History PaperThinDisguise / Videogames

* Judas, a [[CoolMask mask-wearing]] swordsman who shows up in ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'' and is quite blatantly Leon Magnus from the first game. As it happens, the mask is a hollowed out dragon skull that Leon chose not so much for disguise but for the protection against magic that it offered. It's such an open secret that it warrants a MythologyGag in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'', where Presea tells Emil about her invention the Judas Mask, which "hid your face without actually hiding it, yet mysteriously prevented anyone from realizing your true identity." (Said mask is unlockable for use in the PAL and UsefulNotes/Playstation3 versions.) In fact, it's a bit of a RunningGag amongst the ''Tales'' Fandom -- one of the DVD extras featured scenes in skit format wherein Judas is onscreen, only for Stahn to come over and say "Hi Leon", and Leon pointed out he wasn't Leon but Judas.

* This trope returns to the ''Tales'' series in the UsefulNotes/{{P|layStation3}}S3 version of ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'':

* The Cog Disguises in ''VideoGame/ToontownOnline'' are modeled after the cog that your Toon is disguised as. These still have the Toon's head exposed[[note]]Addressed in VideoGame/ToontownCorporateClash, which gives cog disguises the proper head and special species onomatopoeia for Speedchat+[[/note]] which also reflects the currently active Cheesy Effect. Only the Sellbot Vice President is fooled, the other three see through the disguise.

** Of course, there was the immortal "It's just a big nosed bush" disguise in ''[[VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape Rayman Revolution]]''. Because big nosed bushes regularly spontaneously sprout on the way into your pirate stronghold. Sure.

* ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'': Justified. [[spoiler:Bill doesn't make any attempt to disguise himself when impersonating Richard, since he knows that Ashley was never told or shown what her father looks like. Indeed, while Ashley does admit to D that things felt a bit weird after talking to her "dad" for the first time, she passes off this uncertainty as her still trying to process that she actually has a living parent.]]

* [[SpaceElves Yrliet]] of ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000RogueTrader'' hides from the [[AbsoluteXenophobe human supremacist]] [[TheEmpire Imperium of Man]] by... not hiding anything about her physical appearance and simply saying she is a "mutant", and it worked well enough she is a respected member of the security staff of the leader of the human world she settled on when you meet her. To her credit, there ''are'' a good number of [[HumanSubspecies weird-looking humans]] in-setting (one of your own crewmembers has a magical third eye, for example) so unless someone is familiar with how SpaceElves look, her appearance wouldn't really shock anyone.

* The "Fake Health" secret in ''VideoGame/SeriousSam 2'', which is just a Primitive wearing an ill-fitting +50 health box while jumping up and down and spinning to try and simulate the floating and spinning properties of Serious Sam pickups. Sam nevertheless expresses shock over how good the disguise was ([[SarcasmMode though he may have just been being sarcastic.]])

** Of course, there was the immortal "It's just a big nosed bush" disguise in ''Rayman Revolution''. Because big nosed bushes regularly spontaneously sprout on the way into your pirate stronghold. Sure.

* In ''VideoGame/BrokTheInvestiGator'', Brok has to meet [[TheCracker the Gloom]], but his bodyguard, R.J., won't let him enter. You have the option to disguise Brok as an elephent using a pipe, broken wings from a statue, and some string. Because R.J. is [[DumbMuscle R.J.]], he'll let Brok enter. Because the Gloom is ''not'' R.J., [[SubvertedTrope he sees through Brok's disguise in a matter of seconds]] and fires R.J. for being fooled so easily.

* At one point in ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts'', Shing and his crew attempt to avoid any entanglements with the Valentin church and the Imperial Knights, and a friendl NPC offers them the [[SarcasmMode fantastic disguise of...]] A pair of glasses for each of them.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', the traveling merchant Beedle apparently runs some sort of black market near one of the islands. His only disguise is a helmet. When you enter he immediately greets you as "Person who I have NEVER seen before"

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', some of the characters fall for this when you wear masks from the Happy Mask shop, even though the masks only cover your face. The Gorons, for example, will assume you're a very short Goron who doesn't eat enough. Subverted in a number of cases, though -- the Gerudo think you're making fun of them, get pissed off, and tell you to go away.

** Either under this or the WigDressAccent, ''VideoGame/WarioLand Shake'' has a treasure called the 'Perfect Disguise'. Which is pretty much a pair of glasses and a false mustache, although apparently it works:

** ''VideoGame/WarioWare Touched'': Deconstructed In Mona's ending, rival pop singer Vanessa briefly tries to disguise herself as Mona, but she retains her green hair and purple clothing. No one buys it.

* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4'': Kai Schulen, who is actually Leena Schulen, is pulling a SweetPollyOliver to cover for her brother, the real Kai Schulen after he [[spoiler: defected to the enemy]]. She does this by... saying that she's a man. She wears her hair long, doesn't cover her face, and while her outfit isn't Stripperiffic, it really doesn't hide her figure.[[https://valkyria.sega.com/character.php?page=kai Here's the link to her official character page]].

* ''VideoGame/WarioWare Touched'': Deconstructed In Mona's ending, rival pop singer Vanessa briefly tries to disguise herself as Mona, but she retains her green hair and purple clothing. No one buys it.

* Either under this or the WigDressAccent, ''VideoGame/WarioLand Shake'' has a treasure called the 'Perfect Disguise'. Which is pretty much a pair of glasses and a false mustache, although apparently it works:

* In ''Videogame/DivinityOriginalSinII'', [[DemBones undead]] characters such as Fane are likely to be attacked on sight by most [=NPCs=] unless wearing a disguise. However, the game's definition of "disguise" is "any outfit that fills all the clothing slots", even if the specific clothing items leave plenty of bone exposed. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d if a PC confesses their undead nature to the Red Prince, who asks if they really expected him to be fooled by a few bandages.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', where it is impossible to disguise yourself. Your character is instantly recognizable, even dressed like [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/c/c7/Fo3_APA_Enclave.png this]]. Perhaps the [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Chinese_remnants wiki]] puts it best:
-->They are immediately hostile towards the PC, because he/she is American. (And that goes even for Asian-American characters wearing Chinese Army paraphernalia...)

** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' Goris, an intelligent talking Deathclaw companion for the player character would wear a brown robe to cover his appearance when not fighting. Absolutely nobody seems suspicious of the giant lumbering figure completely covered in brown cloth even though he's easily twice the size of any human.
** Although it is ridiculously easy to fool the guards at the gates of Fallout 3's 'The Pitt'', just put on a slave outfit, they don't notice your wrist mounted computer or get suspicious about all your carried equipment.
* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', putting on a faction's armor will automatically reset your reputation with them to Neutral so that if they're hostile to you they won't shoot you on sight so long as you have that on. This even works for things like Caesar's unique outfit, which can only be gained by either killing him or reverse-pickpocketing something with a better Damage Threshold. As usual, no one asks about your Pip-Boy, even if you're disguised as a member of the tech-hating Caesar's Legion. However, even putting on that disguise can make certain factions hostile to you, like the NCR while you wear a Legion uniform. Also, guards tend to see through the disguise and attack.

-->'''Celes:''' Why the stupid farce?\\

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', [[MysteriousWaif Azura]] at one point dons an outfit that is completely identical to her normal outfit save for being black and having a transparent veil covering the lower half of her face. Absolutely nobody recognizes her. Even when she starts dancing and singing "[[{{Leitmotif}} Lost in Thoughts All Alone]]", everyone just wonders who this mysterious woman they've never seen before could possibly be.

* In ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', two of the main antagonists show up in an early dungeon. One is a green-haired BloodKnight called Blados. The other is a bishonen guy with long blue hair, whom Kraden seems to know from thirty years ago, at the time of [[VideoGame/GoldenSun the first two games]], in which one of the villains was a bishonen guy with long blue hair. But this can't be the same guy, he's wearing a mask!... that covers less than half his face.
** Justified: The player characters have never met that man and those who'd even heard of him heard he'd died at the end of ''The Lost Age'' thirty years before (and well before most of them were born). Only Kraden, who ''does'' recognize him, knows what he looks like and that his death was never confirmed.
* In ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas San Andreas]]'', cops will lose track of you if you go into your house in front of their very eyes, put on a pair of joke glasses (y'know, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything thick frames, bushy eyebrows and a huge nose]]) and walk out the front door, waving to them.

** Not to mention that in every game from ''[=GTA3=]'' onward, you can drive almost any vehicle into a Pay-n-Spray in full view of the fuzz and be completely ignored when you drive out in the exact same vehicle. There are a few exceptions (buses, police cars, etc) which the Pay-n-Spray employees will refuse to touch, probably because they only come in the one color scheme.
*** Although amusingly, they ''will'' accept any taxi, even though they all have only one color scheme (usually yellow). This is especially prominent in the ''Vice City'' bank heist mission "The Job", where the mandatory getaway vehicle is a taxi, you have an automatic 4-Star wanted level (meaning SWAT teams), the Pay-n-Spray is literally down the street from the bank, and you don't even have to be out of the police's line of sight to use it.

* In ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaReBirth1'', when Noire, Vert and Blanc leave their respective realms, they all disguise themselves with nothing more than a pair of spectacles. Despite their highly distinctive outfits, ''this actually works''. They even manage to fool ''each other'', bearing in mind that they've been fighting each other for decades and should be able to recognize each other at a glance, glasses or no glasses. It is, however, subverted when the party first visits Lowee, and [[spoiler:the fake]] Blanc sees through Vert's disguise immediately, having been expecting them. Neptune then notes that Vert has certain other characteristics (her boobs) that give her away.

** ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXIV'' has a humorous example with the new character King of Dinosaurs...or rather Tizoc/Griffon Mask from ''[[VideoGame/FatalFury Garou: Mark of the Wolves]]'' wearing a dinosaur costume and trying to play a {{Heel}}. Obviously he's not very good at it: his official character profile is mostly the same, he has most of the same moves (but with less heroic-sounding names), and will occasionally slip into his trademark ForGreatJustice speeches before catching himself. Pretty much everybody who knows Tizoc sees right through the disguise (Terry Bogard strikes up a friendly conversation with him and he goes along with it before realizing and trying to cover himself), and even those who don't can tell that he's trying very hard to be something he isn't.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'', to avoid gaining attention while visiting [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure Crossbell]], Rean hides himself as the Ashen Chevalier by simply wearing glasses.

* DoubleSubversion in the ''VideoGame/MedievalCop'' spin-off Medieval Chronicles 7. Detective Dregg finds a wig and dons it to pass the guarded entrance to woman toilet. While this disguise is extremely crude, the guard is long-sighted, and therefore is not able to see Dregg's face, only the long-haired silhouette. This subversion of the trope is then double subverted when the guard comments that he can distinguish a woman from a long-haired man by voice, something that he has clearly failed in.

** In ''VideoGame/MegaMan6'' for the NES, a mysterious contest promoter known as Mr. X appears to be the villain of the piece...unfortunately he bears a staggering resemblance to the regular game Big Bad Dr. Wily, except he has sunglasses, a beard, and a dot on his forehead. Capcom had tried this in the last two games, with ''4'' having the Russian scientist Dr. Cossack as the villain until it is revealed Dr. Wily was simply blackmailing him with his daughter. ''5'' claimed Mega Man's brother Proto Man was the villain, but he was simply a robotic impostor called Dark Man built by -- you guessed it -- Dr. Wily. With this flimsy Mr. X disguise, Capcom were clearly not even trying anymore.
*** Even Inafune {{lampshade|Hanging}}s it:
-->"You know who this is, right? Yeah, I didn't do any of the design."

** Game Freak must really like this trope, since it's used ''again'' in ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet''. [[NonGivingUpSchoolGuy Director Clavell]] disguises himself as a student named Clive in order to join you on your mission to take out Team Star. Said disguise consists of putting on a (mismatched) school uniform, switching out his glasses for sunglasses, and putting on [[DelinquentHair a huge pompadour wig]] that would make a [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Tunnel Snake]] jealous. Like with the Masked Royal, you can see through the disguise immediately, and continue to address him as Director Clavell every time you encounter him (to which he will continue to insist that he's not). Even the alternative dialogue options sound more like you're just playing along rather than genuinely being fooled. Once he reveals his true identity in dramatic fashion, if you tell him you knew who he was, he will be quite shocked, as he was sure he had fooled you, even if you've been calling him Clavell the whole time, including just moments before the reveal. Ironically, the fact that he's an old man is ''not'' part of what makes his disguise paper-thin, as there are real students at the academy just as old as he is, if not older (one student you can encounter and battle out in the open world claims to have been attending the academy for over 60 years and is in no hurry to graduate). However, once he reveals himself, he refers to his Clive persona as a "boy", meaning he really ''was'' trying to pass himself off as a kid or teenager. Surprisingly, Cassiopeia/[[spoiler:Penny]], despite being the brains of the entire operation and a super-genius hacker, is completely fooled by the disguise and is shocked by the reveal... though they have to admit that the pompadour was ridiculous.

* Masked Satan in ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTsu''[='s=] Alternate Ending. The only change is a gold mask that only covered his eyes, yet he expects Arle to be unable to identify him despite having long green hair, horns, not altering his voice, and wearing the same blue clothing. Arle isn't fooled for one second. Even his ''name'' is a PaperThinDisguise, as when Arle asks "Aren't you just Satan?", Satan corrects her by saying he is ''Masked'' Satan, as if that makes him a completely different person.

* Bosco in the first season of the ''[[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max]]'' games. He even leaves his name tag on. Sam and Max don't fall for the disguises, however.

* In the SNES ''Videogame/{{Shadowrun}}'' game, two morgue workers become terrified of Jake after [[WakingUpAtTheMorgue he rises from the slab they left him on]] (thinking he's a zombie), and refuse to have anything to do with him. Jake solves this problem by donning a pair of sunglasses, which stops them recognizing him.

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/TheSims 3''. If a sim who works as a private investigator goes on a stakeout, they will hold up a pair of shrub branches, ''and hide behind them, usually in plain sight.'' As seen [[http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p233/Raan0001/Screenshot-2.jpg here]].
* "Bellena" from ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia''. Apparently, changing one's name [[spoiler:by a ''single letter'']] and wearing [[{{Stripperiffic}} less clothing than usual]] counts as the perfect disguise.
** Justified: Vyse and Co. hadn't met her before.

* Judas, a [[CoolMask mask-wearing]] swordsman who shows up in ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Tales of Destiny 2]]'' and is quite blatantly Leon Magnus from the first game. As it happens, the mask is a hollowed out dragon skull that Leon chose not so much for disguise but for the protection against magic that it offered. It's such an open secret that it warrants a MythologyGag in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'', where Presea tells Emil about her invention the Judas Mask, which "hid your face without actually hiding it, yet mysteriously prevented anyone from realizing your true identity." (Said mask is unlockable for use in the PAL and UsefulNotes/Playstation3 versions.)
** In fact, it's a bit of a RunningGag amongst the Tales Fandom -- one of the DVD extras featured scenes in skit format wherein Judas is onscreen, only for Stahn to come over and say "Hi Leon", and Leon pointed out he wasn't Leon but Judas.

* This trope returns to the ''Tales'' series in the UsefulNotes/{{P|layStation3}}S3 version of ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' through a series of skits in which Richard takes on a superhero identity named "The Mask of Barona" to do good deeds for his friends. However, his 'costume' consists of little more than Richard putting on a turban and see-through veil on his face, ''worn along with his normal attire''. And its shown as a small cut-in of said disguise blatantly overlaid on Richard's normal skit portrait. Of course, everyone instantly sees through it except for Asbel and Sophie.

** ''No one will ever know it's you!''

* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' [[spoiler:Joshua does this in his human form. He looks exactly like his Composer form only as a teenage boy, and only 2 people figure it out: Sho Minamimoto and low-level reaper Koki Kariya. It figures this is the same form he killed Neku with. Heck, he could have just put on a shirt that said "I am not the person who killed you." and that would have been better.]]
** This is actually lampshaded in some post-game collectible reports, [[spoiler:where it's mentioned that [[JustifiedTrope the only people who actually see the Composer in person most of the time]] are the Conductor (Kitaniji, who doesn't speak to Players in the Reaper's Game until the end of the week) and the Producer (Hanekoma, who watches things happen and writes to the Higher Plane about it). Both of the above realize who Joshua is because he's forced to utilize the Composer's abilities; Kariya watches him Jesus-Beam a Taboo Noise, and Minamimoto tries to shoot him in the RG and [[OhCrap realizes the Composer can still do stuff in there]].]]

** They player might pick up on this, but Shion had a pretty good reason for her obliviousness [[spoiler: Kevin was her Fiance who was killed right in front of her in a lab accident. She hadn't known how much of manipulative bastard he was, nor had any reason to suspect that he had been revived as The {{BigBad}}'s right hand]].
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'', where even if the player character as Yan-Chan wears a huge box which conceals most of her except the lower legs, she still can't sneak into the Headmaster's office without him threatening her to electrocute her (it's a long story, really) if she doesn't leave him alone. He even points out that she can't fool anyone with this disguise, despite the only giveaway being her black stockings.
** However, other students and teachers won't blink an eye. She can even wear a simple theater mask if she joins the drama club, which leaves her completely recognizable by hair, uniform, body shape etc. and still perform murders undetected.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' series:

* In ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaReBirth1'', when Noire, Vert and Blanc leave their respective realms, they all disguise themselves with nothing more than a pair of spectacles. Despite their highly distinctive outfits, ''this actually works''. They even manage to fool ''each other'', bearing in mind that they've been fighting each other for decades and should be able to recognize each other at a glance, glasses or no glasses. It is, however, subverted when the party first visits Lowee, and [[spoiler:the fake]] Blanc sees through Vert's disguise immediately, having been expecting them. Neptune then notes that Vert has [[GagBoobs certain other characteristics]] that give her away.

** Game Freak must really like this trope, since it's used ''again'' in ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet''. [[NonGivingUpSchoolGuy Director Clavell]] disguises himself as a student named Clive in order to join you on your mission to take out Team Star. Said disguise consists of putting on a (mismatched) school uniform, switching out his glasses for sunglasses, and putting on [[DelinquentHair a huge pompadour wig]] that would make a [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Tunnel Snake]] jealous. Like with the Masked Royal, you can see through the disguise immediately, and continue to address him as Director Clavell every time you encounter him (to which he will continue to insist that he's not). Even the alternative dialogue options sound more like you're just playing along rather than genuinely being fooled. Once he reveals his true identity in dramatic fashion, if you tell him you knew who he was, he will be quite shocked, as he was sure he had fooled you, even if you've been calling him Clavell the whole time, including just moments before the reveal. Ironically, the fact that he's an old man is ''not'' part of what makes his disguise paper-thin, as there are real students at the academy just as old as he is, if not older (one student you can encounter and battle out in the open world claims to have been attending the academy for over 60 years and is in no hurry to graduate). However, once he reveals himself, he refers to his Clive persona as a "boy", meaning he really ''was'' trying to pass himself off as a kid or teenager. Surprisingly, Cassiopeia/[[spoiler:Penny]], despite being the brains of the entire operation and a super-genius hacker, is completely fooled by the disguise and is shocked by the reveal... though they have to admit that the pompadour was ridiculous. Of course, with Cassiopeia's true identity [[CaptainObviousReveal being as obvious as it is]], one could argue it makes sense that they would be fooled by a similarly obvious disguise.