." So I guess someone who treated strangers nicely might have been a rare occurrence.
***** Oddly enough, not really. In Hellenic culture, civilisation consisted of laws inside the City State and a general morality outside it. The default moral obligation of a host was to care for a guest, prevent him from harm, while the guest had to respect the host and not kill/rob him. This basic, binary code of conduct was seen in Homer's time as the only thing holding civilization together, and the primary distinction between men and barbarians. And now you know!
****** [[GIJoe And knowing is half the battle!]]
* TheBible quote above refers to the hospitality that Abraham offered angels, making this OlderThanDirt.
** Also, in the story of Lot, two angels visit the city of Sodom and are put up for the night by Lot and his family, who protects his divine guests when his neighbors want to ''rape them in a mob''. Lot refuses to let the mob do so, even offering his own daughters instead, but the mob refuses, probably ''because'' the daughters were offered but the guests were taboo. You know your city is due for some righteous vengeance when you have ''rape mobs'' running around it.

** Also, in the story of Lot, two angels visit the city of Sodom and are put up for the night by Lot and his family, who protects his divine guests when his neighbors want to ''rape them in a mob''. Lot refuses to let the mob do so, even offering his own daughters instead- the old bastard- but the mob refuses, probably ''because'' the daughters were offered but the guests were taboo. You know your city is due for some righteous vengeance when you have ''rape mobs'' running around it.
*** A note on possible interpretations of the homosexuality theme: There's a [[http://www.religioustolerance.org/dixon_03.htm significant difference]] between the common and [[http://www.religioustolerance.org/hombibg192.htm scholarly interpretations]] of the story of Lot in Sodom, so [[YourMileageMayVary Your mileage may certainly vary.]]
**** It certainly does vary. Other scholars try to refute those earlier scholars, [[http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2004/0119behaviour.asp using the source material itself]] to help readers decide whose spin [[ItMakesSenseInContext makes sense in context]] and whose doesn't.
**** Also, the original Hebrew term could be translated to mean either people or men, so the original writers may have intended to have more than just the male population present. On the other hand, that a ''rape mob'' was running around is indisputable.
**** Its implied that [[AFeteWorseThanDeath raping travellers]] was something that regularly occurred in that area.
**** Also begs the question: why does it have to be an either-or? Can it not be that the cities were condemned for ''both'' being overrun by DepravedHomosexual mobs ''and'' for being ridiculously violent? We have comedies today like [[MyWayEntertainment The Juggernaut Bitch]] ''demonstrating'' how a ''combination'' can make someone despicable enough that others want him dead for ''multiple reasons'', but we somehow can't fathom what a town would be like ''[[{{Deconstruction}} if every single one of its inhabitants actually thought and acted that way]]?''
**** That they meant only to debauch the travellers is not, in fact, indisputable. The verb "know" is apparently not the same that referred to sex; it may have been more of a xenophobic lynch mob situation.

[[quoteright:350:[[{{Supernatural}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/castielwings_7960.jpg]]]]

[[AC:{{Mythology}}]]

* In ''VanHelsing'' the title character is almost implied to be one of these. He is in the service of God, is apparently immortal (he remembers fighting Romans at Masada, and was Dracula's murderer hundreds of years prior to the movie), and in the novelization he is said to have two scars on his back where wings may have been.

* AshesToAshes has [[spoiler: Gene Hunt revealed as one]] in its finale.

* Goodness, we didn't even mention [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almost_an_Angel Almost an Angel?]] Paul Hogan's status as an angel or merely a misguided human being deceived by his own beliefs and a few unlikely incients cause for little actual comedy, but some touching and well done scenes, right up to delightfully heartwarming conclusion. Hardly an epic film, but cute enough.

* In ''VanHelsing'' the titular character is almost implied to be one of these. He is in the service of God, is apparently immortal (he remembers fighting Romans at Masada, and was Dracula's murderer hundreds of years prior to the movie), and in the novelization he is said to have two scars on his back where wings may have been.

* Paladine, former chief god of the {{Dragonlance}} pantheon, now walks Krynn as an elf. In a more straight-up example, Mirror the Silver Dragon walked Krynn disguised as a blind human during the War of Souls. In an even ''more'' straight-up example, the gods that are still gods occasionally walk the earth in mortal form. Especially Reorx.