History Main / UnrevealAngle

* In ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', Christine gets a clear look at the demasked Phantom halfway through the first act, but only the [[TwoFaced normal half]] of his face is lighted and facing the audience at this time.

* In ''Series/TheLoneRanger'' TV show the Ranger's face is never seen by the audience without either a mask or a disguise. Whenever his mask is off and he's not in disguise, his back is to the camera.

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* ''Manga/BlackButler'' often covers parts of photos or flashbacks of Ciel's past. It is always subtle [[spoiler:but foreshadowing that Ciel has a twin brother.]]

* Whenever Master Chief's helmet is off in the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series, his face is either out of the shot or behind something. [[spoiler:With the exception of ''VideoGame/Halo4''[='s=] Legendary ending, where the area around his eyes are shown.]]
* In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series one of the races are the quarians, who must remain in suits that completely cover their body due to their weak immune systems. One of your crew members is a quarian named Tali who you can romance from the second game onward. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', at the end of the romance Tali and Shepard get ready to make love, Shepard removes her mask. The viewers don't get to see it because the camera is focused behind her. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' Shepard gets to digitally reexperience quarian history, before they had to stay in their suits. The quarians seen are still in suits, with the HandWave that either Shepard doesn't know what they look like so the representation can't draw from their memories, or (if male!Shep romanced Tali) he only knows what one looks like. And if the player manages [[spoiler: to destroy or make peace with the geth, the quarians are allowed to return to their homeworld.]] Tali celebrates the occasion by taking off her mask...with the camera repositioned behind her again. If this happens, Tali romancers FINALLY get to see what she looks like in a photo that appears in Shepard's cabin after the mission.

** Vriska [[spoiler: whose chalk-white, pupil-less eyes indicate deadness]] is looking at a treasure she's just engaged in a lengthy pirate-themed treasure hunt to find with the promised power to defeat the BigBad [[spoiler: who Calliope vaguely looks like and in fact is Calliope's brother [[ItMakesSenseInContext who also occupies the same body as her]]]]. This last case is subverted when Vriska forcibly drags the narrative back from the self-indulgent interlude it engages in after this. [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=007975 See this image]].

* ''WebVideo/ClassicAlice'', a retelling of several classic stories woven into an original plot: During the second book, the audience is introduced to "Nathan", who served as a device to permit Andrew more screen time. Nathan was never seen and refused to be spotted on camera, citing his desire to remain an 'uninvolved participant'. He tweets only in emojis, has never spoken on camera, and may or may not be deaf. Fans have been clamoring to see him for some time.

* [[BigBad Firelord Ozai]] from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' appears in a number of episodes shot only from the back or in front of a fire pit with the lighting too obscure to get a good look at him. Considering that he's a terrifyingly powerful antagonist, it's most effective when his face is finally revealed and [[spoiler:he looks quite handsome and normal and [[AntiVillain Zuko]] clearly takes after his physical appearance]].
* ''WesternAnimation/FanboyAndChumChum'':
** In the episode "Secret Club", the titular duo ''finally'' remove their masks to show their "secret identities" to mysterious toddler Retchy Lintpockets, but they are only seen from behind. By the time we return to their front, their masks are already back on.
** In the HalloweenEpisode, MadGod Mr. Trick shows ChildMage Kyle his "angry" face a la ''Beetlejuice'', which is only shown from behind, while the latter finds it quite horrifying and he screams repeatedly.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', we never get a proper look at Sara Bellum’s face. The camera either doesn’t show it or there’s something or someone in the way.

* In the anime and manga adaptations of ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'' the eponymous main character is always depicted on screen while wearing his helmet. In any scene where he removes his helmet, including in flashbacks, his face is never shown, either leaving his head out of the frame or only showing the back of his head.

* ''Film/TheSpanishPrisoner'': Dell keeps stringing Joe along with a possible date with his sister, who is [[TheGhost never seen]]. When Joe gets to Dell's house, he shows her a framed picture of his sister, but glare on the glass over the picture prevents the audience from seeing anything.
* The "Charles Dance Version" of ''The Phantom of the Opera'' has the Phantom twice removing his mask with his back to the viewer. We see the shocked reactions to his deformity, but not the deformed face itself.
* Throughout ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'', Harry Goodman's face is never seen in the various flashbacks (he always wears a hoodie and is shown from any angle except face-to-face). This sets up TheReveal at the end that [[spoiler:he's played by Creator/RyanReynolds, who voices the eponymous Pikachu because Harry's soul was inside Pikachu the whole time]].

* In-universe example in ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': In "The Seven", Jerry dates a woman who apparently wears the same outfit all the time. Elaine bumps into her on the street, but is unable to see what she is wearing since she is forced to tilt her head up after straining her neck. Both Elaine and the audience can only see Jerry's girlfriend's head.

Usually the camera is focused so that the viewers can't see the whole set. Now it appears it would be a good time for the camera to pan out a bit, or to cut to a wider view, right? Or it should move from the character's back and show us his or her face. Except... it never does. The audience is left wondering what really happened, how the characters reacted or what they look like.

* In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series one of the races are the quarians, who must remain in suits that completely cover their body due to their weak immune systems. One of your crew members is a quarian named Tali who you can romance from the second game onward. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', at the end of the romance Tali and Shepard get ready to make love, Shepard removes her mask. The viewers don't get to see it because the camera is focused behind her. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' Shepard gets to digitally reexperience quarian history, before they had to stay in their suits. The quarians seen are still in suits, with the HandWave that either Shepard doesn't know what they look like so the representation can't draw from his memories, or (if he romanced Tali) he only knows what one looks like. And if the player manages [[spoiler: to destroy or make peace with the geth, the quarians are allowed to return to their homeworld.]] Tali celebrates the occasion by taking off her mask...with the camera repositioned behind her again. If this happens, Tali romancers FINALLY get to see what she looks like in a photo that appears in Shepard's cabin after the mission.

* For a long time, Tobi from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has his face obscured when he's not with his mask, though we do get some shots of him slightly opening his mask or having it partially broken. He claims to be Madara Uchiha and we do have some shots of Madara's face in flashbacks, but for some reason, he always has his face hidden. [[spoiler:Until chapter 600, where it's revealed that he's actually Obito Uchiha]]

Compare/Contrast with BehindTheBlack: "If the audience can't see it, then neither can the characters." This trope is the other way round: "If the characters can see it, why the hell the audience can't, damn it?"

[[quoteright:196:[[WebVideo/TheAutobiographyOfJaneEyre https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unreveal_angle_jane_eyre.png]]]]
[-[[caption-width-right:196:Cool shades, funky socks, loose shirt, nice house. But what does his face look like?]]-]

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