History Main / ConspicuousTrenchcoat

[-[[caption-width-right:350:[[UsefulNotes/McDonalds "Hello, I wanna see if this place's burgers are better than mine]].\\
[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Not that I look familiar or anything."]]]]-]

* In the 1990's remake of ''Series/TheUntouchables'' a U-boat drops off a German spy who puts on his trenchcoat and hat before paddling ashore in a dinghy. Though why he'd bother when he could have traveled under forged papers on a comfortable steamship from Europe...

* Judge Doom from ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' wears a trenchcoat and fedora with sunglasses and a rubber mask, to hide the fact that [[spoiler:he is actually a Toon himself]].
** Roger Rabbit tries the same thing in ''Literature/WhoCensoredRogerRabbit'', the book the movie is based on. Of course, 'toon sensibilities of "discreet" tend to differ greatly from the human norm...

* The graphical report for the success of certain espionage or sabotage missions in ''[[VideoGame/SpaceEmpires Space Empires IV]]'' shows an ''alien'' [[http://wiki.spaceempires.net/index.php/Image:IntelSabotageByUs.png wearing a trenchcoat and fedora]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', Goris wears a large brown cloak (claiming to hide a deformity when questioned) to disguise the fact that he is a deathclaw.
** Veronica from ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' wears a thick, hooded cloak to hide her affiliation with [[spoiler: The Brotherhood of Steel]]. It works well too, until you actually ''meet'' some of her family and realize she's just wearing a nondescript version of the scientists clothing.
* Albert Wesker of ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' fame dons a trenchcoat in the fifth game of the series. But by then he's far less "conspicuous" and more of a darwinistic CardCarryingVillain.
** Just like his first appearance in the original ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', Mr.X in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'' also wears a trenchcoat, this time complemented by a fedora which unlocks an achievement when you shoot it off from Mr.X's head.
* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'''s J.C. Denton wears a blue trenchcoat everywhere, as does his brother Paul. Villain Walton Simmons wears a black one. Of course, this makes some sense for missions where he's walking the streets, as many civilian {{NPC}}s are wearing them as well (they seem to have made a bit of a comeback in 2052), but you'd think he'd choose something less conspicuous when infiltrating an enemy base. Lampshaded by Agent Navarre early on.
-->'''Navarre:''' I do not expect you to perform as well as Agent Hermann, but the mission will require us to do more than frighten the NSF with our baggy coats that make us look bigger than we really are.
** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'''s Adam Jensen wears an [[BadassLongcoat awesome black leather longcoat]] with a [[RealMenWearPink cool-looking floral print on the shoulders]], but unlike J.C. he doesn't have any justification for it - nobody else wears one[[note]]While he wore the coat before he was turned into a cyborg, the new coat (the old one was destroyed) was designed specifically for Adam: it includes magnets that align the sleeves and torso portion with the ports for his Typhoon weapon system, so that he can launch a few pounds of steel balls at his opponents without also completely shredding his longcoat[[/note]]. There is an implication that he's using the coat to at least attempt to be somewhat inconspicuous: an augmented human is not unusual in 2027, but many of Adam's augmentations are military-grade, and prototypes or bleeding-edge technology at that, and he also carries military weaponry and wears body armor all the time (under the coat), so he's likely trying to avoid drawing ''a lot'' of attention. At least he takes it off when on serious infiltration missions in favor of a sleeveless combat vest.
* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'', wears a brown leather longcoat that actually looks more {{Hipster}}-ish than retro per se, and is also justified by the action taking place in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} in the autumn. It's still kind of easily recognisable for a VigilanteMan who's got the cops ''and'' the Mob gunning for him, though.

* ''Webcomic/MagIsa'' -- We got [[http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119696 four]] [[http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/292 people]] with [[http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119693 guns]] and [[http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119677 trenchcoats]] enter a school. It seems nobody even noticed them. Otherwise, don't you think the cops should be called to stop them before they do a shooting rampage?
* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20010108.html Somewhere far, far short of "inconspicuous", you may be lucky to find trenchcoats of "incongruity", and dark sunglasses of "incompetency". Our heroes found them on their first attempt.]]
* While Trudy of ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'' was making anonymous calls to Clifford Myers of ''Webcomic/FunnyFarm'' in a crossover, she wore a trenchcoat to disguise herself, the brand name of which {{lampshade}}s this. Oddly enough, The German, an expert at impersonating people who works for [[FunWithAcronyms CRUDE]], uses this in his first appearance while stalking Sharon and Craig.

* Used in ''Webcomic/TheWotch'' [[http://www.thewotch.com/?epDate=2008-03-11 here]].
* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': Agent Hong mistakenly sees this trope (minus the fedora) in the chapter "Aylee". "You have a surveillance photo from the military jet showing this guy leaving the scene where radar had tracked the entity moments before. You can't tell what he's carrying. You can't even tell it's a he. A long blond wig and a trenchcoat in a grainy photo? It could be anyone!" ...Except that it's Riff, who always looks like that, rather than here being in disguise. And they can't even see he's also got sunglasses.

* In ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', [[BigBeautifulWoman Bubbles]] just bought herself one to [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3140to maintain a lower profile... ]]She's having second thoughts.

* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/2685-godzilla-1998 review]] of ''Film/Godzilla1998'' poked fun at how easy it for Zilla to hide in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity by cutting to a picture of the monster wearing a trenchcoat and dark glasses. No one seems to notice the six ton behemoth when he's wearing that!

* As a Cold War satire, ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'' has numerous coat/fedora/glasses examples.

* Green Goblin in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' episode "Subtext", while trying to avoid suspicion, wears a trenchcoat over his purple-and-green costume.
* One of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', Broadway, wore a trenchcoat and fedora when playing detective, largely because he'd been watching an old detective movie.
* The Scorpion, unable to remove his suit, uses this as a disguise in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries''.
** In fact, most of the colorful villains in this series use this technique to stay under the radar.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' "Mama Drama"; Jenny, Brad and Sheldon follow Marty into a bank wearing trenchcoats and fedoras in an attempt to evade suspicion. Tuck tags along wearing a pink bunny mask. Their attempts at remaining hidden don't exactly evade notice.
* ''WesternAnimation/LeagueOfSuperEvil'': the titular team is trying to get into a restaurant. A man who looks exactly like the team in a trenchcoat walks in, and the maitre'd lets him through. Then, per trope, comes another guy who looks exactly the same except for a slightly different visor, giving the same name. [[spoiler:And he's the actual League, wearing goggles.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009'' Beast uses a hat and long gray trenchcoat to conceal his blue furry form.
* ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' has a very notable example from a fifth season episode; Mr. Sinister is seen leaving a restaurant wearing a trenchcoat, a hat, and a bandanna.
* ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' Magneto employs this guise to stalk Angel.
** Callisto wears one while spying on a skateboarding event, using it to go near Evan and warn him not to drink an energy drink that will poison him. Given how Callisto's hardly the most non-human-looking mutant and that she's at an event filled with wild teenagers, one has to wonder how the trenchcoat makes her less suspicious than the eyepatch she wears.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', Bruce Wayne uses this to hide his [[PoweredArmor BatMech]] while rescuing Terry.
* On an episode of ''WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010'', Niblet and Lucky use coats to sneak into a basketball stadium. Niblet hid three puppies (out of five that the crew is trying to get adopted) in his coat. Lucky hides the other two puppies in his coat, while Cookie hides Squirt and Strudel in her dress.

* WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} tried this when he went into a music store to buy a copy of the "Love Ducks" soundtrack CD (which everyone else thinks is the "babiest baby show of all"). But it didn't help much when the cashier went on the intercom, asking if they had any copies of the CD "for this boy," to which everyone else in the shop stared at him. Arthur made the excuse that it was for his baby sister.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "Hard Times for Haggis," the titular washed-up character sees someone disguised this way purchasing a doll of Haggis that had been gathering dust in an antique shop. Haggis follows the mysterious buyer into an alleyway and sees him rip off his disguise, revealing to be Haggis's runaway Scottie dog Whacky!
* In episode "Matchmaker" of ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'', Clover dons one of those a trench coats and sunglasses to go on spy her spy missions. Nothing out of the ordinary, most background characters are perpetually oblivious to everything anyway.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Murmur on the Ornery Express," a tall dark stranger dressed this way boards the train the main cast is riding, initially only seen in silhouette or shadow. When Chuckie's beloved teddy bear Wawa goes missing, the babies suspect the stranger, whom they refer to as the "Shadow Guy," as having stolen Wawa due to him appearing to hold the bear while in silhouette/shadow. Near the end, it turns out [[spoiler:the tall dark stranger was actually Jonathan, who snuck aboard the train to help get Charlotte's work done so she could spend more time with the family, and the shape the babies thought was Wawa turned out to be Jonathan's cell phone]].
* Standard attire for the spies in ''WesternAnimation/TazMania''.
* The WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon "Baby Buggy Bunny" begins with a tall dark stranger dressed this way robbing the Last National Bank. We then learn that it's actually the midget gangster Ant Hill Harry (a.k.a. Baby-Face Finster), disguised on stilts with boots, a long trenchcoat, fedora hat and a black eye mask to hide his face. He swiftly changes from this disguise to a baby in a buggy, which manages to fool the police due to his small stature and baby-like face.

* In the direct-to-video ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' movie ''WesternAnimation/TweetysHighFlyingAdventure'', in New York City we see a mysterious shadowy figure clad in a trenchcoat, fedora and old tennis shoes, waiting at the crosswalk. A spray of mustard from Sylvester (whom had been disguised as a hot dog man) knocks off the figure's disguise, revealing Marvin the Martian on stilts!
* When [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Wile E. Coyote]] gets hold of a Spy Kit in "Sugar and Spies", he starts wearing a black trenchcoat and hat... in the middle of the desert.
* ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' used and [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] when Shaggy and Scooby try this in "The Schnook Who Took My Comic Book" to avoid MonsterOfTheWeek Dr. Croaker spotting them and stealing their rare Commander Cool comic. The trouble is, everyone recognizes them anyways, notably Daphne...
-->"Ewww, don't you two know that the [[Creator/HumphreyBogart Bogart]] look is [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes out this season?]]"

* Stormer from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' wore a trenchcoat as a disguise when she told the police her manager had stolen money and framed Jem.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** In "Screwed the Pooch", Brian goes on the run from Peter and Carter when he allegedly impregnates the latter's prized greyhound, with Lois getting caught in the middle of the feud. In one scene, she goes to the park in a trenchcoat disguise to meet with Brian in secret.
** In "Prick Up Your Ears", Lois gets in hot water when she teaches sex education at the high school and is banned from the premises. As Peter tries to think of how he can get her inside to crash an abstinence lecture, the scene cuts to what looks like [[TotemPoleTrench Peter sitting on top of Lois while wearing a long trenchcoat]]. It turns out [[BaitAndSwitch they're still hiding in the bushes]], and Peter suggests they sneak behind the tall man.
* "L-Y", one of the songs that Music/TomLehrer wrote for ''Series/TheElectricCompany1971'' includes the lines "You're a secret agent man who's after the secret plan. How do you act so they don't know you're a spy? Normally ... normally ... normal ... l-y.." The accompanying animation has the protagonist being caught in a darkened room next to an enormous safe, wearing a trench coat and spy-hat. He [[NotSoInnocentWhistle starts whistling]] and playing with a yo-yo.

* ''Film/ThreeDaysOfTheCondor'': G. Joubert finds himself rather guilty of this trope.
* ''Film/TheTigerMakesOut'': Creator/EliWallach's character, preparing his campaign to disrupt the indifferent, sheeplike world around him, picks up a trenchcoat and fedora at a pawn shop. As the owner anxiously watches him suiting up, he points out that he has a sawed-off shotgun for sale.
* Rodney Skinner, the InvisibleStreaker from ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', wears a black ankle-length trenchcoat, a matching fedora, and pince-nez sunglasses. The conspicuous part comes in when he doesn't put on his greasepaint makeup, and thus the ensemble appears to be floating along all by itself.
* ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie''. Mocked by WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic:
-->"''How come in movies no one can ever see past a trenchcoat and a fedora hat? Is it like [[ClarkKenting Clark Kent's hypnotizing glasses]] or something? Do they just make people stupider?''
* ''Film/LeSamourai'': The main character's choice of unsuspicious-looking clothes is a trenchcoat and fedora. It makes sense in the setting, but even if it didn't, RuleOfCool would turn this trope into something more like a BadassLongcoat situation.
* ''Film/TrueLies''. When Helen relates how she first met Simon, he's being followed by a couple of government-looking types, one in a trenchcoat. Given that Simon is not a suave superspy but actually a fraud trying to get into her pants, it's likely just her imagination working overtime.
* ''Film/CoolWorld'': Professor Whiskers meets Holli outside the casino wearing a very conspicuous trenchcoat, hat and scarf. It is made even more conspicuous before Whiskers is only 3 ft. tall.
* ''Film/DrGoldfootAndTheBikiniMachine:'' The film's [[RobotGirl Robot Girls]] wear the trenchcoat/fedora combo over their skimpy gold bikinis. This is a case of intentionally provoking DistractedByTheSexy, as part of Goldfoot's HoneyPot scheme.
* ''Film/TheHandsOfOrlac'': When Orlac sneaks out of the house to investigate Vasseur's crime, he wears a dark overcoat and hat. Even though this is the 1920s when such dress was standard for men, he still stands out like a sore thumb as he is wearing a very dark heavy coat on a bright and sunny day.
* In ''Film/TheFreakmaker'', Lynch wears black greatcoat with the collar turned up and and wide-brimmed black fedora pulled down low whenever he goes out to hide his facial deformities. While the hat and coat do mostly hide his deformities, the distinctiveness of the outfit, combined with his height, still makes him stand out.
* ''Spymaker: The Secret Life of Creator/IanFleming'' (1990). The Nazis have targeted Fleming for assassination, shown by a sinister figure in a hat and trenchcoat entering his apartment building. It's not like the rest of the movie is played for realism, as it's more a tongue-in-cheek riff on Franchise/JamesBond movies.
* Lampshaded in ''Film/TheEigerSanction'' when Jon Hemlock finds C2 agent Pope in his university office--he throws Pope out the door and tosses his trenchcoat after him, saying sarcastically, "How's anybody going to recognise you, without your disguise?" However it's a JustifiedTrope in the opening scene where a C2 agent is walking the streets of [[CityOfSpies Vienna]] on a cold rainy day.
* ''Film/Shazam2019'': As part of a scheme to allow them both to skip school, Billy turns into his Shazam form and dons a trenchcoat over his superhero suit to pretend he's the father of Freddy so he can take him outside. Despite Billy's bumbling attitude as an adult, it works.
* ''Film/RustlersRhapsody'': The narrator notes how odd it is that Western villains always have a bunch of henchman "wearing raincoats in the desert."

* In the children's mystery "Who's Got Gertie? And How Can We Get Her Back?", two twelve-year-old "detectives" are following a suspect, but as she already knows who one of them is, they need a disguise. A trench coat, sunglasses and an ugly hat are pressed into service, although since it's July, the trench coat was not the best choice.
* Creator/HGWells' [[Literature/TheInvisibleMan Invisible Man]] favors this kind of appearance aid. May be the TropeMaker.

* One of Literature/GeronimoStilton's old friends is described as always wearing a trenchcoat and dark glasses; quite naturally, he's a [[OvertOperative secret agent]]. Oddly, Geronimo reveals that his friend has always worn a trenchcoat and dark glasses since the first grade.

* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Harry is often wearing his long leather duster, and notes that it makes him look odd and conspicuous, especially when he wears it in the summer. Of course, his leather duster is enchanted to withstand magical and ballistic assaults, so when he's on a case (and thus runs the risk of someone trying to shoot him), he's going to wear the damn thing even if it's 95 degrees out.
* In the non-fiction book ''The Cuckoo's Egg'', Clifford Stoll worries that his liberal colleagues at Berkley will realise he's meeting with the infamous Central Intelligence Agency due to their conspicuous trenchcoats. When the CIA do turn up, his colleagues instead think they're IBM salesmen due to their equally conspicuous suits and ties.
* In ''Literature/Twisted2010'' the lead character is able to disguise himself perfectly by wearing a trenchcoat. Keep in mind he is ''[[BeyondTheImpossible an anthropomorphic roller coaster]].''

* ''Literature/TheFourthLawOfRobotics'' by Creator/HarryHarrison. When robbing a bank, the suspect wears enough rain/cold weather gear (all black) that nobody is able to detect that it is a [[TinCanRobot metal robot]] underneath all of those clothes.
* The children's non-fiction book ''The Spy's Handbook'' has an illustration of what ''not'' to do, showing a spy, on a sunny day, wearing a heavy trenchcoat and fedora to infiltrate a tennis club.

* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': When Miss Brooks attempts to track down a missing postman in the episode "Postage Due", she uses a trenchcoat to dress for the part.
* When Susan on ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' tries to be sneaky, she wears a trenchcoat, hat and sunglasses. This prompted one reviewer on Website/TelevisionWithoutPity to ask, "What, no rubber nose and attached 'stache?"
* ''Series/KidsIncorporated'': "[[Recap/KidsIncorporatedS1E4TheBully The Bully]]" - After angering a local bully, the Kid sneaks into the P*lace wearing a trenchcoat and fedora, which effectively hides him in a crowd whose median age is 13.
** [[RecycledScript Recycled]] [[Recap/KidsIncorporatedS6E15KarateKids in the episode "Karate Kids"]] five years later, only this time, it's newcomer Robin sporting the trenchcoat for the same reason.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}} vs. The Third Dimension'' A man in a dark trenchcoat, hat and dark glasses carrying a suspicious package plants a bomb in the [=BuyMore=]. Chuck is the only one to notice that this is an odd way to dress in a Burbank summer.
** Somewhat toying with the trope is at the end of the episode, the bomber tries again at a crowded concert, only this time he's paid several people to dress in matching trenchcoats to lure Sarah and Casey while he wanders around undetected in a business suit.

* Lampshaded on ''Series/{{Angel}}'' where Gwen immediately spots her MysteriousInformant by the fact that he's the only person in LA wearing a trenchcoat.
* Subverted in the ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' season six two parter, "Cloak and Dagger". The pickup man for an espionage operation shows up as pictured above, and is instantly made. However, his inept attempt at being inconspicuous [[spoiler:manages to help convince them that he was an innocent pawn rather than the mastermind behind the operation.]]
* Dom Joly had a few sketches that involved trenchcoat-and-fedora wearing "spies" in ''Series/TriggerHappyTV'', whether it was spouting [[SpySpeak generic spy code phrases]] at unsuspecting members of the public, or watching ordinary people while pretending to read the paper, complete with [[PaperThinDisguise extremely obvious eyeholes]].
* The villain in the LiveActionAdaptation [[TheMovie Movie]] ''Film/Ben10AlienSwarm'' seems to admire this attire.
* Played with in ''{{Series/Spaced}}'' when Tim accidentally runs into a man dressed like this, who tells him to watch where he's going. Tim says that he's not used to an evil, suspicious looking man wandering around, prompting the man to say [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain "What makes you think I'm evil and suspicious looking?"]]

* ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'' When Joey Snake and Wheels try to use a fake ID to buy beer they try putting a trench coat on Snake the tallest of the three in an attempt to make him look older. It fails partially due to the ID being especially fake but mostly due to the fact that they were only fourteen and while they were closer to the legal drinking age of 18 at the time it was still quite a stretch.
* Lampshaded on ''Series/YesMinister'' when Bernard, after saying too much to the press, attempted to sneak past reporters in a trenchcoat, hat, and shades. On the hottest day of the year, according to the novelisation. Needless to say, the press were very interested in this strange man entering a government building.
* Used a lot by Sylar in season one of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', though Sylar wore a baseball cap instead of a fedora.

* In an episode of ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', Josh is constantly getting mistaken for a wanted criminal and attacked by people. In one scene, he tries to don a heavy trenchcoat to sneak past a crowd, but everyone sees right through his disguise.
* In the first series of the children's 'live-action comic' ''Series/{{Zzzap}}!'', the character Tricky Dicky's costume is a trenchcoat, black gloves, broad-brimmed hat and face-concealing mask.
* Discussed in ''Series/RemingtonSteele'', and also inverted, in that the guy actually ''claims'' to be a sleuth but the trenchcoat betrays him for an amateur. He approaches the agency claiming to be an investigative reporter, but they're immediately suspicious, call up his paper and discover he writes their housekeeping advice column under the pseudonym "Helpful Harriet".
-->'''Rick:''' How did you find out? What gave me away!?\\
'''Mildred:''' ''[chuckling]'' I think it was the trenchcoat.
* In the Bookstore Sketch on ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', Lemming wears a trenchcoat and hat when he walks in to a bookstore and overly-innocently asks to buy a book. The whole sketch is an over-the-top spoof of spy fiction, and it turns out that Lemming was actually an undercover agent for the British Dental Association.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'': Often when they need to investigate something while out of uniform. Season 6's "[[Recap/StargateSG1S6E5Nightwalkers Nightwalkers]]" comes to mind.
* ''Series/{{MANTIS}}'': The pilot episode had the hero wearing one of these to conceal the fact he was wearing PoweredArmour. While it [[JustifiedTrope wasn't the worst idea under the circumstances]] (the design of the suit didn't really lend itself to being worn under anything else) the result looked silly enough on screen that this trick was never used in the series proper.

* "L-Y", one of the songs that Music/TomLehrer wrote for ''Series/TheElectricCompany1971'' includes the lines "You're a secret agent man who's after the secret plan. How do you act so they don't know you're a spy? Normally ... normally ... normal ... l-y.." The accompanying animation has the protagonist being caught in a darkened room next to an enormous safe, wearing a trench coat and spy-hat. He [[NotSoInnocentWhistle starts whistling]] and playing with a yo-yo.

* The G-Men in the MilkmanConspiracy level of ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}''.

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* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
** The Team Rocket trio start doing this in the Unova saga. They most likely switched from a PaperThinDisguise to this when they [[spoiler:became more competent]].
** A Nurse Joy who works for the Pokémon League Inspection Agency also does this in the episode "Showdown at Dark City", as she goes undercover with a trench coat, fedora, sunglasses and a scarf over her face. (She even attempts to drink her tea through the scarf!)

* ''Manga/CaseClosed'' has members of the Black Organization frequently showing up in conspicuously sinister black trenchcoats.
* This style of dress creates some humorous confusion in an episode of ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''. The character [[CluelessDetective Guy Kurosawa]] [[WrongGenreSavvy apes hardboiled detective tropes]], and as such, wears the full "costume" of a PrivateDetective, including a trenchcoat. In the same episode, there is a Contractor who is an industrial spy and who has the same style of dress. [[SatchelSwitcheroo Kurosawa accidentally takes the Contractor's trenchcoat, thinking that it's his own]]. HilarityEnsues.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'': [[IncrediblyObviousTail Raye Penber]] sticks out like a sore thumb as a foreigner wearing a trench coat in Japan.

* [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Chui]] from ''Manga/SazanEyes'' disguise his hideous and clearly inhuman features using a trenchcoat and a fedora.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/FoodWars''. During the Kaarage Wars arc, Yuuya Tomita decides to dress up this way to spy on the ''Mozuya'' restaurant. Naturally it makes him stick out like a sore thumb, and Soma even recognizes him right away.

* Ben Grimm, [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Thing]], in [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks the Silver Age]], would routinely put on a trenchcoat and fedora, which was sufficient to disguise being an orange rock monster. Later comics justify this by presenting it more as a matter of self-consciousness - the disguise doesn't really work ''that'' well, but it makes Ben feel more comfortable when stepping outside. Also, everyone on Yancy Street loves the big lug so much they just go along with it.
* In one issue of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', when the FF testify at a congressional hearing, a bunch of mentally-manipulated D-grade villains enter the room, dressed in trenchcoats and hats, and attack them.
* Hilariously, ComicBook/IronMan used this disguise once in an early adventure, in about the most implausible scenario one can imagine for maintaining this ruse. Clad in his original, bulky grey armor, his trenchcoat-and-fedora disguise is evidently sufficient to elude all suspicion while travelling to Asia to take on the Mandarin ''on a commercial airline flight from New York''! He opens the door and bails out of the plane over China. (Admittedly, this was before Iron Man's armor was shown as capable of long-range flight, but you'd think Tony Stark would own an airplane or two, at least.)
* [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor, the Sub-Mariner]], liked to wear these, both as villain and hero. Even more conspicuous for his taste in high quality fabric and tailoring.
* The ComicBook/SilverSurfer also manages to look less conspicuous with the trenchcoat-and-hat look.
* In ''[[ComicBook/XMen Uncanny X-Men]]'' #111, the new furry Beast uses this disguise to enter a crowded carnival. Jean Grey lampshades how strange his outfit looks.
* A ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'' tie-in issue of ''[[ComicBook/SpiderMan Sensational Spider-Man]]'' features a story where both The Chameleon and Electro are dressed in a trenchcoat and fedora stalking Mark Raxton's son at a little league game full of children and their parents, in the heat of the summer and no-one seems at all concerned or suspicious. Made especially "wha?" when you consider that the Chameleon's whole hat is incredibly effective disguises.
* Almost every main character in Creator/FrankMiller's ''ComicBook/SinCity'' dons a trench coat at some point. Marv especially likes them and often takes them off of the bad guys he kills. Usually, they are packing guns, spying, sneaking around, or otherwise being conspicuous.
** Makes sense, mind you, as the climate of Basin City is driven entirely by dramatic convenience. The winds blow cold and hard to keep all those long coats billowing dramatically, and the slick blackness of the asphalt is reliably maintained by constant rain.

* Every version of ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' utilizes this to let the turtles walk the city. No one will ever notice that you are a large green turtle if you wear a trenchcoat and a hat!

* Parodied in ''ComicBook/{{Cattivik}}'' when Superpip (a spoof of Super Man) dons in one to buy some porn in disguise, claiming that no one will recognize him. In the very same panel, a kid from the other side of the street asks his father "Why is Superpip wearing a trenchcoat?".

* ''Fanfic/ItsAlwaysSpookyMonth'': Monster begins wearing a trench coat and hat while out during the day to avoid suspicion. Skid remarks that it makes him look like the Candy Dealer from "Unwanted Guest".

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', Nightcrawler uses a trenchcoat, cap and dark glasses to sneak into the White House. It does help that he can teleport past any checkpoint.

* The ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'' universe has heroes who walk around in [[{{Hammerspace}} Trenchcoats of Holding]] that hide their very large swords.
* The aliens in ''Film/SpaceJam'' employ this technique. The wife from ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' is [[OnlySaneMan the only one to notice]] because [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer's]] too busy watching the game.
* Used as a VisualPun in ''Mel Brooks' Film/SilentMovie''. The title cards announce an upcoming Sneak Preview of Mel Funn's film. Cut to the theater, and the entire audience is sneaking in, dressed in trenchcoats and fedoras.
* Used by WrongGenreSavvy hero Woody in the Disney film ''Film/{{Condorman}}'' after he persuades his friend Harry to let him go on a CIA courier mission despite the fact that he's a comic book writer, not a spy. HilarityEnsues.
* ''Film/{{Knowing}}'' features the creepy Trenchcoat duo, who follow around the kids. Nothing suspicious about that...
* ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' gets a quick shot in at this. Doc and Marty arrive in the past trying to keep Biff from getting the sports almanac, Doc hands Marty some age-appropriate money saying, "Get yourself some fifties clothes." As Marty runs off, he screams, "Something inconspicuous!" Cut to Marty wearing a leather jacket, fedora, and sunglasses. Never mind that this makes him look more like a Michael Jackson impersonator than anything else.
* ''Film/BatmanTheMovie'': During the opening credits we see a man in long trenchcoat and face concealing fedora running down a dark alley. [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience The shot is tinted green so that we know he's supposed to be a bad guy.]]

-->-- '''Taxi driver''', ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''

%%* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' too, on more than one occasion.

* ''Series/{{Buffy|The Vampire Slayer}}''

* In the Eastern Europe level of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', Snake dons a trench coat and [[LatexPerfection face camo]] to get past [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Raven Sword's]] station check point. In a subversion, his face is immediately added to the PMC's blacklist, rendering that disguise useless. This is played even straighter if you notice someone (later revealed to be Scarabs) in a trench coat and hat following Snake, who immediately disappears every time you investigate.

Very useful when [[TotemPoleTrench two kids stand on top of each other's shoulders and pretend to be an adult]].

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': The Team Rocket trio started doing this in the Unova saga. They most likely switched from a PaperThinDisguise to this when they [[spoiler:became more competent.]]
** A Nurse Joy that worked for the Pokemon League Inspection Agency also did this in the episode "Showdown at Dark City," as she went undercover with a trench coat, fedora, sunglasses and a scarf over her face. (She even attempted to drink her tea through the scarf!)

-->-- '''Taxi driver''', ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990''

* The Spy of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' normally wears a fancy tailored suit befitting the game's 60's spy movie aesthetic. Later after releaes, he was given a [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Chicago_Overcoat heavy trenchcoat]] as a possible cosmetic item, alongside a [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/A_Hat_to_Kill_For wide brimmed fedora]]. He is ''profoundly'' obvious while wearing these as they bulk up his outline significantly and offer the option of paint highlights on the belts to stand out even more.

An "evil" character, a FilmNoir character, or otherwise [[WeirdnessCensor out-of-the-ordinary character]], can always be identified (by the observant audience anyway) by the fact that he wears a concealing trenchcoat, fedora and occasionally dark glasses that are in no way seen as suspicious by any passers-by.

This one started out as TruthInTelevision. From the 1920s through the '50s, a trenchcoat and a fedora were the standard outerwear for a man who was neither upper-class nor extreme lower-class. Consequently, they were the natural choice for spies, detectives and anyone wanting to blend in with the added bonus of [[TrenchCoatWarfare easily concealing weapons.]] But when this style fell out of fashion with the general public, it came to be exclusively associated with said spies and detectives – whose continued use of this fashion would [[RevealingCoverup make them more conspicuous]] [[BystanderSyndrome if anyone]] [[FailedASpotCheck were paying attention]].

This one started out as TruthInTelevision. From the 1920s through the '50s, a trenchcoat and a fedora were the standard outerwear for a man who was neither upper-class nor extreme lower-class. Consequently, they were the natural choice for spies, detectives and anyone wanting to blend in with the added bonus of [[TrenchCoatWarfare easily concealing weapons.]] But as this style fell out of fashion with the general public, it came to be exclusively associated with said spies and detectives, whose continued use of this fashion would [[RevealingCoverup make them more conspicuous]] [[BystanderSyndrome if anyone]] [[FailedASpotCheck were paying attention]].

This one started out as TruthInTelevision. From the 1920s through the '50s, a trenchcoat and fedora were the standard outerwear for a man who was neither upper-class nor extreme lower-class. Consequently, they were the natural choice for spies, detectives and anyone wanting to blend in with the added bonus of [[TrenchCoatWarfare easily concealing weapons.]] But as this style fell out of fashion with the general public, it came to be exclusively associated with said spies and detectives, whose continued use of this fashion would [[RevealingCoverup make them more conspicuous]] [[BystanderSyndrome if anyone]] [[FailedASpotCheck were paying attention]].

This one started out as TruthInTelevision. From the late 1930s to late '50s, a trenchcoat and fedora were the standard outerwear for a man who was neither upper-class nor extreme lower-class. Consequently, they were the natural choice for spies, detectives and anyone wanting to blend in with the added bonus of [[TrenchCoatWarfare easily concealing weapons.]] But as this style fell out of fashion with the general public, it came to be exclusively associated with said spies and detectives, whose continued use of this fashion would [[RevealingCoverup make them more conspicuous]] [[BystanderSyndrome if anyone]] [[FailedASpotCheck were paying attention]].

This one started out as TruthInTelevision. From the late 1930s to late 1950s, a trenchcoat and fedora were the standard outerwear for a man who was neither upper-class nor extreme lower-class. Consequently, they were the natural choice for spies, detectives and anyone wanting to blend in with the added bonus of [[TrenchCoatWarfare easily concealing weapons.]] But as this style fell out of fashion with the general public, it came to be exclusively associated with said spies and detectives, whose continued use of this fashion would [[RevealingCoverup make them more conspicuous]] [[BystanderSyndrome if anyone]] [[FailedASpotCheck were paying attention]].

Thus, whether this is [[WigDressAccent perfectly plausible disguise]] or a PaperThinDisguise depends largely on the medium and the setting of the story. And the weather.

[-[[caption-width-right:350:[[UsefulNotes/McDonalds "Hello, I wanna see if this place's burgers are better than mine]]. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Not that I look familiar or anything."]]]]-]

* In ''Literature/{{Twisted}}'' the lead character is able to disguise himself perfectly by wearing a trenchcoat. Keep in mind he is ''[[BeyondTheImpossible an anthropomorphic roller coaster]].''

* In the non-fiction book ''The Cuckoo's Egg'', Clifford Stoll worries that people at Berkley will realise he's meeting with the notorious Central Intelligence Agency (about a hacker involved in espionage) due to their conspicuous trenchcoats. When the CIA do turn up, his colleagues instead think they're IBM salesmen due to their equally conspicuous suits and ties.

Website/TheOtherWiki also explored this trope in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_coats_in_popular_culture its own page.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' has a very notable example from a fifth season episode; Mr. Sinister is seen leaving a restaurant wearing a trenchcoat, a hat, and a bandanna.

Wiki/TheOtherWiki also explored this trope in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_coats_in_popular_culture its own page.]]