History Main / ClarkKenting

* Briefly used in ''Film/TheRoom'':

* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'''s Katsura Kotaro does this frequently. He most often dresses up in a pirate costume and calls himself "Space Captain Katsura" (yes, he actually uses his real name), though he has also used "Katsuo" on an occasion (as in, Mario from ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'') with his pet/companion Elizabeth taking on the role of Luigi. With the exception of the three main characters, no one else ever recognizes him. He even spoils his own disguises sometimes, whenever other characters call him by whatever name the disguise is supposed to represent, he reacts with his CatchPhrase "It's not X, it's Katsura."

* Both Jafar and Jasmine fail to recognize "Prince Ali" as WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}, in spite of the fact that he's done nothing to alter his appearance or voice (other than [[SheCleansUpNicely clean up]]). Both catch on, though Jafar only when he sees that Aladdin has the lamp and Jasmine when she remembers his CatchPhrase. In the latter's defense, she ''did'' think he was dead and did sense something familiar about him when she got a good look at him.

* Subverted ''hilariously'' in ''Film/GreenLantern2011''. Hal Jordan tries to disguise his voice while speaking to Carol Ferris. It works for about a minute, but as soon as she gets a good look at him she knows who he is. This is made even funnier by the fact that the scene is a direct homage (location, camera angles, entrance, music, etc) to the famous balcony scene from ''Film/{{Superman}}''.

* Subverted in the classic Richard Donner ''Film/{{Superman}}'' films, whose take on this trope has [[CanonImmigrant migrated to canon]] in at least some comic continuities. Christopher Reeve's vastly differing portrayals of Clark Kent and Superman really made you feel that he could get away with the disguise. To play the role of Clark Kent, he wore the glasses and slicked his hair back, sure, but he also slouched, stammered, and raised his voice by an octave so that there was a tangible difference between Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent and Christopher Reeve as Superman. This is most obvious in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIaF0QKtY0c this scene]] from ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' where he's [[UnConfession about to tell Lois the truth (but doesn't)]], and in ''Superman II'' where she figures it out on her own. All Reeve does is stand up straight and speak in his normal voice and suddenly he's another person. ''Superman II'', ''3'', and ''4'' also throw in a form of ObfuscatingStupidity to the mix by making Clark TheKlutz to add to the disguise.

* ''Franchise/LupinIII'': Even as a {{master of disguise}} who regularly employs LatexPerfection, the titular thief often relies on a pair of glasses and a change of clothes for a disguise. Sometimes justified in that most people don't know what he looks like.

* ''Anime/KumaKumaKumaBear'' has a unique case of this, when Yuna dresses in a school uniform, with her regular appearance, to attend a school festival with some of her friends. Absolutely no-one, ''including her friends and close allies'' recognises her on first sight, since she's seen almost constantly with her bear hood up and in a shape-concealing bear costume, meaning she self-disguises herself '''''constantly'''''.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' plays with, subverts, and justifies this two different times in two very unusual ways. The first is with [[SupermanSubstitute All Might]], a titanic and muscular powerhouse whose punches can alter weather patterns; however, it's revealed that his muscular form comes from his power and, as he puts it, "flexing". When he stops "flexing" he returns to his true form: a completely unassuming guy who is skin-and-bones, thanks to an old wound that limits how much he can use his powers continuously. Early in the story All Might chooses the [[{{Unsorcerer}} Quirkless]] Izuku Midoriya to [[SuperEmpowering inherit his powers]], but they have to keep it a secret lest villains realize that the "[[BigGood Symbol of Peace]]" is weakening. A few people like Endeavor along with some of Midoriya's classmates have noticed and commented that his [[SuperStrength Quirk]] is very similar to All Might's, but due to Midoriya's initial usage always injuring him, most of them dismiss it as similar but very different.

** Played straight in the OVA series - this was one of the main reasons why Sasami didn't want to be Pretty Sammy (the other was that the costume is ridiculous). However, when she goes on her first fight, no one recognizes her, so she takes it as a good sign. However, there were only three [=OVAs=] made, so it's not known if they would have went the TV route.
* ''Manga/BlackButler'' often has Sebastian go undercover at certain locations. His disguise? A pair of oval glasses, his hair slightly brushed back and different clothes. Particularly noticeable during the Weston College arc, where he easily is not recognized by most characters that know him. Pointed out on one page, with Marquise Midford and Elizabeth recognizing him instantly. Yet Edward, who has not only seen Sebastian being Ciel's butler, but is also a student at the school, never recognized him until it's spelled out to him.
* In fact, ''most'' {{Magical Girl}}s look similar to their civilian counterparts, and before the 2000s, they usually looked ''exactly the same''. Modern series like ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'', ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' and ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'' tend to change the characters' [[HairColors hair colour]], eye colour and hairstyle to something extravagant enough that it would certainly distract any onlooker enough not to notice the magical girl's identical face. [[OnlySixFaces Maybe it wouldn't matter much if they did, anyway.]]

*** ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' has this with the fairies: whenever they need to be around the girls and not raise suspicious, they tend to just go limp and act like dolls and no one really questions why three teenaged girls are toting around strange dolls (though Itsuki does get a pass somewhat - around that time, she was starting to really loosen up). The only time the fairies don't act like this is around little kids.
*** In ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'', they are three people who tries ClarkKenting. The first one is Ako Shirabe/Cure Muse/[[spoiler:Princess of Major Land]] would make Clark Kent green with envy -- switch her personality to a DeadpanSnarker. It work like the charm.
*** As long as her airheadedness doesn't get in the way, the second one -- Hammy, the Cat-Fairy -- can ClarkKenting as a originally Earth cat.

** Every disguise put on by Team Rocket for the main characters, ever. In fact, the only "disguise" the main characters ''didn't'' fall for was "invisible suits" consisting of black suits with veils over their faces, and those managed to fool James's parents (the joke is somewhat LostInTranslation, as said "invisible suits" are actually outfits worn by ''bunraku'' puppeteers, who by tradition are ignored by the audience as they perform). Except when they're using a disguise for something wholly nonthreatening, like Pokémon contests. During contests, Ash and Brock occasionally speculate that Jessilina is actually Jessie, then hand wave it (mostly because Jessie only ever has two useful Pokémon at a time and the heroes recognize them when used).

* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'''s Katsura Kotaro does this frequently. He most often dresses up in a pirate costume and calls himself "Space Captain Katsura" (yes, he actually uses his real name), though he has also also used "Katsuo" on an occasion (as in, Mario from ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'') with his pet/companion Elizabeth taking on the role of Luigi. With the exception of the the three main characters, no one else ever recognizes him. He even spoils his own disguises sometimes, whenever other characters call him by whatever name the disguise is supposed to represent, he reacts with his CatchPhrase "It's not X, it's Katsura."

* Exception: In ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', the only reason the characters aren't recognized on sight is the fact they tend to fight [[PhantomZone slightly out of phase with reality]] -- on the one occasion a non-mage saw them, they proceeded to spend the remaining two episodes of the season raving about how nothing made any sense any more. The Wolkenritter also had to avoid being with Hayate whenever Nanoha and Fate came to visit her lest they figure out that Hayate was the master of the Book of Darkness (Shamal even noted that they probably should have used disguise magic).
* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Ranma is able to trick Ryōga into thinking that female Ranma is his sister, just by putting on fake fangs and a head band (and despite the fact that Ryōga has ''no'' sister). This is neither the first, nor the last time Ryōga falls for [[WigDressAccent such a disguise]]. However, it only works on Ryōga. Akane can still tell she's Ranma (and in one occasion she doesn't even realize he's supposed to be disguised), though in the above case she is temporarily confused by Ryōga introducing "Yoiko" as his sister, not having realized [[SuperGullible how thick the Lost Boy could be]] until Ranma reveals himself.

** The [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]] dodged this trope completely -- many people do recognize the Senshi out of costume, most notably Mamoru when he meets Usagi again after having seen her as Sailor Moon, Haruka and Michiru, who deliberately keep their distance, and numerous villains that target the Senshi one by one outside of battle without ever having met them before. A few minor characters also recognized the girls if they knew them as civilians and then later saw them as Senshi. Yet oddly Zoicite even notices that Usagi has the same hair-style as Sailor Moon, yet shrugs it off as the current fad. Also, most of the later villains could sense the Senshi by their energy, rendering the whole secret identity thing pointless.

** In the LiveActionAdaptation ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'', the Sailor Senshi have black or brown hair and more or less plausible hairstyles in civilian forms, but the TransformationSequence changes their hair to resemble the the styles and colors seen in the anime. It never explains why, but it's a lot more plausible as a disguise. And with such a radical change in appearance, Ami ''still'' recognizes Usagi at first glance. Then again, she is a genius. And the best part? Even when they're transformed, ''they address each other by their civilian names.'' In front of everyone. Go figure. This was possibly carried over from the original edition of the manga, where they do call each other by their real names, although with some of the manga villains being able to recognize them anyway, this was at least excusable. Additionally Minako recognises Rei as Sailor Mars instantly when the two accidentally bump into each other in their civvies.
** This goes both ways, as many recurring villains are never recognised from one flimsy disguise to the next. In fact, most of the villains "diguises" are just a change of clothes and nothing else. Jadeite was probably one of the worst, frequently appearing in public without even so much as a mask or glasses. The Creator/DiC English dub created an even more hilarious example - his name had been changed to "Jedite" and he was disguising himself as a priest named "Jed." Serena, who knows his name ''and'' his face, doesn't recognize him simply because he's changed his clothes.

--->'''Jadeite:''' This plan will surely work this time, because my glasses to disguise myself are ''much'' better than last episode's.
** Also in the anime the Senshi themselves can't even see through each other's Clark Kenting without being clued in. They only recognized civilian!Minako because Artemis was with her despite meeting her as Venus in the previous episode. The first few appearances of Haruka and Michiru had them appear as shadows while in civilian form, then once their civilian form was introduced this stopped and it still took a number episodes for Moon and the Guardian Senshi to discover they were the same people (As well as the reverse) even thought it's blatantly clear to the viewers. Setsuna also has to tell Usagi who she is though she seemed to had guessed at it.

'''Luna''': It was probably that your hair is pretty... unique. And you you don't wear a mask.

** [[http://www.sailorenergy.net/SMMiniMangas/InfoTheorySSIdentities.jpg Fanon often explains that]] [[AWizardDidIt the Senshi's transformations incorporate a "disguise field" preventing anyone from recognizing them, unless that person sees them transform or is close to their civilian identity and has a reason to put two and two together.]] It's as good an explanation as any.
** {{Justified}} in one occasion in the anime for Sailor Moon: Kaolinite ''had'' guessed that Usagi was Sailor Moon, but as soon as she shouted it Sailor Venus (whose job description in the manga and live action includes being Sailor Moon's BodyDouble) showed up in disguise and fooled everyone. [[PaperThinDisguise It wasn't really a good disguise]], but [[LargeHam Sailor Venus]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvALBIfDB9c hammed it up enough that Kaolinite and the Outers fell for it anyway]]. There is also a season 1 episode where Zoicite is disguised as a fake Sailor Moon - and saves an innocent. Usagi is among the crowd of people that sees this, which could throw Naru off the scent... At least until R, when she all but admits to Usagi she guessed it.
** Also {{Justified}} in an incident in ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'': police inspector Wakagi sees Minako and ''does'' associate her to Sailor V, but ''immediately'' chastize himself for it because lately he's grown so obsessed on Sailor V he ''mistakes for her every single girl who wears a ribbon in her hair''.
** Another justification in the manga is that most people don't ''want'' to believe that ditzy Usagi, crazy Minako, shy Ami, stoic and cynical Rei and (alleged) bully Makoto are a group of [[LargeHam hammy]] superheroes. The only one who could be discovered is Minako, who is incredibly hammy even as a civilian... Except the one time her childhood friend Hikaru met Sailor V she acted meeker than usual, throwing her off course.

** Harry himself goes incognito at the ''Willgem'' excavation site by putting on civilian clothes and a pair of normal glasses. Although he employs his usual tacky fashion sense (bright yellow-black argyle sweatervest and a pink shirt) and makes no effort to disguise his voice, it's sufficient to fool not only Loran but ''Queen Dianna''.

* On the first glance, Lelouch from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' doesn't clark-kent, the full face mask and all. But on the other hand, if you remember that Nunnally is blind and tells people apart by their voices... Yes he does.

*** Lelouch also changes the demeanor considerably; as himself he's a soft-spoken, kindly big brother as far as Nunnally is concerned, while as Zero he is a megalomaniac LargeHam.

*** It helps that nobody knew that there would be Britannian princess present at all, so they weren't looking for her. Also, at this point Euphemia is not very important, as far as the Britannian royalty goes, and not that many people know how she looks.
** Lelouch and Nunnally are also exiled Britannian royalty, and they hide in plain sight under their real first names but using the made-up last name Lamperouge. Granted, they were somewhat obscure, were only kids when they were exiled, and the world at large thinks they died when they were kids, though one wonders what would have happened if one of their siblings looked at a phone book or a Ashford yearbook. It's likely that since the Ashfords are ''hiding'' the siblings means they likely have a set up to avoid that possibility. Of course, they are officially dead and who will look in a "commoner" school for royalty?
* Subverted in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Ryuusei no Rockman]]'' and ''Ryuusei no Rockman Tribe''. Subaru Hoshikawa saves Luna Shirogane's life (several times!), but she does not know it is him. She has a crush on Rockman, and ironically, he is the same kid who goes to school with her and at whose house she tries to bake food for Rockman. Kizamaro Saishoin was one of the first to suspect that Subaru's real identity was Rockman, and by Ryuusei no Rockman Tribe, it's common knowledge to both him and Gonta Ushijima. Paradoxically, Luna refuses to admit this, and for the most part no one (even Subaru!) points out any of the many flaws in her logic. Eventually, however, as the series moves on, she seems to start like Subaru as well as Rockman, and in a touching moment before Rockman enters the Denpa-wave zone, she calls him 'Subaru' and tells him she is supporting him.

** Could be considered a RunningGag in the anime, whenever Maria tries to make herself incognito, she always chooses a pair of spectacles which has the effect of attracting gazes/confessions from guys AND being identified almost immediately from those she's trying to disguise from.

* ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'''s usual costume plays this trope already quite straight, but in ''Anime/KaiketsuZorro'', all Diego does is put on a cape, a hat and a less covering than usual mask that doesn't hide his friggin' hair!

* ''Literature/FateZero'': Berserker's distinct armor is unrecognizable to other characters thanks to his Noble Phantasm "For Someone's Glory". For Someone's Glory is normally an ability that allows the user to disguise themselves as another person, but Berserker's Mad Enhancement makes him unable to use the skills full potential without the use of Command Seals. Thus, For Someone's Glory manifests itself as a black, foggy BattleAura, which still obscures his appearance to other people and hides his status and parameters. While the audience are able to see his appearance, the characters only see a "black thing" and they cannot grasp his shape. Once For Someone's Glory is deactivated, characters who knew him in life are instantly able to recognize his armor and identity.

** In ''Yume Kira Dream'', Yumemitchi and Kiraritchi use their Yume Kira bags to transform into and gain the skills of a specific occupation. While transformed, they look enough like their normal selves that you'd think people would recognize them, but it's implied the bags may somehow changes their appearances to others more than they think and nobody notices [[spoiler:until Nandetchi realizes it]].
* Played with in ''Manga/ExcelSaga''. Matsuya undoes her ponytail and puts on a pair of glasses when she sneaks into a ILL Electronics store to look at the merchandise. Sumiyoshi spots her immediately. Her "Eeeeek!" at being discovered was uncharacteristic and quite charming.

* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': When Ichika starts gaining fame as an actress, she takes to wear a pair of thick glasses while in public to avoid drawing attention.

* Parodied in the ''ComicStrip/{{Bizarro}}'' [[http://safr.kingfeatures.com/idn/ck2/content.php?file=aHR0cDovL3NhZnIua2luZ2ZlYXR1cmVzLmNvbS9CaXphcnJvLzIwMTMvMDQvQml6YXJyb19wLjIwMTMwNDE5XzM4NS5naWY= strip for April 19th, 2013]]. Batman wears glasses in an attempt to hide his secret identity, but fails because he forgets to take off his Batman costume.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Progress}}'', Princess Luna wants to learn more about modern life, having spent a millenium as SealedEvilInACan, so she disguises herself as the mortal pony Miss Selene. To [[JustifiedTrope avoid being recognized]], she uses [[AppliedPhlebotinum a magic amulet]] that [[PerceptionFilter causes onlookers to not register the fact she is who she is]]. The shape of the amulet? [[ShoutOut A pair of glasses.]]
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': Alison Carter is a borderline example when she appears in the sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past'' - she didn't have a dual identity, and her status as the first Agent 13 and later, Deputy Director of SHIELD (Retired [[spoiler: until after ''Forever Red'']]), wasn't hidden, but SHIELD itself was. Her son-in-law (among others) thought she was just an ordinary government official who travelled a fair bit. However, she ''does'' carefully disguise the fact that [[spoiler: she's the daughter of Captain America and Peggy Carter, is a SuperSoldier as a result, and hasn't aged since her mid-twenties]] with careful application of specialised make-up and loose, long clothing that helps conceal her build. It works pretty well, but it's heavily implied that the main reason it works is because like many examples of this trope, no one knows to look.

* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Subverted. Asuka takes an effort into masking her ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' identity, including using a blonde wig and a mask when she's in her superhero persona. However most of her face remains visible. And [[spoiler:[[SecretSecretKeeper Misato and Rei may have figured things out, though]].]]

* Parodied for all its worth in ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8937860/1/ Hiding in Plain Sight]]''. After Harry defeated Voldemort, he ended up having lasik surgery performed. And since then, every pureblood that looks at him without the lensless glasses he carries around mistakes him for someone completely different. Deciding to play with it, he introduces himself as [[ShoutOut Clark Kent]], even explaining [[LampshadeHanging "Clark is another bloke who no-one recognizes when he takes his glasses off. I'm guessing he won't mind if I borrow his name."]] But he isn't the only one in on the action. After mistaking ''Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet'' for a documentary, Amelia Bones (head of the aurors) decides to [[AdultsDressedAsChildren try it herself]] by sending, among others, [[{{Gonk}} Alastor Moody]] in disguise. And to make things even worse, their [[PaperThinDisguise disguises]] [[IdiotBall work on the purebloods as well]], so none of them can figure out why they have a bunch of six-foot-tall first-year students.

* Played straight in ''Fanfic/TheInstituteSaga'' where Clark Kent is a part-time teacher at Bayville High, until someone outs him to the world as part of a political attack that backfires spectacularly.
* Toward the end of ''Fanfic/OriginStory'', after Alex Harris decides to act as a superhero under the name [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Superwoman]], her partner Louise insists that she keep a SecretIdentity. To do that, she starts wearing a pair of glasses and a dark colored wig as Alex Harris. Even she admits, though, that she mostly relies on the fact that people are too busy staring at her CleavageWindow to notice her face when she's in costume.
* In ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', Prince Blueblood is able to disguise himself by removing his trademark suit and messing up his mane. It works mostly because hardly anyone is aware he's no longer a vain, self-centered jerk, so they would never associate a dirty, unregal looking pony with him.
* In ''[[Fanfic/AdoptedDisplaced Batmare Beyond]]'', Rarity realises she runs the risk of being identified as the new "Batman" if she lets herself be seen, as she's the only known unicorn on Earth, and plans to avert this using magical illusions. However, when she ''does'' get photographed in costume and printed in the newspaper, no one makes the connection despite Rarity being in another photo (from a Wayne funded charity auction) on the same page, in more or less the same pose and with the same facial expression. This leads her to declare that, "The entire population of Earth are ''morons''!"

* In ''Fanfic/TheDarkSideOfTheMirrorVerse'', the MirrorUniverse version of Discord is a superhero called Captain Goodguy, just like in the IDW Comics. His secret identity consists of wearing a tench coat and glasses, without making any attempt to hide the fact he's a Draconequus. This at least works on some ponies, including Mirror Fluttershy. In part because she assumes Sir Discord is BlindWithoutThem, so taking his glasses off to fight crime makes no sense. That and [[EvilCannotComprehendGood she can't imagine a]] RealityWarper would purposefully masquerade as a powerless person.

** In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/15597090/chapters/36212475 Nino Has Done Nothing To Deserve This,]]'' the magical identity protection stops working on Nino and Alya. Two seconds later they've figured out their identities, because holy ''crap'' those idiots are bad at this.

** In the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' crossover ''Fanfic/WhatTheCatDraggedIn'', Natasha explains that despite there being countless pictures of the heroes, even a statue, people are utterly incapable of making any actual connection between them and specific people. Image recognition software is likewise stimmied. Tony can't even put a guess on Ladybug's age, when he is normally famous for knowing ages at a glance because it helps him avoid literal [[JailbaitTaboo Jailbait traps]].

* In ''Fanfic/TheSecretReturnOfAlexMack'', Alex goes to a lot of effort to physically distinguish herself from her new superhero identity of Terawatt. Terawatt wears high heeled boots, and usually floats a bit off the ground to appear taller, while Alex always wears flats. Terawatt wears a long blond wig, while Alex has cut her hair short. The Terawatt costume includes a padded bra…
* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', the Eri of Earth 2014.05 forges an identity as "Ringo Raiku", a six-year old reporter at a local radio station who is attending Jaguchi City Elementary School to hide from the Eight Precepts of Death. To do this, she dyes her naturally white hair red and puts on a pair of Beebo blue glasses.
* In ''Fanfic/LifeOreDeath'' this trope is variously subverted, averted, justified, and reconstructed at different times, even by the TropeNamer himself. In one arc, Superman disguises himself as "Carl Keanes," a legally blind man with a Seeing Eye dog, and mentions that Batman gave him lessons. That said, he still is clark Kent in daily life, and there are two explanations for how he gets away with it. 1) Kryptonians have [[HumanAliens a different arrangement of facial muscles]], so by making faces he can drastically change his looks. 2) Earth-16 humans are suggested to have decreased facial recognition abilities, as Ferris and Miss Martian both recognize faces in ways their teammates repeatedly fail to.

** Parodied in ''In Hand and Foot'' as Doreen Green wonders how Jessica Jones discovered her secret identity as Squirrel Girl. An incredulous Jessica relates Doreen doesn't wear a mask, doesn't disguise herself and, oh, yes, has ''a giant squirrel tail'' sticking out behind her.
* ''Fanfic/EntirelyOutOfSpite'' has the incredulous Ajax wondering why Zhongli wasn't immediately outed as the Geo Archon since he walks around with his ''very'' distinctive SupernaturalGoldenEyes and a giant geo symbol stamped on the back of his coat. However, it might be justified by Rex Lapis ostentatiously appearing once a year for the Rite od Descension -- attended mainly by ''tourists'', so Liyue's residents have nothing but rumors -- as a giant floating dragon, and when he dons a more humanoid disguise for interacting with the Adepti, he's wearing a hood to obscure most of his face and has several unusual features such as a tail. Compared to that, Zhongli appears fully human, if rather quirky in his tastes, so flies under the radar.

* ''Fanfic/FateKaleidPrismaTaylor'': Averted. When Taylor transforms into the magical girl Princess, she doesn't have a mask and asks for one, but Opal refuses because to her, magical girls DO NOT wear masks. Though the public mostly doesn't know her, anybody who knows her as Taylor and gets a good look at her face can recognize her.

* Nobody recognizes ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'' at the ball as the stepdaughter/servant of the Tremaines. It might be justified by having been kept in her WickedStepmother's house since she was a young girl. But neither her stepsisters or stepmother recognize her, though Lady Tremaine ''is'' shown to observe that there's something familiar about her, but is prevented from getting a closer look.

* ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch''. Have you ever seen a blue dog, or a tourist with four eyes? Stitch, however, does get questioned by Nani and the pet store owner. Myrtle also doesn't seem to quite buy the "dog" story, either. It's Jumba and Pleakly who follow this trope.

** In the first cartoon, they pretend to be a robber gang for EngineeredHeroics, with hardly any disguise. Both the King and his guards are completely fooled. Though it can be justified, since the guards quickly flee the scene and the King is scared senseless.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Trolls}}'', Bridget is frequently in the presence of Gristle or Chef, but neither of them recognize her when she puts on some new clothes and a wig (and a more confident attitude). Granted, they probably don't pay much attention to the servants.

* Disney's live-action remakes of animated films managed to provide justificacions for two of the cases in the "Animated" section:

** Ditto for the ''Film/Supergirl1984'' film as well. Kara's civilian identity involves giving herself a completely different hairstyle (brown, shorter and curlier). A few minor differences in Creator/HelenSlater's performance also help make it believable that they are two different people. It probably also helps that nobody has any idea who ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is for the first half of the movie.
* Parodied in ''Film/MysteryMen'', as one of the character realizes that Captain Amazing looks identical to his "benefactor", but without glasses. (He disguises himself the exact same way Superman does.) The theory gets shouted down, as without glasses, he [[BlindWithoutEm couldn't see anything]].

* In ''Film/ItHappenedOneNight'', Peter and Ellie fool the detectives who are sent by Ellie's father with acting like a low-class married couple.

-->'''Johnny:''' ''[removing his sunglasses]'' Hi, can I have a dozen red roses please?\\

* ''Film/TheRebelSet'', a 1950s B-movie crime caper, had ringleader Ed Platt disguising himself to evade detection ''from his own gang'' by wearing a clergyman's collar - this was called out mercilessly on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. The episode guide book notes that on their first viewing of the film, it took everyone quite a while to realize he was even supposed to be in disguise.

*** In the second end-credits stringer, [[spoiler:Winter Soldier/Bucky visits the Smithsonian disguised, wearing a jacket to cover his metal arm. Of course 99% of those who have seen the Winter Soldier's face are likely dead]], so it's just some random person to the general public... at least until they walk right up to the [[spoiler:[[AmnesiacDissonance display about his life]] complete with giant portrait headshot. At the least, the portrait has him clean shaven and in a military buzzcut not his Winter Soldier permastubble and long hair. Also, he's officially dead]].
** In ''Film/IronMan3'', Tony goes on the run, and runs into a fan of his who recognizes him instantly. He also happens to have copied Tony's hair and beard. This also kinda explains why few people seem to recognize Tony undercover. It's ''clearly'' not Tony Stark, because he's not driving around in sports cars and being flamboyant and wearing expensive clothes. He's just some random dude who copied Tony's look. This may also explain Cap at the museum; people probably think he's some Cap ''admirer''.

** In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', both Thor and Banner decide to disguise themselves on Sakaar. Bruce goes through the traditional route for this trope by putting on Tony Stark's sunglasses, but Thor points out that he's already in disguise because nobody on the planet knows whe he is, because they've only seen the Hulk. Thor himself is called out for his PaperThinDisguise when Valkyrie points out that the blanket Thor haphazardly threw over his head doesn't even conceal his face.

* In the Melissa [=McCarthy=] vehicle ''Film/{{Spy}}'' her character wears several different disguises that are all Paper Thin (wearing various wigs and ugly touristy clothing, or wearing very stylish outfits like ball gowns and leather). Several times she is seen by a few of the same people but they don't realize that she is the same person each time. But parts of that may be her quick thinking nature.
* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''Film/KillBill'': When the Bride finally confronts Bill, he monologues about the nature of [[SecretIdentity secret identities]] in superhero comics. Bill points out that, whereas most heroes have to put on the costume to become their alter egos, since Superman was born as the alien Kal-L, his alter ego is in fact Clark Kent. Bill theorizes that Clark Kent is Superman's critique of humanity, comparing him to the Bride trying to blend, in when she was really born to be a killer.
* In ''Film/TheBlackbird'', Dan the criminal and thief disguises himself as his fictional twin brother, "the Bishop", supposedly the operator of a charity mission in the Limehouse slums. All he does is put a pillow on his back to make himself look like a hunchback, and draw his leg up to his hip as if it is withered. ''Everyone'' buys this disguise--his criminal associates, Scotland Yard, his ex-wife.

* ''Literature/{{Ripliad}}'': Tom Ripley pulls this off very successfully in the first novel: blonde hair and a big smile, and he's Dickie Greenleaf. Slightly darker hair, a meek slouch and non-prescription horn-rimmed glasses, and he's Tom Ripley. Subverted twice because (a) the novel goes into extreme detail about Tom's preparations and his fear of being caught, and (b) Tom is so ''completely batshit insane'', he almost believes he's two different people.

* In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', Zakath takes advantage of this after he's more or less shanghaied into joining the companions on their quest. Despite being the Emperor of nearly half the world, all he has to do is grow a beard and change clothes to go unrecognized; he explains that most of his subjects have only ever "seen" the Emperor as an image on coins, and of the minority that ''have'' seen him in person, most saw only the guards, attendants, and trappings around him. No one would expect to see the Emperor riding through the backcountry unattended, unshaven and in ordinary clothes.

* ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': In book 4 (''Beyond the Blue Moon''), when Rupert and Julia return to the Forest Kingdom as Hawk and Fisher, they count on their both having aged to conceal their real identities. With the masses, it seems to work, mostly because their official portraits are so idealized as to look nothing like they had even when they were younger; at the end it's subverted, as everyone who'd actually ''known'' them admits that they'd recognized them both immediately, but kept quiet about it for reasons of politics and/or to respect their wish for anonymity.

* In the Literature/FatherBrown mystery "The Queer Feet", the thief Flambeau employs this to pull off a heist--exploiting the fact that, at an expensive restaurant, the rich patrons and the wait staff both wear nearly identical dress coats. In the dining room, he walks and carries himself like one of the waiters, [[BeneathSuspicion so he's ignored by the rich men]]. Outside the dining room, he affects the manner of a diner who'd gotten lost, so he's dismissed by the other waiters. He moves in and out of the dining room, and once the meal is over, he clears the table before the ''real'' wait staff can do it. He would have gotten away with the silverware, if Father Brown hadn't heard Flambeau switching from one gait to another (hence the title) and put the pieces together.

* Done for laughs on the third-rate variety show ("Second-rate variety show!") ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' by Creator/MarkHamill. He first appears in full Skywalker costume, and gets pegged as Hamill right off the bat -- only to run out the door to get his "cousin" and reappear seconds later dressed casually as Mark Hamill. At the end of the episode, both appear onscreen just to mess with Kermit's mind.

* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSlimGoodbody'': In this continuity, Slim Goodbody is a superhero, and both he and his alter-ego work for the same organization, Body Control. In fact, his alter-ego is Captain Halen Hearty, the ''head'' of Body Control! One of the tricks Slim uses to disguise the fact that he Halen are the same person: while in his Captain Halen Hearty persona, he wears glasses. He doesn't as Slim Goodbody.

* Justified in ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful''; Princesses have a power known as Dual Identity, which causes people to perceive their mundane and transformed forms as two separate people, even if they have exactly the same face with no mask whatsoever. And even if someone somehow gets enough clues to suspect the truth, the Princess can influence their mind to cause them to shrug it off as coincidence.

* This is OlderThanSteam: in Creator/WilliamShakespeare's play ''Theatre/KingLear'', the Earl of Kent(!) returns from banishment in a fairly flimsy disguise to help the king. Even before he goes mad, Lear fails to recognize him along with everyone else, despite having known him for years. Later in the play, after Edgar is accused of plotting against his father the Earl of Gloucester, he tears at his clothes and covers himself with mud to disguise himself as a "Bedlam beggar". The disguise is good enough to fool his father, his godfather King Lear, the Earl of Kent (who is also in disguise and who Edgar fails to recognize) and the King's fool (easily the smartest person in the whole cast). In the final scene of the play, Edgar dons another disguise that fools his half-brother Edmund, though the stage directions imply that he may be masked.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'', nobody seems to figure out that Geo Stelar is Mega Man unless he's explicitly transformed (Or changed back) in front of them. Combine the hairstyle, the voice, the eyes and the fact that Geo is close to the scene every time before and/or after something goes wrong would kinda make people think. In the anime, Bob Copper actually puts two and two together... and, in a moment of unbelievable stupidity, actually asks if Geo is one of Mega Man's ''groupies'' ([[FaceFault Much to Geo's own surprise]]). In the same anime, when Luna finds out, she goes into a state of complete denial, despite the insistence of Bud and Zack and Omega-Xis showing up in front of them at times. Granted, her denial faded in the final episode of Tribe, but still.

* The trope is an essential part of the ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' series of games. Walk calm, wear the right uniform and carry the right gun in the right way (ie. out-of-sight or in off-hand), and no one will notice you're a six-foot-tall, pale, hairless man with a bar code tattoo'd on the back of your head.

* Raphael aka Phantom R of ''VideoGame/RhythmThiefAndTheEmperorsTreasure''. His diguise is wearing a [[BadassInANiceSuit suit]] and a [[FedoraOfAssKicking fedora]]. Bonus points for wearing glasses in civilian mode.

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney - Trials and Tribulations'', Elise Deauxnim is (as you can probably guess from [[MeaningfulName the name]]) another, previously mentioned character in disguise. Said disguise consisted of changing her name, wardrobe and hairstyle. She does nothing to conceal her face, and she hasn't aged very much since she was last seen. What makes this curious is that [[spoiler:her own daughter, Maya]] was able to recognize her face from a photo earlier in the series, but doesn't do so now.

* ''VideoGame/ShantaeAndThePiratesCurse'': Parodied with He-Man {{Expy}} Bran-Son. Not only does Shantae point out that his magical disguise was just his alter-ego Brandon with a jazzy halter-top, but he also transforms in front of an audience who already knew about his secret identity before-hand due to his InUniverse popularity. Despite all this, based on his dramatic speech, his identity still manages to be a secret to most of his allies and enemies.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' has shameless BadassBiker, FemmeFatale EVA and her "Tatyana" persona which is achieved with a pair of glasses and a change of clothes (a Soviet military uniform). The whole disguise is reliant on changes to her body language, and she does it so effectively that not only does it work on the other characters, but quite a few ''players'' were fooled into thinking they were two different women.

* It's all but outright stated in ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy'' that [[spoiler:Professor Sycamore is not just Jean Descole's latest disguise, but rather his real identity that he spent most of his life as before becoming Descole. Unlike his more elaborate LatexPerfection disguises, Sycamore looks like Descole with the hat, coat and mask removed.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV'': Most of the cast are unaware that Krohnen is blatantly, obviously [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001 K9999]]. The player however, knowing that Krohnen is essentially K9999 with longer hair, goggles, a biker jacket (that is ''still'' yellow), a scarf and more cybernetics, is far less likely to be fooled.

* Mike in ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'' tries to make up for years as a huge JerkAss by becoming a costumed hero (a GoodSamaritan dressed up to bring attention to problems, not an actual vigilante). Mike is very distinctive with a giant schnoz and bug-out eyes. It's ZigZagged as there's a long arc about a local blogger trying and failing to unmask him despite Mike's obvious Muppet-like appearance, and even Davan completely fails to see through the costume; but then other people Mike's known for a while can still tell without too much trouble.

* ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'': Thanks to an abused childhood, Amber has another personality, Amazi-Girl, who patrols the local university campus at night, righting wrongs. Her abusive father, Blaine, resents paying for Amber's college education and seeks to kidnap her. During a fight with Amazi-Girl — who he fails to recognise as wearing Amber's body — he masks up and reveals his body armor, going full super-villain. Later, he succeeds in kidnapping Amber and several members of the cast, but is now seeking revenge on Amazi-Girl. [[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/stoked/ When he confronts the kidnapees in his mask and armor]], demanding to know her whereabouts, not only does Amber fail to recognise her father, but when Amber claims to be Amazi-Girl, Blaine laughs the idea off.

* Played straight and subverted with ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', in which, while Penny apparently does not recognize VillainProtagonist Dr. Horrible as her laundromat buddy Billy, his ArchNemesis Captain Hammer does, likely from having seen his video blog, and uses this opportunity to ruin Billy's life even further by trying to steal Penny, the girl that he loves. Penny finally "mistakes" Dr Horrible for Billy the end when she [[spoiler: is delirious and near-death]], leading her to reassure him with the painfully ironic line, [[spoiler: "Captain Hammer will save us"]].
* Shadow Hawk of ''Website/EpicTales'' may have a full body costume, but he uses his birth name as his superhero identity. His logic is that it's such an obvious connection, that people will think it's too obvious. So far everyone who has met both of his identities has been able to figure it out, as well as a few who have only met one of his identities, but know of the other.
* Subverted in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' stories. In the beginning of the third Phase book, on the first day of school at the [[SuperHeroSchool Whateley Academy]], the headmistress Mrs. Carson gives a speech to the new students. Before the end of the talk, Phase has figured out that the headmistress is also the superheroine Lady Astarte. By the end of the book, Phase has figured out that Mrs. Carson is ''also'' a former superheroine of the 80's, Ms. Might. By the end of the fourth book, Phase has figured out that the early-thirties-looking Mrs. Carson is actually in her mid-seventies and has had at least two other superhero identities over the decades.

* ''Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars'': During a trip to Silver City, Marcia became Magi Magi Magician Gal, a magical girl with "magic". Some of the astute members of the group figured the relation between the two, but some of the others were stumped.
* In ''Series/{{Noob}}'', Tenshirock eventually turns out to have been a player before becoming TheCracker he is in the main timeframe. His reason for the change relies on someone who has seen his gamer avatar not knowing that the hacker is him. Differences between his player and hacker avatar: clothing style, moving from a mask covering his lower face to CoolShades and getting rid of the cursor that floats on top of legitimate player avatars. Identical features: physical appearance, OnlineAlias and possibly voice, which would all be quite easy to change in the MMORPG setting. [[spoiler:His own son]] is shown to have completely fallen for it in the finale.
* In ''Literature/ArrowAndAce'', The Peacock, one of the most popular vigilantes in San Francisco, has bright blue hair. Interestingly, Andrew, the head of The Peacock Fanclub has the same blue hair, not to mention the same height and build. A number of character theorize that there is some connection between Andrew and The Peacock, but due to the different mannerisms and ticks Andrew uses while The Peacock, no one has guessed that they're the same person.

* Reportedly, Creator/MarilynMonroe would employ this with a curly black wig, a pair of sunglasses and some loose-fitting clothes. She was also apparently very good at [[http://designyoutrust.com/2012/11/marilyn-monroe-in-new-york-by-ed-feingersh-1955/ changing her body language in public]], to the point where she was able to walk completely ignored in a crowd -- until she fluffed up her hair and struck a pose, and was instantly swarmed.

* Music/{{Shakira}} went unnoticed in public for a couple of months by wearing modest clothing, going by her middle name and wearing a baseball cap.

* Tyra Banks once did this live and in-person on an episode of ''The Today Show''. Without makeup or hair styling, while walking with a slump and wearing a pair of glasses, she went into the crowd outside the Today set's window as a "production assistant" to ask people about their opinions about supermodels and Tyra Banks in particular. After a couple of minutes of absolutely ''no one'' realizing it was her, Banks pulled her hair back, straightened her posture, took the glasses off and suddenly ''became" Tyra Banks, Supermodel. The crowd loved it.

** In-universe celebrities Diantha and Aria of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'' don low-key outfits in public. One of the openings has a scene where [[http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/e/ed/OPJ17_2_Disguised_Diantha.png a disguised Diantha passes the group looking at one of her movie posters unnoticed.]]

* Generally averted in the PhantomThief[=/=]MagicalGirl series ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'': while the only differences in look between Meimi and Saint Tail are the clothes and the ponytail, Meimi takes great care to not show off her magic tricks as Meimi and goes to extreme lengths to not show her face as Saint Tail. Eventually, Asuka Jr., the SympatheticInspectorAntagonist chasing her, accidentally sees Meimi's face in her reflection and instantly recognizes her, and the fact he can't get Saint Tail to show her face to confirm if it really is Meimi or not ''drives him nuts''. By the time he's picked up on multiple other signs of them having the same physical features, Saint Tail has been [[BehavioralConditioning unconsciously influenced]] into acting [[SecretIdentityIdentity inhumanly unrecognizable]] to the point he ''can't'' easily mentally reconcile them as the same person even if he tries. [[spoiler:Ultimately it's another close-up view of her face without her ponytail that confirms her identity to him for good.]]

* Generally averted in the PhantomThief[=/=]MagicalGirl series ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'': while the only differences in look between Meimi and Saint Tail are the clothes and the ponytail, Meimi takes great care to not show off her magic tricks as Meimi and goes to extreme lengths to not show her face as Saint Tail. Eventually, Asuka Jr., the SympatheticInspectorAntagonist chasing her, accidentally sees Meimi's face in her reflection and instantly recognizes her, and the fact he can't get Saint Tail to show her face to confirm if it really is Meimi or not ''drives him nuts''. By the time he's picked up on multiple other signs of them having the same physical features, Meimi has been [[BehavioralConditioning unconsciously influenced]] into acting [[SecretIdentityIdentity inhumanly unrecognizable]] to the point he ''can't'' easily mentally reconcile them as the same person even if he tries. [[spoiler:Ultimately it's another close-up view of her face without her ponytail that confirms her identity to him for good.]]

* Generally averted in the PhantomThief[=/=]MagicalGirl series ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'': while the only differences in look between Meimi and Saint Tail are the clothes and the ponytail, Meimi [[SecretIdentityIdentity acts completely differently from her usual self as Saint Tail]], takes great care to not show off her magic tricks as Meimi, and goes to extreme lengths to not show her face as Saint Tail. Even then, she's nearly exposed by Takamiya due to a slip-up and her [[RequiredSecondaryPowers high physical abilities]] being a giveaway, and she has to resort to using a complicated plan to convince her that she's actually a man DisguisedInDrag to get her off her case. Eventually, Asuka Jr., the SympatheticInspectorAntagonist chasing her, accidentally sees Meimi's face in her reflection and instantly recognizes her, and the fact he can't get Saint Tail to show her face to confirm if it really is Meimi or not ''drives him nuts''. Even his best attempts at PlausibleDeniability-fueled SelectiveObliviousness go awry when he notices they even have the same general aura when he's around them, [[spoiler:and ultimately it's another close-up view of her face without her ponytail that confirms her identity to him for good]].

* ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'' has Uma and her father (aliens stranded on Earth) disguise themselves by wearing glasses and doing their best to blend in with humans... despite the fact that they resemble [[BeastMan cows]]. Justified in that the glasses are heavily implied (and later [[https://eheroes.thecomicseries.com/comics/470 clearly]] [[https://eheroes.thecomicseries.com/comics/472 demonstrated]] to be some kind of AppliedPhlebotinum.

* Subverted in ''Anime/{{Moldiver}}'', when, once he has a hint of it, Professor Akagi only needs a few minutes to match the body shape of Hiroshi and the full-body-costumed Moldiver to confirm that they're the same person.

* ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'' has Uma and her father (aliens stranded on Earth) disguise themselves by wearing glasses and doing their best to blend in with humans... despite the fact that they resemble [[BeastMan cows]]. Though the glasses are heavily implied to be some kind of AppliedPhlebotinum.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' plays with, subverts, and justifies this two different times in two very unusual ways. The first is with [[TheCape All Might]], a titanic and muscular powerhouse whose punches can alter weather patterns; however, it's revealed that his muscular form comes from his power and, as he puts it, "flexing". When he stops "flexing" he returns to his true form: a completely unassuming guy who's skin-and-bones, thanks to an old wound that limits how much he can use his powers continuously. Early in the story All Might chooses the powerless Izuku Midoriya to inherit his powers, but they have to keep it a secret lest villains realize that the "[[BigGood Symbol of Peace]]" is weakening. A few people like Izuku's classmates have noticed that his powers are physical enhancement-based like All Might's, but the fact that his usage doesn't include massive muscle gain just makes it look like they're similar rather than the same.

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': Coach Z actually tries to convince everyone that he is both Damp Towel Man and his creatively-named secret identity, Dan Towelman. As usual, nobody cares.
** Played straight with the Thnikkaman. No one seems to realize he's actually just Bubs in sunglasses and a piece of paper with a "TH" on it taped to his shirt. Coach Z even tried to "unmask" him, but failed hilariously.

* In ''Manga/WeddingPeach'', ThePowerOfFriendship acts as a shield to keep the devils from seeing who the Love Angels are, and there is implied to be some kind of magical interference. Nevertheles, Yousuke still manages to identify Peach as Momoko at one point simply because he knows her too well.

* In ''Manga/WeddingPeach'', ThePowerOfFriendship actually acts as a shield to keep the devils from seeing who the love angels are. So this is justified... sort of.

* Subverted by ''Manga/PhantomThiefJeanne'' in which several people comment that Maron and Jeanne resemble each other. In fact Miyako's whole reason for trying to capture Jeanne is so that she can prove Maron's innocence. Made even more ironic in that Jeanne has not only a different hairstyle but also a ''completely different hair color'' than Maron.

* Generally averted in the PhantomThief[=/=]MagicalGirl series ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'': while the only differences in look between Meimi and Saint Tail are the clothes and the ponytail, Meimi [[SecretIdentityIdentity acts completely differently from her usual self as Saint Tail]], takes great care to not show off her magic tricks as Meimi, and goes to extreme lengths to not show her face as Saint Tail. Even then, she's nearly exposed by Takamiya due to a slip-up and her [[RequiredSecondaryPowers high physical abilities]] being a giveaway, and she has to resort to using a complicated plan to convince her that she's actually a man DisguisedInDrag to get her off her case. Eventually, Asuka Jr., the SympatheticInspectorAntagonist chasing her, accidentally sees Meimi's face and instantly recognizes her, and the fact he can't get Saint Tail to show her face to confirm if it really is Meimi or not ''drives him nuts''. Even his best attempts at PlausibleDeniability-fueled SelectiveObliviousness go awry when he notices they even have the same general aura when he's around them, [[spoiler:and ultimately it's another close-up view of her face without her ponytail that confirms her identity to him for good]].

* Generally averted in the PhantomThief[=/=]MagicalGirl series ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'': while the only differences in look between Meimi and Saint Tail are the clothes and the ponytail, Meimi [[SecretIdentityIdentity acts completely differently from her usual self as Saint Tail]], takes great care to not show off her magic tricks as Meimi, and goes to extreme lengths to not show her face as Saint Tail. Even then, she's nearly exposed by Takamiya due to a slip-up and her [[RequiredSecondaryPowers high physical abilities]] being a giveaway, and she has to resort to using a complicated plan to convince her that she's actually a man DisguisedInDrag to get her off her case. Eventually, Asuka Jr., the SympatheticInspectorAntagonist chasing her, accidentally sees Meimi's face and instantly recognizes her, and the fact he can't get Saint Tail to show her face to confirm if it really is Meimi or not ''drives him nuts''. Even his best attempts at SelectiveObliviousness go awry when he notices they even have the same general aura when he's around them, [[spoiler:and ultimately it's another close-up view of her face without her ponytail that confirms her identity to him for good]].

* Subverted in the MagicalGirl series ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'': while the only differences in look between Meimi and Saint Tail are the clothes and the ponytail, Meimi [[SecretIdentityIdentity acts completely different from her usual self as Saint Tail]] (Meimi herself is quite shy, but as Saint Tail she becomes more a showoff and can even be flirty at times), takes great care at not using her magic tricks as Meimi (even before becoming Saint Tail, as she planned to become a professional illusionist and her father had told her to not show them in public until then) and goes to extreme lenghts to not show her face as Saint Tail. In spite of this, she was nearly found out a number of times, both by her [[TheRival rival in love]] Rina (a few stories were dedicated to Meimi's attempts at convincing Rina that Meimi wasn't Saint Tail, ending when Rina was [[ItMakesSenseInContext traumatized into thinking that Saint Tail was a moustached adult man]]) and her LoveInterest and SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Asuka Jr. (who in the end concluded that Meimi and St. Tail are merely lookalikes).

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':

** In-universe celebrities Diantha and Aria of the Kalos arc don low-key outfits in public. One of the openings has a scene where [[http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/e/ed/OPJ17_2_Disguised_Diantha.png a disguised Diantha passes the group looking at one of her movie posters unnoticed.]]

** Parodied in ''In Hand and Foot'' as Doreen Green wonders how Jessica Jones discovered her secret identity as Squirrel Gir. An incredulous Jessica relates Doreen doesn't wear a mask, doesn't disguise herself and, oh, yes, has ''a giant squirrel tail'' sticking out behind her.

* ''LightNovel/FateZero'': Berserker's distinct armor is unrecognizable to other characters thanks to his Noble Phantasm "For Someone's Glory". For Someone's Glory is normally an ability that allows the user to disguise themselves as another person, but Berserker's Mad Enhancement makes him unable to use the skills full potential without the use of Command Seals. Thus, For Someone's Glory manifests itself as a black, foggy BattleAura, which still obscures his appearance to other people and hides his status and parameters. While the audience are able to see his appearance, the characters only see a "black thing" and they cannot grasp his shape. Once For Someone's Glory is deactivated, characters who knew him in life are instantly able to recognize his armor and identity.

* In ''LightNovel/TheReunionWithTwelveFascinatingGoddesses'', Tooi is summoned to another world twice. The first time he becomes a famous hero, and the second time he claims that he's his own successor. He doesn't bother disguising himself the second time around, and even uses the same cover story (being Laila's freeloader) and demonstrates the same power. The disguise works because of a case of YearInsideHourOutside: while Tooi has aged one year from his previous visit, everyone in the other world has aged ten years (so most expect Tooi to be 26 instead of 17, not knowing that he's from Earth).

* Much like in ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', the fic ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/Snapshots Snapshots]]'' has Marina pass for an Inkling without actually disguising herself. Inkopolis's unfamiliarity with Octolings helps, although Callie and Marie notice her immediately. When Pearl learns the truth, she feels like an idiot for not picking up on the clear differences between Marina's appearance and the average Inkling.

* Much like in ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', the fic ''Fanfic/Snapshots'' has Marina pass for an Inkling without actually disguising herself. Inkopolis's unfamiliarity with Octolings helps, although Callie and Marie notice her immediately. When Pearl learns the truth, she feels like an idiot for not picking up on the clear differences between Marina's appearance and the average Inkling.