History TheFaceless / Comicbooks

* The Phantom Blot from ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse''. In ''MickeyMouse Outwits The Phantom Blot'' by Floyd Gottfredson, Mickey Mouse meets the Phantom Blot for the first time and, well, outwits him, so he is unmasked at the end, showing him to have a [[CreatorCameo striking resemblance]] to Creator/WaltDisney. However, later appearances in American Disney comics (often drawn by Paul Murry) never showed The Blot's face. He would sometimes wear masks that looked exactly like a human face ''on top of his black hood''... but we are even told on-panel in one comic that no one has ever seen his face (which is weird, since he regularly ends in jail -- shouldn't they remove his hood then?). In ''European'' Disney comics, however, the unmasking was canon, and he regularly appeared without his hood -- after all, it made him less conspicuous to the public. It gets weirder: Egmont, the standard Disney publisher in northern Europe, decided to make the unmasked Phantom and the never unmasked one, separate characters, often changing details when translating Italian comics to do so. The unmasked version is named "Plattnase" (Flatnose) and often doesn't were the hood in the whole story while the masked version is called "Schwarzes Phantom" (Black Phantom)and Mickey sometimes doubts that he is even human (well, the local equivalent of human). Later on, they became the same character again, though.

* In ''ComicBook/LeScorpion'', Captain Rochnan's face is not revealed until ''The Treasure of the Templars''; his face being concealed by his armoured helmet before this. [[spoiler: And he falls to death not long after the reveal]].

** Doom's face ''before'' the accident that deformed him is sometimes shown in {{Flashback}}s. There's also ''ComicBook/SecretWars'', where his face is (temporarily) fixed.

** In the storyline ''[[Comicbook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man's Land]]'', the person who takes the identity of Batgirl is never shown without her mask until [[spoiler:Batman fires her]], at which point [[spoiler:she's revealed to be Huntress]].

** The ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' villain Jaeger goes through a few hi-tech face covering masks but by the time he's in police custody and they go to remove the one he's currently wearing it has been surgically grafted to his face so his face is never shown.
* [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]] villain Johnny Sorrow no longer has a face, and to look into the space behind his mask where his face should be is instant death.

** comics, Tiny Bubbles, a superstrong Intergang enforcer had her face constantly obscured (from the reader, but not from other characters). When a reader wrote to the editor to ask about this, they said it just seemed like a fun idea.

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comics, Tiny Bubbles, a superstrong Intergang enforcer had her face constantly obscured (from the reader, but not from other characters). When a reader wrote to the editor to ask about this, they said it just seemed like a fun idea.

* Rorschach from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' keeps his face hidden behind a shifting black-and-white mask, though he argues that that is his real face. He's not shy about taking it off during the day to walk around, spy on people in plain sight, and [[spoiler: predict the end of the world]].

* * Rebecca Banner's face is never shown in ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk''. She's always behind something or turned away.

* The Phantom Blot from ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse''. In ''MickeyMouse Outwits The Phantom Blot'' by Floyd Gottfredson, Mickey Mouse meets the Phantom Blot for the first time and, well, outwits him, so he is unmasked at the end, showing him to have a [[CreatorCameo striking resemblance]] to Creator/WaltDisney. However, later appearances in American Disney comics (often drawn by Paul Murry) never showed The Blot's face. He would sometimes wear masks that looked exactly like a human face ''on top of his black hood''... but we are even told on-panel in one comic that no one has ever seen his face (which is weird, since he regularly ends in jail - shouldn't they remove his hood then?). In ''European'' Disney comics, however, the unmasking was canon, and he regularly appeared without his hood - after all, it made him less conspicuous to the public.
** It gets weirder: Egmont, the standard Disney publisher in northern europe, decided to make both, the unmasked Phantom and the never unmasked one, separate characters, often changing details when translating italian comics to do so. The unmasked version is named "Plattnase" (Flatnose) and often doesn't were the hood in the whole story while the masked version is called "Schwarzes Phantom" (Black Phantom)and Mickey sometimes doubts that he is even human (well, the local equivalent of human). Recently, they have become the same character again, though.
* In ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' Camera 9's face (except for his beak) is always covered by his camera or (when it takes it off) by SceneryCensor. This was to enforce his belief that his job as cameraman (he was a very famous photographer once) transformed him in a mindless robot, since he thinks television is a shallow and loud way to reports news.

* Throughout the story of ''ComicBook/{{Pouvoirpoint}}'', the main character has to wear a sealed helmet and an space suit, the risk being that he brings aboard the starship Enterprise-2061 his germs from Earth. Only at the end [[TheReveal he removes his helmet]] [[spoiler:and [[TwistEnding we see his true nature]]]].

* Monsieur Choc, the arch-villain in ''ComicBook/TifEtTondu'' is never seen without a knight's helmet that completely disguises his features. In the two page comic [[http://coolfrenchcomics.com/chocstory.htm L'Image de Choc]] one character eventually get hold of a picture of Choc without his helmet. However, the picture turns out to be useless [[spoiler: Since it depicts Choc when he was an infant]].

* V in ''Comicbook/VForVendetta'' chooses to remain behind his mask for the entire duration of the narrative, save for his revealing himself to Dr. Delia Surridge as she lays dying. She comments that his hideously burn-scarred face is "so beautiful..." This trope exists partly because V is more embodied as an idea than as an individual.

* Rebecca Banner's face is never shown in ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk''. She's always behind something or turned away.

* Throughout the story of ''ComicBook/{{Pouvoirpoint}}'', the main character has to wear a sealed helmet and an space suit, the risk being that he brings aboard the starship Enterprise-2061 his germs from Earth. Only at the end [[TheReveal he removes his helmet]] [[spoiler:and [[TwistEnding we see his true nature]]]].
* Subverted in ''[[ComicBook/TheSimpsons Radioactive Man]]'' by one of the members of "The Bonfire Club", sitting in shadow an profile, one of whom is clearly Richard Nixon:
--> "Gee, it sure is dark in here. You'd think with all our power and money we could afford a few lightbulbs."

* [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]] villain Johnny Sorrow no longer has a face, and to look into the space behind his mask where his face should be is instant death.
* ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger manages to keep the top of his face permanently obscured in shadow (thanks to carefully angling his hat) to the point that it seems like he wears a DominoMask.

* The Franchise/MarvelUniverse versions of Creator/JackKirby and Creator/StanLee, who produced a [[ShowWithinAShow comic within a comic]] of the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', always had their faces hidden when they appeared.

* Both incarnations of the ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's villain Baron Zemo have had their masks literally fused to their face. The younger Baron eventually finds a way to remove his, but his face is horribly scarred underneath.
* ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'' - Subverted and averted with Finn Cooley. An Irish bomb-maker, his face was blown off, so he was grotesque and disfigured, and his face was shown frequently during the "Kitchen Irish" storyline.
* ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': In Vol 2. the Badoon refuse to show their faces to anyone, because despite being hideously ugly lizard-folk, they think they're beautiful, and that no-one else is fit to look at them.

* The Phantom Blot from ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse''. In ''MickeyMouse Outwits The Phantom Blot'' by Floyd Gottfredson, Mickey Mouse meets the Phantom Blot for the first time and, well, outwits him, so he is unmasked at the end, showing him to have a [[CreatorCameo striking resemblance]] to Creator/WaltDisney. However, later appearances in American Disney comics (often drawn by Paul Murry) never showed The Blot's face. He would sometimes wear masks that looked exactly like a human face ''on top of his black hood''... but we are even told on-panel in one comic that no one has ever seen his face (which is weird, since he regularly ends in jail - shouldn't they remove his hood then?). In ''European'' Disney comics, however, the unmasking was canon, and he regularly appeared without his hood - after all, it made him less conspicuous to the public.
** It gets weirder: Egmont, the standard Disney publisher in northern europe, decided to make both, the unmasked Phantom and the never unmasked one, separate characters, often changing details when translating italian comics to do so. The unmasked version is named "Plattnase" (Flatnose) and often doesn't were the hood in the whole story while the masked version is called "Schwarzes Phantom" (Black Phantom)and Mickey sometimes doubts that he is even human (well, the local equivalent of human). Recently, they have become the same character again, though.

* In ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'' and its spinoff ''ComicBook/{{Squee}}'', Squee's parents are always depicted in silhouette or from behind. We do know Squee's dad wears glasses--they light up when he's in silhouette, in homage to fellow abusive father [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]].
* In ''ComicBook/LeScorpion'', Captain Rochnan's face is not revealed until ''The Treasure of the Templars''; his face being concealed by his armoured helmet before this. [[spoiler: And he falls to death not long after the reveal]].
* In ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures Camera 9's face (except for his beak) is always covered by his camera or (when it takes it off) by SceneryCensor. This was to enforce his belief that his job as cameraman (he was a very famous photographer once) transformed him in a mindless robot, since he thinks television is a shallow and loud way to reports news.

** Judge Fear: we never see his true face, just his helmet, which covers all his face and which he can open, which is apparently so frightening it can scare people to death -- gaze into the face of fear! Does not always work: Dredd: [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome gaze into the fist of Dredd!]] Fear is a bit of an odd case in that he ''literally'' doesn't have a face of any sort, it's always just a psychic projection.

** Judge Fear: we never see his true face, just his helmet, which covers all his face and which he can open, which is apparently so frightening it can scare people to death -- gaze into the face of fear! Does not always work: Dredd: [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome gaze into the fist of Dredd!]]

*** You can see a non-canon face shot in the ''Diceman'' game comic - http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/diceman?before=1342925183

** Comicbook/JudgeDredd ''never'' shows his face. He almost never removes his helmet. On the exceedingly rare occasions he does it's an [[TheUnreveal Unreveal]]. One famous story revealed near the end that its protagonist, a [[TheDrifter mysterious drifter]] [[WalkingTheEarth Walking The (Cursed) Earth]], was Dredd during a TenMinuteRetirement, but he was so badly scarred it didn't count as TheReveal.

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* Doctor Doom, enemy of the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', another deformed-beneath-the-mask type. Doom may be one of the longest-running examples of this trope; Marvel has enforced an ironclad "Doom's face is ''never'' shown!" rule for over fifty years. Characters who do see his face are almost invariably filled with a mix of extreme disgust and abject terror.

* In ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'', the main character's boss Mr. Dupuis is never shown, presumably because he is a real person.
* The Franchise/MarvelUniverse versions of Creator/JackKirby and Creator/StanLee, who produced a [[ShowWithinAShow comic within a comic]] of the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', always had their faces hidden when they appeared.
* Mary Jane Watson from the ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comics was TheGhost until ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #42, though on one occasion prior to that, she appeared with her face obscured by a potted plant.
** This also had the effect that, since we never saw her face, and Peter was continually avoiding being set up with her on the assumption she ''wasn't'' attractive, the readers had the same surprise as him when he answered the door to her in a SplashPanel.
* The [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]], in his first appearances, was always either wearing his mask or had his face obscured by some random object.

* V in ''Comicbook/VForVendetta'' chooses to remain behind his mask for the entire duration of the narrative, save for his revealing himself to Dr. Delia Surridge as she lays dying. She comments that his hideously burn-scarred face is "so beautiful..." This trope exists partly because V is more embodied as an idea than as an individual.
** In the film adaptation (so goes the story), various prettyboy types were considered for the role of V, but they all wanted to do at least one scene unmasked. Creator/HugoWeaving was therefore enlisted instead and his mask is never removed. The "mystery factor" is diminished since Weaving looks pretty much the same [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger in]] [[Film/TheMatrix every]] [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings movie]], but what was lost there is regained in spades in the [[LargeHam voice and physical acting]]. He does get a cameo in that he's one of the prominent faces (along with the others are characters who have died in the course of the film) in the crowd removing their masks at the end. It's rather poignant.

* An ''[[Series/TheXFiles X-Files]]'' comic about the Fatima Prophecies had a scene with the Pope and a military commander discussing the third (unopened) prophecy. There were no backgrounds or faces, just the two symbolic outfits of "military" and "church".
* ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}} from Creator/MarvelComics does better than most costumed types at concealing his true name and face; he never takes off his mask in-panel, whether others are around or not. When he is defeated and his mask is stolen in his own miniseries, we see him only in silhouette, and then from behind, before he retrieves his mask and makes sure the ones who took it aren't going to be telling anyone.
** One of the Udon comics actually did show him without the mask on... in a flashback to when he was twelve or so.
** Goes so far that when he's working with ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} and wearing a copy of his costume, he can be seen wearing his traditional skull mask underneath his Deadpool mask.
** It was shown once when ComicBook/MoonKnight defeated him and threatened to cut off his face literally but instead decided to just cut his mask off.

* In Franchise/TheDCU, [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]] villain Johnny Sorrow no longer has a face, and to look into the space behind his mask where his face should be is instant death.
* This is one of the trademarks of ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom'' (Ghost Who Walks, Man Who Cannot Die, etc.). When in costume he has his mask, and when travelling incognito as "Mr. Walker" he wears a hat and sunglasses all the time, claiming that he has a disfiguring skin condition when asked to remove them. If he isn't wearing the mask or the hat and glasses for some reason, he's either drawn from the back or in shadow to obscure his face.
* ''ComicBook/FlamingCarrot'' - Carrot's identity is kept a mystery to the reader, and the only time we see him without his mask is when his face is covered in bandages. According to some theories, he's actually Jim Morrison.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Zot}}'', the electronic assassin 9-Jack-9 has no face. (Creating difficulty for creator Scott [=McCloud=] when he held a contest for which character the readers most wanted to see [[PieInTheFace hit in the face with a pie]], and 9-Jack-9 won. It ended up passing through him and hitting Zot, the runner-up, instead.)
* Variation: ''Comicbook/UsagiYojimbo'''s BigBad, Lord Hijiki, is one of these--but only after his face is completely shown in his first appearance.

* ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger from Franchise/TheDCU manages to keep the top of his face permanently obscured in shadow (thanks to carefully angling his hat) to the point that it seems like he wears a DominoMask.
* 'Hawg' Waller from ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' is only ever shown from behind while standing behind his bar.
* Both incarnations of Creator/MarvelComics' Baron Zemo have had their masks literally fused to their face. The younger Baron eventually finds a way to remove his, but his face is horribly scarred underneath.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' storyline ''[[Comicbook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man's Land]]'', the person who takes the identity of Batgirl is never shown without her mask until [[spoiler:Batman fires her]], at which point [[spoiler:she's revealed to be Huntress]].
* ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}} villain Mano wore a transparent bubble helmet filled with the poisonous gases he needed to breathe so all the reader ever saw was a shadowy silhouette of his head.
** Another example from the Legion: the Time Trapper. His face is always in shadow from the hood of his tattered purple robe. In the recent ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis: Legion of Three Worlds'' miniseries, he was revealed to be [[spoiler:A future version of Superboy Prime]].
*** Mind you the Time Trapper has had his/her/its identity revealed four or five times making the TT effectively faceless no matter what. In ''[=LO3W=]'', Brainiac 5 speculates that the Trapper is a living alternate future, whose history is constantly rewritten (he/she's previously been a Controller, his/her own sidekick Glorith, a future version of Cosmic Boy, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Entropy, and a future version of Lori Morning [who may have been the ComicBook/PostCrisis Glorith]).
** Ferro Lad is basically a heroic Dr Doom with transformation powers.
* ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'' - Subverted and averted with Finn Cooley. An Irish bomb-maker, his face was blown off, so he was grotesque and disfigured, and his face was shown frequently during the "Kitchen Irish" storyline.
* In ''ComicBook/AmericanBornChinese'', Jin and Danny's parents always have their faces partially or completely hidden. Subverted when [[spoiler:Danny's parents are finally shown, revealing that Danny's parents are Jin's parents (since Danny and Jin are the same person).]]
* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comics, Tiny Bubbles, a superstrong Intergang enforcer had her face constantly obscured (from the reader, but not from other characters). When a reader wrote to the editor to ask about this, they said it just seemed like a fun idea.
* From ''Webcomic/DorkTower'': Leslie, Bill's (sole) employee at Pegasaurus Games, is always shown with her face half-hidden behind the store counter.
* ''ComicBook/ChickTracts'' often portray {{God}} as an enormous throned figure whose face is silhouetted by light, making him look eerily like TheBlank.
* In ''MickeyMouse Outwits The Phantom Blot'' by Floyd Gottfredson, Mickey Mouse meets the Phantom Blot for the first time and, well, outwits him, so he is unmasked at the end, showing him to have a [[CreatorCameo striking resemblance]] to Creator/WaltDisney. However, later appearances in American Disney comics (often drawn by Paul Murry) never showed The Blot's face. He would sometimes wear masks that looked exactly like a human face ''on top of his black hood''... but we are even told on-panel in one comic that no one has ever seen his face (which is weird, since he regularly ends in jail - shouldn't they remove his hood then?). In ''European'' Disney comics, however, the unmasking was canon, and he regularly appeared without his hood - after all, it made him less conspicuous to the public.
** It gets weirder: Egmont, the standard Disney publisher in northern europe, decided to make both, the unmasked Phantom and the never unmasked one, separate characters, often changing details when translating italian comics to do so. The unmasked version is named "Plattnase" (Flatnose) and often doesn't were the hood in the whole story while the masked version is called "Schwarzes Phantom" (Black Phantom)and Mickey sometimes doubts that he is even human (well, the local equivalent of human). Recently, they have become the same character again, though.
* In ''ComicBook/LeScorpion'', Captain Rochnan's face is not revealed until ''The Treasure of the Templars''; his face being concealed by his armoured helmet before this. [[spoiler: And he falls to death not long after the reveal]].
* The Surgeon General from ''ComicBook/GiveMeLiberty'', whose face is always obscured by a surgical mask, cap, and tinted goggles.
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the ''Magazine/{{Cracked}}'' parody of ''Series/TheFallGuy''. Colt asks Big Jack why she is suddenly wearing elaborate hats that conceal her face. Big Jack replies that the artist couldn't get her face right so decided to hide it behind the hat.
* In ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'', ComicBook/TheJoker's...face has not been shown. [[spoiler: He has taken back his face-skin and is wearing it as a creepy mask. It's safe to say that his face is not a pretty sight]].
* In ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures Camera 9's face (except for his beak) is always covered by his camera or (when it takes it off) by SceneryCensor. This was to enforce his belief that his job as cameraman (he was a very famous photographer once) transformed him in a mindless robot, since he thinks television is a shallow and loud way to reports news.
** When Korinna was using the fake identity "Profunda", her face was always covered until TheReveal.
* Rorschach from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' keeps his face hidden behind a shifting black-and-white mask, though he argues that that is his real face. He's not shy about taking it off during the day to walk around, spy on people in plain sight, and [[spoiler: predict the end of the world]].
* ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': In Vol 2. the Badoon refuse to show their faces to anyone, because despite being hideously ugly lizard-folk, they think they're beautiful, and that no-one else is fit to look at them.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Swordquest}}'', the mysterious oracles Mentorr and Mentarra wear hooded robes that leave their faces entirely in shadow.
* Throughout the story of ''ComicBook/{{Pouvoirpoint}}'', the main character has to wear a sealed helmet and an space suit, the risk being that he brings aboard the starship Enterprise-2061 his germs from Earth. Only at the end [[TheReveal he removes his helmet]] [[spoiler:and [[TwistEnding we see his true nature]]]].

** Goes so far that when he's working with SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} and wearing a copy of his costume, he can be seen wearing his traditional skull mask underneath his Deadpool mask.

* In ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'', SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker's...face has not been shown. [[spoiler: He has taken back his face-skin and is wearing it as a creepy mask. It's safe to say that his face is not a pretty sight]].

* V in ''Comicbook/VForVendetta'' chooses to remain behind his mask for the entire duration of the narrative, save for his revealing himself to Dr. Delia Surridge as she lays dying. She comments that his hideously burn-scarred face is "so beautiful..." This trope exists partly because V is more embodied as an Idea than as Individual.