History Main / ProstheticLimbReveal

* On ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Joey learns his girlfriend has a prosthetic leg in the worst possible way - by accidentally throwing it in the fireplace.

* In the first episode of *Series/BestFootForward* a bully trips Josh causing his artificial leg to detach in a crowded school hallway between classes, by the end of the next period the whole school knew he was "the kid with the leg" which he'd been trying to avoid (The audience already knew).

* In Water-7, when Luffy and Franky fight, Franky starts by breathing fire which causes the Straw Hats to assume he has a Devil Fruit power. Then Franky hits Luffy with his RocketPunch and reveals that he's actually a cyborg.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': After the TimeSkip, former Admiral Kuzan seems normal at first, but then during a trip to an onsen (seen in ''Film Z''), he revealed that he has lost one leg that he replaces with a leg [[AnIcePerson made of ice]]. It was after he fought a fellow Admiral, [[MagmaMan Sakazuki]], during the timeskip, and lost.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', when Luffy and Franky fight, Franky starts by breathing fire which causes the Straw Hats to assume he has a Devil Fruit power. Then Franky hits Luffy with his RocketPunch and reveals that he's actually a cyborg.

This trope refers to any situation where a character who, at the first glance, looks perfectly fine and you wouldn't expect them to be handicapped in any way, but then they suddenly reveal that they have an [[ArtificialLimbs Artificial Limb]] - much to the audience and other characters' surprise.

* In ''Film/TheMajestic'', Bob Leffert is introduced facing away from the camera. He then turns to reveal his hook for a hand, symbolizing his trauma as a war veteran and the way it has made him cynical and mistrustful.

* In ''Film/TotalRecall1990'', Benny seems like a perfectly normal taxi driver, until he helps Quaid/Hauser get into the resistance base by taking off his prosthetic hand, opening his sleeve, and showing his mutated lower arm, revealing himself to be a mutant.
* In ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', Film/JamesBond meets with another operative in Japan who walks up to him with a limp. Bond borrows the man's cane and hits him in the leg with it to make sure he isn't faking. The man's only comment is to say he's glad Bond picked the correct leg.

* In ''Film/TheMajestic'', Bob Leffert is introduced facing away from the camera, and he turns to reveal his hook for a hand, symbolizing his trauma as a war veteran and the way it has made him cynical and mistrustful.

* ''Film/TheMajestic'': Bob Leffert is introduced facing away from the camera, and he turns to reveal his hook for a hand, symbolizing his trauma as a war veteran and the way it has made him cynical and mistrustful.

* In the very first chapter of ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'', Shiki first appears to have two functional arms -- right until a ghost manages to possess one of them, which is revealed to be a magically-animated prosthetic, forcing Shiki to cut it off and "kill" it. The circumstances under which she lost her own arm are [[AnachronicOrder shown in chapter three]].
* In ''LightNovel/BlackBullet'', the fact that Rentaro has a cybernetic arm, leg, and eye isn't revealed until his second fight with Kagetane a few episodes in, when [[IAmNotLeftHanded they serve as a helpful trump card]].

* ''Film/IRobot'': Detective Spooner was involved in a car crash some years back, but seems to have come out of it relatively unscathed until an NS-5 robot tries to bludgeon him to death, which he wards off with his arm, which does not break and is revealed to be mechanical with a flesh-colored covering. Dr. Calvin doesn't even realize he has it until she sees him without his shirt. It's also how Spooner came to know the late Dr. Lanning, the leading mind in robotics since Lanning had created the arm.

* In the first episode of *Series/BestFootForward* a bully trips Josh causing his artificial leg to detach in a crowded school hallway between classes, by the end of the next period the whole school knew he was "the kid with the leg" which he'd been trying to avoid.

* At the end of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', Ocelot had been taken over by [[EvilHand the transplanted arm of Liquid Snake]] the last we saw him. In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', their personalities had ([[spoiler:supposedly]]) merged. Come the climax of that game, Ocelot throws off his coat, to reveal said arm is now robotic. [[spoiler:This hints that the merged persona was an act all along.]]
* [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] with TheEngineer in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. He normally wears a glove on his right hand at all times, but equipping the Gunslinger replaces it with a robotic prosthetic and allows building Mini-Sentry guns, and equipping the Short Circuit allows the glove to transform into a LightningGun for destroying projectiles (and dealing mild damage). It's not been canonically stated whether or not his hand is always a prosthetic under the glove, and either option is possible thanks to [[TheMedic the Medic's]] [[HealingShiv Medigun]].

* The titular ''Literature/VioletEvergarden'' hides her artificial arms under long-sleeved clothing and a pair of gloves, but she removes the gloves to type. Given that it is her job to type letters and other documents for various clients, the nature of her arms is revealed time and time again, almost once per episode in fact. However, others are almost always supportive and understanding once they see Violet's situation, and not much is made of them after the fact.

* ''Anime/VioletEvergarden'' hides her artificial arms under long-sleeved clothing and a pair of gloves, but she removes the gloves to type. Given that it is her job to type letters and other documents for various clients, the nature of her arms is revealed time and time again, almost once per episode in fact. However, others are almost always supportive and understanding once they see Violet's situation, and not much is made of them after the fact.

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* ''[[{{Literature/Lensman}} Gray Lensman]]'': After Port Admiral Haynes undergoes an experimental regeneration treatment (and needs assistance because his prosthetics don't fit anymore) Nurse Clarissa [=MacDougall=] is shocked to discover just how many prosthetic parts Haynes had.

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* In chapter 10 of ''Manga/{{Shy}}'', Pilse Dunant (secretely the superheroine Lady Black) reveals that both her lower legs are prosthetics after having just climbed a small mountain.

* In the very first chapter of ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'', Shiki first appears to have two functional arms -- right until a ghost manages to possess one of them, which is revealed to be a magically-animated prosthetic, forcing Shiki to cut it off and "kill" it. The circumstances under which she lost her own arm are [[AnachronicOrder shown in chapter three]].

* Many people who read ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' know that Guts has a prosthetic arm from the outset, but for those watching the very first anime adaptation, the reveal that he has one comes when he is on the ropes against the Snake Lord, and he unloads the cannon built into the arm right into the demon's face. It isn't until the end of the Golden Age Arc when the Eclipse goes down that we learn [[LifeOrLimbDecision just how Guts lost that arm]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'': Kasen Ibaraki has one arm wrapped entirely in bandages... which it turns out is holding nothing but black smoke.

** James Ironwood was hinted at having a metal arm in episode 10 of volume 3. Episode 11 revealed that the entire right half of his chest was robotic. It's unknown if his leg is robotic as well.