History Main / BeneathNotice

** Also done in season 4 when they're hired to be undercover at a ''Series/HellsKitchen''-expy to protect the Albanian ambassador who is dining there that night [[spoiler: which AGAIN turns out to be a scam, this time on behalf of Malory who faked a bomb threat so she could get a table at the exclusive restaurant. The Albanian ambassador gets killed anyway, by the ''star chef'', having been paid off by Russian cyborgs Katya and Barry]]

** This is how Harv Hickman the [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Hugh Hefner]] {{Expy}} got away with having the Philosopher's Stone, an ''incredibly'' powerful magical object that could grant its owner's every desire, for ''decades'' without anyone attacking him for it or trying to steal it. Rather than using it for anything massive like to TakeOverTheWorld, immortality, power, or anything that would have drawn attention to it, he simply wished for money, women, and a little bit of fame making him look like your run-of-the-mill [[FamousForBeingFamous rich party animal]].

* ''Literature/RodAllbrightAlienAdventures'': The wealthy intergalactic criminal BKR [[HumanDisguise disguises himself as a human child]] to hide out undetected on Earth. As a bonus, this lets him vent his [[{{Sadist}} petty sadism]] on schoolchildren.

* Radio/TheShadow used to disguise himself as the janitor at police headquarters to gain access to information and no one paid him the slightest attention.

** The Collectors exploit this by having the Vorcha release their plague on Omega, a species considered vermin by the rest of the Galaxy. This also yields the side-benefit of causing civil unrest when it's discovered it's an engineered virus, as the two species who are immune are Humans and Vorcha... and guess where the finger falls on.

* In Michael Gilbert's ''The Amateur'', a man trying to rescue a child from kidnappers carried weapons on his back in a mailbag. The only crook who notices him believes him to be a mail carrier.

TheNondescript may be this. May result in TheDogWasTheMastermind. Related to TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse and JanitorImpersonationInfiltration. BeneathSuspicion is a subtrope, but should not be confused with this trope. FlawExploitation and BatmanGambit are supertropes, as successfully pulling this off depends on exploiting the pride of the one being evaded. See also HiddenInPlainSight and BathroomSearchExcuse.

** This is how Harv Hickman the [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Hugh Hefner]] {{Expy}} got away with having the Philosopher's Stone, an ''incredibly'' powerful magical object that could grant its owner's every desire, for ''decades'' without anyone attacking him for it or trying to steal it. Rather than using it for anything massive like WorldDomination, immortality, power, or anything that would have drawn attention to it, he simply wished for money, women, and a little bit of fame making him look like your run-of-the-mill [[FamousForBeingFamous rich party animal]].
---> '''Wonder Woman:''' Let me understand this. You possess the most powerful object in the world and yet all you wished for is money and women?
---> '''Harv:''' What else is there?

* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': Arcie and Kaylana infiltrate Mizzamir's castle by disguising themselves as servants hired on as temp workers for the multinational wizard's conference that Mizzamir is hosting at the time. When they need to get into the archmage's personal tower, Arcie grabs a tray of wine glasses and asks one of the permanent staff for directions, to which the butler's only reaction while giving the directions is annoyance over the fact that this meant that yet another part of the castle would need extra cleaning when the conference was over.

* In ''1942'', an alternate history book in which the Japanese occupy Hawaii after Pearl Harbor, the US Government covers up the existence of MAGIC (a signals intelligence unit capable of breaking Japanese encrypted messages) by claiming that the actual source of their intelligence was members of the serving staff of various clubs the Japanese officers coopted for themselves, who the enemy spoke freely in front of over meals and drinks without realizing that the waiters were bilingual.

* In ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'' this is [[spoiler: how Delta avoids suspicion. Everyone ignores him because everyone thinks that he's a blind and deaf guy in a wheelchair.]]

* The proletariat, or proles, in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' fall under this trope. Briefly: the novel takes place in the most oppressive police state imaginable, where even ''thinking'' unorthodox thoughts is treason. The whole Party - or ruling caste - is under intense, unending scrutiny. The proles, who are powerless nobodies, are considered too inconsequential to even worry about. Winston and Julia, the protagonist and deuteragonist, consider invoking this trope to evade the Thought Police.
** Revealed to be a subversion in later chapters: The Party is aware that the proles form the bulk of the population, and they know that if they keep proles ignorant by promoting a lifestyle of booze, gambling, and cheap pornography while giving them the impression that they can get away with things Party members can't, the proles will never pose a threat. And just to be totally sure, [[spoiler:they have Thought Police spies embedded within the prole population, one of whom turns in Winston and Julia after he rents them a room over his shop to privately have sex for pleasure (a banned activity)]].

* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', SerialKiller Yoshikage Kira exploited this trope to such an extreme to the point that he's considered TheGenericGuy by many. He deliberately came third in many competitions so he won't get noticed.

** One of the reasons why people don't recognize clumsy, passive, mild-mannered Clark Kent as Superman. Lampshaded by [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara Zor-El]] in ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'' when she wonders why nobody recognizes her cousin, until she sees a Superman statue, whereupon she realizes the Earth people regard him as their larger-than-life champion. Even if someone did manage to catch the resemblance, they would never assume that a PhysicalGod with every superpower known to man would ever choose to live as someone so mundane.

--> '''Robot:''' President Business, we're trying to locate the fugitive, but his face is so generic, it matches every other face in our database!
--> '''President Business:''' ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint Diabolical!!!]]''

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', it is explained Harry's parents tried to hide their house from Voldemort with the use of the Fidelius Charm. Said charm magically hides a location using someone's mind as a hiding place; the so-called Secret Keeper. The only way the location can be found is when the Secret Keeper chooses to divulge the information. Harry's parents invoked this trope by choosing the rather unassuming [[spoiler:Peter Pettigrew]] as Secret Keeper, thinking Voldemort wouldn't possibly even consider going after him. Unfortunately, said person willingly gave up the location to Voldemort.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Thane's loyalty mission has his backstory exposition include the [[StreetUrchin tunnel vent rats]], a group of orphans who live in the Citadel and acted as his spy network because nobody ever took notice of them.
-->'''Thane:''' My people call them "drala'fa", the ignored. They are everywhere, see everything, but they are never seen.

** Revealed to be a subversion in later chapters: The Party is aware that the proles form the bulk of the population, and they know that if they keep proles ignorant by promoting a lifestyle of booze, gambling, and cheap pornography while giving them the impression that they can get away with things Party members can't, [[IgnoranceIsBliss the proles will never pose a threat]]. And just to be totally sure, [[spoiler:they have Thought Police spies embedded within the prole population, one of whom turns in Winston and Julia after he rents them a room over his shop to privately have sex for pleasure (a banned activity)]].

* Subverted and then played straight in ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': In the ''Exiles Duology'', Alberich and crew need to find a spy who has recently arrived in Valdemar's capital. Alberich speculates that the spy has gone undercover as a servant in a noble house, but the other Heralds explain that he can't have done that--the nobles certainly wouldn't notice, but that's immaterial because the ''servants'' would never have let him in the door. The households of the wealthy are a tight-knit subculture, and getting hired without being related to or at least knowing someone who already works there is basically impossible. [[spoiler: It turns out their man is posing as a actor, which allows him to mix with his noble "fans" (ie, the slimy prince he's passing intel to) but still causes him not to be taken seriously (as acting, in a semi-feudal setting, is not a high-status job, and he takes pains to be seen as a frivolous womanizer).]]

** The [[GreaterScopeVillain true antagonist]] is [[spoiler:the gas station attendant who shakes your hand in the opening scenes of the game, she is Izanami]].
** The person behind most of the abductions (but not the actual murderer...it's complicated) is [[spoiler: Taro Namatame, a disgraced politician now working as a delivery man. He pulls off the abductions by walking up to the door of the intended target, ringing the doorbell and pretending it's an ordinary delivery. He can go anywhere he wants because nobody would give a delivery truck a second glance, no matter where it's parked.]]

* In the first episode of ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'', Kara worries that ClarkKenting might fool the average person, but surely not her boss, who sees her every day. James points out that Cat ''never'' really sees her.

** This saves Artoo and Threepio as they escape Leia's ship at the beginning of ''A New Hope''. An Imperial Gunner is about to destroy their escape pod, but holds his fire when a scan reveals there are no life forms aboard. Surely this Imperial is aware of droids, but considers them no threat.

** In ''Return of the Jedi'', Luke sends the two to Jabba's palace as tribute. Jabba accepts the gift. The possibility that R2-D2 has been sent on a covert mission doesn't enter his mind.
** In ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', Padme Amidala constantly dressed in regal royal attire behind face concealing makeup. She is always assisted with and surrounded by handmaidens with face obscuring cloaks. One of her key handmaidens in the film is Padme, who assists Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn while on Tatooine. In truth, the "Padme" on Tatooine is actually Queen Amidala dressed down and in disguise. No one, except possibly Qui-Gon, even noticed the Queen ever switch places with her handmaidens. Not only do all the handmaidens look alike, but no one pays attention to them because they are always in the background assisting others. Their role is expanded on in ''Literature/StarWarsQueensShadow''.

---> You see, part of the reason an assassin droid is so effective is because it is a droid. [[CallAHumanAmeatbag Meatbags]] tend not to notice us, we are treated as furnishings. [...] Droids tend to blend into the background. Like a bench. Or a card table.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' prequel story "How the Paladin Got His Scar", there is a sniveling, hunchbacked hobgoblin cleric whose pragmatic reasoning typically contrasts with his more warlike superiors. At the end of the story, the hobgoblin Supreme Leader, his general, and every other hobgoblin in the throne room ''except'' the cleric inexplicably dies from poisoned gouda. The cleric takes a more proper posture and admits that he's been faking his disability to seem less threatening for years, and the events of the story simply gave him the chance to pull his coup.

* Literature/SherlockHolmes occasionally makes use of the "Baker Street Irregulars", a gang of young street urchins, who because they are typically ignored by ''everyone'', can serve as his eyes and ears on the streets of London.