History Main / BeardnessProtectionProgram

* Radovan Karadžić, getting rid of his [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Evstafiev-Radovan_Karadzic_3MAR94.jpg flamboyant hair]] to acquire a [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a4/Radovan_Karadzic_2008.jpg dignified white beard]].

* In ''Film/DayOfTheWolves'', each of the Wolves is instructed to grow a beard before arriving to train for TheHeist, and then to shave it off after they have split up, so that none of their fellow thieves knows what they look like without the beard.

* After staging his own death in ''Film/EddieAndTheCruisers'', Jersey rock-star-in-the-making Eddie Wilson is revealed in the sequel to have developed a cunning dual strategy for concealing his identity: (a) [[SequelGoesForeign moving to Montreal]] and (b) growing a moustache. At the very end of the first film we see Eddie alive, watching a retrospective of his career on a TV in a shop window, with a big beard.

* In the film version of ''Film/TheFugitive'', the second thing Dr. Kimble does after escaping from prison is shave off his beard. (The first thing is to ditch his orange jumpsuit.) That is, Harrison Ford begins the film with a beard only to lose it after 20 minutes and look like himself for the rest of the film. It pays off--despite having a picture of Kimble ''in his hand'' as he speaks to him, a state trooper doesn't recognize him. This is an inversion from an early draft of the script, where Kimble would have ''grown'' a beard to conceal himself.

* Lampshaded in ''Literature/BoysLife''. Toward the end of the book we discover the man killed in the beginning had helped relocate a Nazi scientist. The victim's brother comes looking for him and, learning he's dead, believes the killer is the Nazi. He shows Cory's father a picture but explains that he's probably changed his appearance, and the easiest way to go unrecognized is to "shave your head and grow a beard." [[spoiler: The vet, who was much earlier described as a bald, bearded man, is the Nazi and the killer.]]

* In the Dutch childrens book ''Het geheim van Mories Besjoer'' (The secret of Maurice Bonjour) a French resistance fighter grows a big mustache and uses Monsieur Moustache as his alias, planning to shave himself clean if he ever had to flee from the Germans.

* Garion suggests this to Zakath when he joins them in the ''Literature/TheMalloreon''. (As Zakath is the Emperor of the largest nation in the world, his face is on almost every coin in Mallorea, which would tend to hinder attempts at stealth.) Zakath has no trouble complying, because he doesn't know how to shave. Garion's a little incredulous that a man at his level of power/paranoia would let other people near him with a straight razor.
* [[ZigZaggingTrope Doubly inverted]] in ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'' -- in order to impersonate the king, the protagonist shaves off his beard. He bears a remarkable resemblance to the King, but isn't identical, so someone could pick up on the difference. Both protagonist and king wear beards, but that the "king" suddenly chose to shave is a convenient explanation for why something about his appearance seems off.

** Ser Rodrik Cassel shaves his very impressive whiskers. Initially it's out of pragmatism -- they're on a boat, and he's badly seasick -- but it later becomes a disguise.

* UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin. After publishing ''On the Origin of Species'' he became very famous, but he wanted no part of the controversy that followed. So, to go about unrecognized, he grew his now iconic long, woolly [[WizardBeard beard]]. It worked so well that even his close friends didn't recognize him at scientific conferences. Ironically, the modern world wouldn't recognize him without the beard.

* No less than Osama bin Laden managed to hide successfully by shaving off his beard. The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbottabad_Commission_Report Abbottabad Commission Report]] reveals that it apparently worked so well that the Pakistani policeman who stopped the car he was in on a routine traffic check [[RecognitionFailure did not recognize him.]] Keep in mind that not only was bin Laden of unusual height (1.95 meters, or 6'5"), this was in ''2002'', right when his was one of the most wanted faces in the world. The Report was quite scathing on that point.

* UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein, who [[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saddamcapture.jpg grew a very large beard]] when he went into hiding from the U.S. army.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', Reacher Gilt has an elaborate beard as part of his pirate "look". He shaves it when he has to go on the run after his plans fail. Since he was planning on disappearing if his plans ''succeeded'' (before people started asking for their money back), he seems to have had this in mind from the start.

A man who is on the run or otherwise trying not to be recognized will often grow a beard as part of his attempt at concealment. The [[InvertedTrope inversion]] -- where a heavily bearded character shaves for similar reasons -- is also relatively common, doubling as an ImportantHaircut.

* No less than Osama bin Laden managed to hide successfully by shaving off his beard. The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbottabad_Commission_Report Abbottabad Commission Report]] reveals that it apparently worked so well that the Pakistani policeman who stopped the car he was in on a routine traffic check [[RecognitionFailure did not recognize him.]] Keep in mind that not only was bin Laden of unusual height, this was in ''2002'', right when his was one of the most wanted faces in the world. The Report was quite scathing on that point.

* Radovan Karadžić

* ''Literature/{{Serpico}}'' wears a large mustache, and later the hippy beard made famous in the movie, at a time when so-called plainclothes cops are [[PaperThinDisguise wearing regulation haircuts and shoes]]. When attached to Vice however he adopts a long flowing beard that works too well -- word soon spreads among the hookers to beware of "The Beard", and Serpico has to shave again on seeing prostitutes fleeing a bearded man trying in vain to pick them up.

* In ''Literature/TheWorldAccordingToGarp'' by John Irving, a paedophile molests a girl in the park, then shaves off his mustache in a public toilet to avoid the police. In the book's CrowningMomentOfAwesome after Garp chases down the paedo, the young victim is confused. After Garp ''paints a mustache on him with his own blood'', the girl recognizes him.

[[folder:{{Comicbooks}}]]
* In recent years, [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]] has tried once shaving his head, and another time growing a beard to disguise himself from the authorities pursuing him. Consequently, we got to see a bald Hulk and a fuzzy-faced Hulk.
* Shows up briefly in the ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' album "Machine qui rêve". The comic opens with a bearded man pursued by the authorities, who shaves his beard off in a bar's bathroom because his image is being broadcast on the news channels. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a movie the main characters are watching.]]
* An unusual version in an old ''ComicBook/JimmyOlsen'' story; Jimmy has been trying to invent something and he comes up with a mixture that causes fast hair growth while trying to make some kind of fuel. Later in the story, he sees that a couple of men are coming to get him and uses the mixture to grow a beard for a fast disguise.
* In ''[[ComicBook/JustImagineStanLeeCreatingTheDCUniverse Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating Batman]]'', Wayne Williams gets out of prison knowing that a local mob boss is after him, so he shaves his head bald and turns his goatee into a handlebar mustache.

* In ''ComicBook/SherwoodTexas'', Rob Hood grows a beard as part of his disguise when he adopts the identity of Loxley.

[[folder:{{Film}} -- Live Action]]
* In the film version of ''Film/TheFugitive'', the second thing Dr. Kimble does after escaping from prison is shave off his beard. (The first thing is to ditch his orange jumpsuit.) That is, Harrison Ford begins the film with a beard only to lose it after 20 minutes and look like himself for the rest of the film. It pays off--despite having a picture of Kimble ''in his hand'' as he speaks to him, a state trooper doesn't recognize him. This is an inversion from an early draft of the script, where Kimble would have ''grown'' a beard to conceal himself.

* ''Film/{{Following}}'': When "Bill" fears that a witness would be able to connect him to a robbery, he then gets a haircut and shaves his beard.

* In the first ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' movie, the Kurgan does a very messy job of shaving his head hair to evade police capture after several witnesses see him lop off a guy's head.
* In ''Film/DayOfTheWolves'', each of the Wolves is instructed to grow a beard before arriving to train for TheHeist, and then to shave it off after they have split up, so that none of their fellow thieves knows what they look like without the beard.

* The [=McManus=] Brothers evidently grew beards and long shaggy hair while hiding out in Ireland after the events of the first ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'' film. Before returning to Boston, they [[ImportantHaircut shave and cut their hair]].... then [[LampshadeHanging wonder why they did that]], when ''now'' they match their wanted posters, and ''before'' they "looked like UsefulNotes/JesusChrist."
* Clark in ''Film/ManOfSteel'', when WalkingTheEarth. He apparently finds time to shave off-screen while changing into the Superman suit (deftly dodging the age-old "Kryptonite razor" question...)

* In ''Film/AnneOfTheIndies'', Pierre grows a beard before going to Port Royale, so the British will associate him with the clean shaven French naval officer turned privateer.

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* The Literature/LordPeterWimsey books:

* In ''Literature/TheWorldAccordingToGarp'' by John Irving, a paedophile molests a girl in the park, then shaves off his mustache in a public toilet to avoid the police. In the book's CrowningMomentOfAwesome after Garp chases down the paedo, the young victim is confused. After Garp ''paints a mustache on him with his own blood'', the girl recognizes him.

* The ''Literature/JamesBond'' novel ''Literature/{{Moonraker}}'' has an example of the prepared-in-advance version.
* Garion suggests this to Zakath when he joins them in the ''Literature/TheMalloreon''. (As Zakath is the Emperor of the largest nation in the world, his face is on almost every coin in Mallorea, which would tend to hinder attempts at stealth.) Zakath has no trouble complying, because he doesn't know how to shave. Garion's a little incredulous that a man at his level of power/paranoia would let other people near him with a straight razor.
* [[ZigZaggingTrope Doubly inverted]] in ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'' -- in order to impersonate the king, the protagonist shaves off his beard. He bears a remarkable resemblance to the King, but isn't identical, so someone could pick up on the difference. Both protagonist and king wear beards, but that the "king" suddenly chose to shave is a convenient explanation for why something about his appearance seems off.
* In Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'', Primus shaves his beard. He doesn't expect to fool his rival, but simply to have an extra moment to react before he was recognized. Its effectiveness is never tested.
* Attempted by Buck Williams in the first ''Literature/LeftBehind'' novel, and is lampshaded by his boss Steve Plank, who comments how unnecessary he believes it to be.
* ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' records Cao Cao's rout by Ma Chao's forces, where they first target "the one dressed in red" - so he loses his red robe. Then they target "the one with the beard", and so he shaves his beard. [[RuleOfThree And then they start looking for "that guy with the shaved beard"...]]
* In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', Reacher Gilt has an elaborate beard as part of his pirate "look". He shaves it when he has to go on the run after his plans fail. Since he was planning on disappearing if his plans ''succeeded'' (before people started asking for their money back), he seems to have had this in mind from the start.
* Early in ''[[Literature/{{Deryni}} High Deryni]]'', Morgan and Duncan are depicted sporting beards and wearing the colours of the rebel leader Warin [=deGrey=] while gathering intelligence, partly among Morgan's own subjects. When they report to Kelson, the king comments on the fact he's never seen them with beards before, and Duncan notes how effective their disguises have been.
* In the Dutch childrens book ''Het geheim van Mories Besjoer'' (The secret or Maurice Bonjour) a French resistance fighter grows a big mustache and uses Monsieur Moustache as his alias, planning to shave himself clean if he ever had to flee from the Germans.
* In [[Literature/TalesOfTheBranionRealm "The Painter Knight,"]] two men wanted partly because of their religion shave their beards -- a clear sign that they are members of the ''other'' religion.
* In the {{Literature/Lensman}} books:
** In ''Gray Lensman'', Kimball Kinnison grows a beard to go undercover as Chester Q. Fordyce.
** It's also implied that Kinnison went bearded as Wild Bill Williams: "He cut his hair, and his whiskers too, with ordinary shears, as was good tecnhique."
* Lampshaded in ''Literature/BoysLife''. Toward the end of the book we discover the man killed in the beginning had helped relocate a Nazi scientist. The victim's brother comes looking for him and, learning he's dead, believes the killer is the Nazi. He shows Cory's father a picture but explains that he's probably changed his appearance, and the easiest way to go unrecognized is to "shave your head and grow a beard." [[spoiler: The vet, who was much earlier described as a bald, bearded man, is the Nazi and the killer.]]
* In ''Hell in the Palo Duro'' by Creator/JTEdson, Dusty Fog and Waco grow beards when they go undercover as as outlaws on the run to infiltrate the OutlawTown of Hell.
* In ''{{Literature/Dragonlance}}'', Tanis takes advantage of this several times, since as a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-elf]] he's able to grow facial hair unlike all but the oldest full-blooded elves and can pass for a human when he has one.
* ''Literature/{{Serpico}}'' wears a large mustache, and later the hippy beard made famous in the movie, at a time when so-called plainclothes cops are [[PaperThinDisguise wearing regulation haircuts and shoes]]. When attached to Vice however he adopts a long flowing beard that works too well -- word soon spreads among the hookers to beware of "The Beard", and Serpico has to shave again on seeing prostitutes fleeing a bearded man trying in vain to pick them up.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Barristan Selmy grows one during his ChekhovMIA.
** Roose Bolton sports one in "The Lion and the Rose" after having to smuggle himself into his own lands. The next scene includes him shaving it off.
** Tyrion grows a hybrid between this trope and BeardOfSorrow for Season 5.
* Duncan grows a beard like this near the end of the first season of ''Series/VeronicaMars''. It might also be a BeardOfSorrow; at the time that he grows it, he's both depressed and running away from home.
* In the pilot of ''Series/WhiteCollar'', Neal grows a beard in prison, and then shaves it off the day he escapes so he won't be recognized. He doesn't look all that different, but he ''does'' look just different enough to fool the facial recognition on the prison security cameras. Peter realizes he can figure out when Neal first decided to escape from prison by looking through past security footage for the day Neal stopped shaving.
* In ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'', a criminal had a thick beard but had it shaved once he got in the country.
* In ''Series/BreakoutKings'' the team figures that a big prison break was supposed to have another participant who missed the escape because he was sent to the prison infirmary. He stands out since he recently shaved his head so he would look different from his mugshot pictures.

* Regularly InvokedTrope in ''Series/{{Atlantis}}'', where a RunningGag is that Hercules's solution to everything is to "flee the city and grow beards!"
* In ''Series/{{Homeland}}'', terrorist leader Abu Nasir shaves his iconic and prominent beard when he infiltrates the United States. The change makes him unrecognizable even to the viewer.
* Inverted on ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'', when Dr. Mike fails to recognize her presumed dead fiance when he comes to town looking for her because of the thick beard he's grown.
* In ''Series/HowToGetAwayWithMurder'', Frank shaves his iconic beard to go on the lam after being implicated in a murder.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. In "Last Christmas", Clara Oswald wakes up to the sound of a reindeer-drawn sleigh crashing on her roof, piloted by two elves and a jolly bearded man in a red suit.
-->'''Clara:''' Are you Santa Claus?
-->''Extremely unconvincing denials ensue, then...''
-->'''Santa:''' All right, fine, yes. Yes, it's me. Ha! Guilty. How did you recognise me?
-->'''Elf:''' You know how you grew that beard as a bit of a disguise? People have picked up on it.

[[folder: Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': The Spy has a miscellaneous item called a "Camera Beard" that's equal parts this trope and ShoePhone.

* In ''Videogame/DeadSpace3'', we see that Isaac Clarke grew one between the second and third ''Dead Space'' games whilst trying to avoid EarthGov.

* In ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', a variation on the idea of growing a beard just to be able to shave it off for an easy disguise is the reason the McNinja family all [[HighlyVisibleNinja wear ninja facemasks at all time]]. If no-one knows what they look like, then when they really need to, they'll be able to take their mask off and disappear. Unfortunately for the good doctor, one of his arch-enemies [[spoiler: Frans Rayner]], has learned what he looks like under the mask. Now he's just waiting for an opportunity to use it to his advantage.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Zaheer shaves off the beard he grew in prison (and also shaves his head) in order to infiltrate the Air Temple in Republic City.
* There are a few ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' cartoons where Bluto shaved his beard to disguise himself, like ''Vim, Vigor and Vitaliky'', ''She-Sick Sailors'' and ''Parlez Vous Woo''.

[[folder:RealLife]]

* UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin. After publishing 'On the Origin of Species' he became very famous, but he wanted no part of the controversy that followed. So, to go about unrecognized, he grew his now iconic long, woolly [[WizardBeard beard]]. It worked so well that even his close friends didn't recognize him at scientific conferences. Ironically, the modern world wouldn't recognize him without the beard.

* In the 2002 film of ''Film/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', the Count does this, trimming his scraggly BeardOfSorrow into a refined nobleman's beard to pose as the Count. It even fools his love interest for a bit.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Creator/CharlieCox (Matt Murdock) and Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson) generally sport beards in real life, and have to shave them to play Matt and Foggy (Matt has PermaStubble, and Foggy is clean-shaven). In at least one interview, Henson has said that people generally don't recognize him when he does have his beard.

* In ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'', the "Gnome" you met at the start of the game is quickly revealed to have been a Dwarf, who shaved his beard ([[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame inconceivable to their culture]]) to flee from something [[spoiler:he was forced to work on the machine that would bring the BigBad back to Arcanum and managed to use it prior to full completion due to his small size]].

* The [=McManus=] Brothers evidently grew beards and long shaggy hair while hiding out in Ireland after the events of the first ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'' film. Before returning to Boston, they [[ImportantHaircut shave and cut their hair]].... then [[LampshadeHanging wonder why they did that]], when ''now'' they match their wanted posters, and ''before'' they "looked like JesusChrist."

* Inverted on ''Series/TheFlash2014''. The Earth-2 Hunter Zolomon was a prolific and well-known serial killer with an unkempt beard and hair. He was able to take on a whole new, equally-public identity [[spoiler: as "Jay Garrick"]] simply by going clean-shaven.

-->''Extremely unconvincing denials ensues, then...''