History Main / MysteriousVeil

This trope is almost omnipresent in works set in the ArabianNightsDays, where it may be combined with SultryBellyDancer or BedlahBabe. Can be part of HidingInAHijab when used to hide one's identity, especially if the veiled character is actually a man DisguisedInDrag. It's also often used to hide [[ButterFace less attractive facial features]], in which case TheReveal is often PlayedForLaughs especially if some hapless suitor had been pursuing her before this, and will often result in him [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere running away]] as soon as he finds out, doubling with AbhorrentAdmirer if she keeps after him. Or, because the audience will often get suspicious when this trope is used and be expecting a gag, it turns out that the face underneath is actually beautiful, making it an example of PlayingWithATrope.

* Sooraya Qadir of the ''Comicbook/NewXMen'', seeing as she's an Afghani Muslim, specifically it's a Niqab. She has appeared without it a few times, including a particular instance where X-23 stole her Niqab in order to impersonate her and Sooraya ran outside in her underwear, shocking another student, not because of her attire but because he could see her ''face''.

* The Queen of the Witches from ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' always wears a opaque veil that hides her face. [[spoiler: She takes it off in the final episode to reveal that she's actually [[KingIncognito Yuki-sensei.]]]]

* In the comic series ''Creator/MichaelMoorcock's Multiverse'', villain Paul van Minct wears a very odd-looking irregularly-shaped veil in a mosaic pattern, because he's [[HijackedByGanon actually Moorcock's recurring villain]] Gaynor the Damned, who has to hide his [[EvilMakesYouUgly Chaos-affected face]].

* In the second ''Film/DeuceBigalow'' movie there is a woman from Chernobyl who is wearing a veil to hide that she has a [[{{squick}} penis on her face]] as a result of a mutation.
* In ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'', Sybilla adopts the local custom of wearing a veil--sometimes translucent, sometimes opaque--on the first two occasions when she rides out to meet with Balin.
* In ''Film/WildWildWest'', Jim West is masquerading as a female belly dancer named Ebonia in order to infiltrate Loveless' hideout, and wears a veil to conceal his facial hair.

* In''WesternAnimation/TweetysHighFlyingAdventure'', after Tweety lands in Egypt, he quickly escapes into the Pyramids of Giza to escape Sylvester and his posse of Egyptian cats. Once inside, he finds a room filled with antiques, including a piccolo; he begins to play it, and a nearby basket opens up, revealing a veiled/masked dancing girl moving to Tweety's melody. (It's quickly shown that the girl is really Sylvester in disguise.)

* Kitana and clone Mileena of ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', though in Mileena's case it's to cover up her [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily teeth]]. It's also used by their {{Palette Swap}}s Jade and Khameleon.
* ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'': Operators 21O and 6O are non-Arabic examples since they are {{robot girl}}s that wear dark veils across their face for some reason. In 21O's case, it's fitting for her cold and aloof personality.

* ''Webcomic/DaughterOfTheLilies'': The protagonist Thistle always dresses to hide her entire body, including a hood and veil or [[http://megsyv.deviantart.com/art/DotL-Filler-Past-Disguises-637232499 some manner]] of face covering. Over most of the comic's run the only facial feature that's concretely established for her is her InnocentBlueEyes. It's later shown that [[spoiler:she's a member of a species that others view as cannibalistic savages and risks being lynched if she's found out]].