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5[[quoteright:289:[[ComicBook/SergioAragonesDestroysDC https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clark_kenting_21.png]]]]
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7%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
8
9->'''Mr. Furious:''' That's because Lance Hunt ''is'' Captain Amazing.\
10'''The Shoveller:''' Don't start that ''again''. Lance Hunt wears glasses. Captain Amazing ''doesn't'' wear glasses.\
11'''Mr. Furious:''' He takes them off when he transforms.\
12'''The Shoveller:''' That doesn't make ''any'' sense. He wouldn't be able to see!
13-->-- ''Film/MysteryMen''
14
15Clark Kenting is the process by which a SecretIdentity ([[LivingADoubleLife public or private]]) is maintained through what appears to be a PaperThinDisguise, but is instead surprisingly effective and may persist with little trouble for a long time. This [[FridgeLogic becomes a question]] of the other characters ''in'' the story who cannot see through it with no excuses, basically asking everyone to “just go with it.” For the most part, it’s a way to make it clear to the audience that the two identities are the same person, but people in-story can’t tell them apart. It's often explained or justified through a combination of additional quirks beyond cosmetic appearance including body language, vocal pitch and overall demeanor making them BeneathNotice.
16
17The trope is named after Clark Kent, the human persona of Franchise/{{Superman}}, who basically looks like Superman in a suit and glasses. However, Superman can actually pull it off to great effect, leading to the idea that sometimes the best way to maintain a SecretIdentity is to [[HiddenInPlainSight hide it in plain sight]]. After all, if you're not wearing a mask, you have nothing to hide, right? Still, the trope generally makes a lot more sense if both identities don't hang out with the same people, aren't famous in different ways or even have a LovesMyAlterEgo scenario going on with them (like, you know, Superman). Seeing someone flying in the sky and later seeing someone with technically the same face in a crowded street is a bit different from routinely looking someone in the eyes with and without glasses. The original concept came to Superman's creators from silent comedian Harold Lloyd who if wanting to avoid being mobbed by his fans would simply take off his trademark glasses and straw boater hat and no one would ever recognise him (Groucho Marx and Charlie Chaplin used a similar conceit).
18
19Compare PaperThinDisguise. See also CassandraTruth, ClarkKentOutfit, CoverBlowingSuperpower, MasterOfDelusion, SecretIdentityVocalShift and SarcasticConfession.
20
21----
22!!Example subpages:
23
24[[index]]
25* ClarkKenting/ComicBooks
26** ClarkKenting/{{Superman}}
27* ClarkKenting/LiveActionTV
28* ClarkKenting/WesternAnimation
29[[/index]]
30
31!!Other examples:
32[[foldercontrol]]
33
34%%[[folder:Advertising]]
35%%* The full version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH_2WkMuY5U "The Pursuit", a commercial for the Lenovo Yoga]], features this.
36%%[[/folder]]
37
38[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
39* ''Manga/AhAndMmAreAllSheSays'': Tanaka name-drops this trope to describe Toda wearing glasses when they visit her hometown of Nagoya in the hope no one will recognize her. It doesn't work.
40* Spoofed in ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}''. Homura's mouth cover would be moderately effective to hide his identity from people he only meets in the middle of battle once or twice, can’t really get a close look at him and have little or no chance to encounter him in his Kagari persona. He’s nevertheless absolutely ''baffled'' by the fact that Tsukiumi and Musubi, both of whom he lives with and have seen him very close-up in and out of disguise, can’t seem to figure it out. Musubi briefly wonders if she has seen Homura somewhere else, but being… well, [[TheDitz a moron]], she dismisses the thought because [[LogicalFallacies "Kagari doesn’t wear a mask"]].
41* ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': {{Subverted|Trope}} during the attack to the school when Kazuki tries to disguise himself with a scarf covering his face but it doesn't work as his friends have known him so long they can recognize him from afar just by the way he walks and don't even need to see his face. Tokiko's disguise during the same attack is a straighter, if {{justified|Trope}} example. She's just wearing Kazuki's uniform jacket over her usual look, but being a very recent transfer student her unusual uniform is her most distinguishing feature anyway and covering it up does a good job hiding her identity alongside the artificial fog that's blanketing the school.
42* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Kallen Kozuki does this due to secretly opposing the Brittanian government. At school, where she goes by Kallen Stadtfeld, she wears her hair down and pretends to be soft-spoken and sickly; as a member of the Black Knights, she spikes her hair up and acts like her true HotBlooded self.
43* ''Manga/CrazyFoodTruck'': Gordon "disguises" himself by wearing glasses and a bandana on his head. He doesn't even use a false name, which makes it easy for the military to discover who he is once he gets on their radar.
44* ''Anime/KumaKumaKumaBear'' has a unique case of this, when Yuna dresses in a school uniform, with her regular appearance, to attend a school festival with some of her friends. Absolutely no one, ''including her friends and close allies'' recognises her at first sight, since she's seen almost constantly with her bear hood up and in a shape-concealing bear costume, meaning she self-disguises herself '''''constantly'''''.
45* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' plays with, subverts, and justifies this two different times in two very unusual ways. The first is with [[SupermanSubstitute All Might]], a titanic and muscular powerhouse whose punches can alter weather patterns; however, it's revealed that his muscular form comes from his power and, as he puts it, "flexing". When he stops "flexing" he returns to his true form: a completely unassuming guy who is skin-and-bones, thanks to an old wound that limits how much he can use his powers continuously. Early in the story, All Might chooses the [[{{Unsorcerer}} Quirkless]] Izuku Midoriya to [[SuperEmpowering inherit his powers]], but they have to keep it a secret lest villains realize that the "[[BigGood Symbol of Peace]]" is weakening. A few people like Endeavor along with some of Midoriya's classmates have noticed and commented that his [[SuperStrength Quirk]] is very similar to All Might's, but due to Midoriya's initial usage always injuring him, most of them dismiss it as similar but very different.
46* In ''Manga/HarlemBeat'', Shu of Three Men is the alter ego of [[spoiler: Sakurai Shuuji]]. Their only differences are the shades and attitude.
47* ''Anime/PrettySammy'':
48** Spoofed at the end of the TV series, where the entire class reveals that [[EverybodyKnewAlready they knew that Sasami was Sammy, but figured they weren't supposed to talk about it.]]
49** Played straight in the OVA series - this was one of the main reasons why Sasami didn't want to be Pretty Sammy (the other was that the costume is ridiculous). However, when she goes on her first fight, no one recognizes her, so she takes it as a good sign. However, there were only three [=OVAs=] made, so it's not known if they would have gone the TV route.
50* ''Manga/BlackButler'' often has Sebastian go undercover at certain locations. His disguise? A pair of oval glasses, his hair slightly brushed back, and different clothes. Particularly noticeable during the Weston College arc, where he easily is not recognized by most characters that know him. Pointed out on one page, with Marquise Midford and Elizabeth recognizing him instantly. Yet Edward, who has not only seen Sebastian being Ciel's butler but is also a student at the school, never recognized him until it's spelled out to him.
51* In fact, ''most'' {{Magical Girl}}s look similar to their civilian counterparts, and before the 2000s, they usually looked ''exactly the same''. Modern series like ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'', ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' and ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'' tend to change the characters' [[HairColors hair colour]], eye colour, and hairstyle to something extravagant enough that it would certainly distract any onlooker enough not to notice the magical girl's identical face. [[OnlySixFaces Maybe it wouldn't matter much if they did, anyway.]]
52** ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' is a [[DownplayedTrope downplaying]], particularly odd case, considering that, in their Mew Mew forms, the Mew Mews only add a "Mew" to their first name (e.g. Mew Ichigo) and somehow that prevents people from figuring it out -- granted, in the manga (the original Japanese version anyway), the names aren't ''written'' the same, but this doesn't matter when it's shouted across the street. Though, in both versions, Ichigo's crush Masaya ''nearly'' recognizes her in her transformed form, and later figures out her identity. Another exception is that Minto was able to recognize the mysterious Mew Mew as her idol/crush Zakuro. And at least in the anime it doesn't even need the half of the show to let the enemy aliens know, who the Tokyo Mew Mew really are. So the disguises are mostly useless later on.
53** ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'' subverts the trope because regardless of their hair changes in color and style the enemy quickly figure out who the Pretty Cure are. As early as episode 3 Pisard simply follows some girls he sees wearing the same school uniforms as the cures and picks them out in a crowd. From then on they are attacked personally whether in civilian form or not. This continues up through Heartcatch with the only people unaware of who the Pretty Cures are are their family and friends. The enemy knows who they are from the start.
54*** And ''Anime/SmilePrecure'' averts this big time - everyone who's snapped out of the Bad End spell easily recognizes the Cures. It doesn't help that Miyuki can't keep her big mouth shut.
55*** The ''Anime/PrettyCureAllStars'' movies also avert this through different means. The first movie have the girls figure out who was who after realizing they were going to places the others usually hung out at in their series. The second through fourth movies, their secrets are blown by their fairy companions, particularly ''DX 3'' and ''New Stage'', where [[Anime/SuitePrettyCure Hummy's]] actions lead to them putting two and two together.
56*** It was pointed out, though, in ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'', that their costumes did absolutely nothing to hide who they were, and panicked when they spotted the school reporter around. However, Natts usually steps in and uses his charm to woo her and get her to forget about capturing the girls on film.
57*** ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' has this with the fairies: whenever they need to be around the girls and not raise suspicions, they tend to just go limp and act like dolls and no one really questions why three teenage girls are toting around strange dolls (though Itsuki does get a pass somewhat - around that time, she was starting to really loosen up). The only time the fairies don't act like this is around little kids.
58*** In ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'', they are three people who try ClarkKenting. The first one is Ako Shirabe/Cure Muse/[[spoiler:Princess of Major Land]] would make Clark Kent green with envy -- switch her personality to a DeadpanSnarker. It works like a charm.
59*** As long as her airheadedness doesn't get in the way, the second one -- Hammy, the Cat-Fairy -- can ClarkKenting as an originally Earth cat.
60*** Averted with the third one -- Ellen/Siren -- in the first episode.
61*** ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' manages to break the land speed record here, with Megumi and Hime having their identities uncovered by a civilian within ''the first three episodes''.
62** This trope applies mostly to {{Magical Girl Warrior}}s, though. Non-{{Sentai}} Magical Girls of the transforming variety such as Anime/{{Creamy Mami|TheMagicAngel}}, Anime/{{Magical Emi|TheMagicStar}} and [[Anime/MagicalPrincessMinkyMomo Minky Momo]] look radically different in their transformed state.
63** {{justified|Trope}} in ''Anime/CuteHighEarthDefenseClubLove,'' an AffectionateParody of Magical Girls ([[GenderInverted with boys]]): the alien technology that makes them Magical Boys also makes it so that people see their faces blurred out and their voices altered. Their [[DarkMagicalGirl villainous counterparts]] have similar abilities.
64** ''Anime/{{Symphogear}}'' [[AvertedTrope averts]] this trope entirely. The titular Symphogears are entirely recognizable, and their identities are mostly protected by a combination of mandatory evacuation of civilians and the [=NDAs=] handed out to witnesses after every battle.
65* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
66** Every disguise put on by Team Rocket for the main characters, ever. In fact, the only "disguise" the main characters ''didn't'' fall for was "invisible suits" consisting of black suits with veils over their faces, and those managed to fool James's parents (the joke is somewhat LostInTranslation, as said "invisible suits" are actually outfits worn by ''bunraku'' puppeteers, who by tradition are ignored by the audience as they perform). Except when they're using a disguise for something wholly nonthreatening, like Pokémon contests. During contests, Ash and Brock occasionally speculate that Jessilina is actually Jessie, then hand wave it (mostly because Jessie only ever has two useful Pokémon at a time, and the heroes recognize them when used).
67** In-universe celebrities Diantha and Aria of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'' don low-key outfits in public. One of the openings has a scene where [[http://archives.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:OPJ17_2_Disguised_Diantha.png a disguised Diantha passes the group looking at one of her movie posters unnoticed.]]
68* ''Manga/HimoutoUmaruChan'' multiple times:
69** When it looks like Kirie has discovered her double life, Umaru is able to fool her into thinking that her home self is actually her little sister "Komaru".
70** Umaru hides her identity for a game tournament by pulling on a domino mask and tucking her long hair into a cap, becoming "U.M.R." It convinces Sylphin, who recruits her to... help her beat Umaru.
71** Kirie fools her own brother during a trip to an aquarium by wearing a straw hat.
72* Spoofed in ''Anime/MyHime''. Akira tries Clark Kenting as the "Secret Ninja of the School", but is immediately recognized by Takumi and proceeds to deny her true identity.
73* In ''Manga/CaseClosed'', after being shrunk to a grade-school kid, the title character does the same thing as Clark Kent: wears a pair of glasses to hide his identity. It usually works well, until he slips up and says information he shouldn't have known unless he was really Shinichi Kudo, who was ''supposed'' to be a distant relative. This leads to his girlfriend, Ran, becoming suspicious of him several times, but she always ends up [[CassandraTruth discrediting her own finds]] because the evidence doesn't quite match up, due to some outside interference (usually planned by the protagonist himself). In one scene, when [[spoiler: the character Ai Haibara returns to her original age, Conan offers her his glasses as disguise, saying that they work well enough for Clark Kent. The response from Ai is, "[[LampshadeHanging So are you saying you're Superman now?]]"]]
74* Parodied in ''Manga/DragonHalf'': A giant, winged demon tries to disguise himself by putting on a pair of glasses. Nobody is fooled for a moment.
75* Subverted in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. Gohan does act like a LargeHam when he's fighting crime as the Great Saiyaman, but his future girlfriend/wife Videl figures out his identity in about 2 minutes (slightly longer in the anime version). She also figures out that he's the "Golden Fighter" who appeared shortly before Saiyaman (Gohan didn't have the costume yet) ''and'' the son of Goku, who won the World Martial Arts Tournament before her father Mister Satan came along. Gohan's classmates discover that he's the Saiyaman at the Tournament when he walks out in public without his head covering (having accidentally lost it when he went Super Saiyan backstage).
76** Strangely, everyone seems to have forgotten that the Great Saiyaman unmasked at the Tournament[[note]]This ''might'' be a side effect of the wishes to bring back everyone who was killed during the Buu Saga, but it's never officially explained[[/note]], since an arc of ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' sees Gohan getting cast as a stuntman in a Great Saiyaman movie and absolutely nobody makes the connection. People ''do'' get suspicious when the Saiyaman stops some robbers on a day when Gohan took the filming costume home with him, but thankfully Bulma covers for him by claiming that someone broke into her lab and stole a spare Saiyaman costume from her.
77** Played straight with Master Roshi as Jackie Chun, though -- he removes his usual shades and puts on a wig. The disguise is completed by his demeanor: Roshi walks with a hunch and usually has a goofy grin on his face, whereas Chun is serious and straight-backed, with a ReverseArmFold most of the time. He also has much narrower eyes than would befit a comedic character.
78*** However, Yamcha figures that one out easily enough, though he can't convince anyone because Roshi superglued the wig to his head and called in a favor to have someone stand in the audience dressed as him, and Goku, [[RaisedByWolves who is not noted for his ability to read people]], figures out that Jackie Chun is related to Master Roshi.
79* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'''s Katsura Kotaro does this frequently. He most often dresses up in a pirate costume and calls himself "Space Captain Katsura" (yes, he actually uses his real name), though he has also used "Katsuo" on an occasion (as in, Mario from ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'') with his pet/companion Elizabeth taking on the role of Luigi. With the exception of the three main characters, no one else ever recognizes him. He even spoils his own disguises sometimes, whenever other characters call him by whatever name the disguise is supposed to represent, he reacts with his catchphrase "It's not X, it's Katsura."
80** Exception: When he briefly disguises himself as [[spoiler:Elizabeth]] in order to [[spoiler: infiltrate Takasugi's ship]] and actually succeeds in hiding his true identity during the Benizakura Arc. Ironically enough, [[spoiler:Elizabeth]] also briefly dresses up as Katsura during this StoryArc by putting on a wig.
81* In ''Moetan'' (a parody of magical girl anime featuring a protagonist who tutors students in English), the magical girl of the show almost blows her own cover. One of her first lessons to her classmate/crush is, in Japanese and English, "Don't you think that magical girls look the same even after they transform?"
82* Exception: In ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', the only reason the characters aren't recognized on sight is the fact they tend to fight [[PhantomZone slightly out of phase with reality]] -- on the one occasion a non-mage saw them, they proceeded to spend the remaining two episodes of the season raving about how nothing made any sense anymore. The Wolkenritter also had to avoid being with Hayate whenever Nanoha and Fate came to visit her lest they figure out that Hayate was the master of the Book of Darkness (Shamal even noted that they probably should have used disguise magic).
83* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Ranma is able to trick Ryōga into thinking that female Ranma is his sister, just by putting on fake fangs and a headband (and despite the fact that Ryōga has ''no'' sister). This is neither the first nor the last time Ryōga falls for [[WigDressAccent such a disguise]]. However, it only works on Ryōga. Akane can still tell she's Ranma (and on one occasion she doesn't even realize he's supposed to be disguised), though in the above case, she is temporarily confused by Ryōga introducing "Yoiko" as his sister, not having realized [[SuperGullible how thick the Lost Boy could be]] until Ranma reveals himself.
84* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
85** Subverted during the badge collection game, Yuna tries to trick Nodoka and Yue out of their badges, disguising herself with a mask during a festival. However, the two quickly realize who it is, as her distinctive side ponytail is quite clearly visible.
86** Later on, several people (Jack, Asuna, and Nodoka) disguise themselves in a busy place by putting on Clark Kent glasses... which are specifically labeled in author's notes as being a magical item with the effect of making the wearer blend into the background. Unfortunately, direct contact with other people tends to break the effect.
87* {{justified|Trope}} in ''Anime/PowerpuffGirlsZ'', as anyone wearing the clothes one of the girls gets during her TransformationSequence will appear to be that girl implying that the clothes have some kind of [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman disguising power]].
88** However only six girls in the entire series wear that style of belt buckle.
89* Subverted in ''Anime/{{Moldiver}}'', when, once he has a hint of it, Professor Akagi only needs a few minutes to match the body shape of Hiroshi and the full-body-costumed Moldiver to confirm that they're the same person. Hilariously, due to ''his sister'' being Moldiver, Hiroshi and Moldiver can be seen together.
90* Anime/PuniPuniPoemi and Poemi Wantanabe look different enough for this to possibly work, except that they sound the same, have the same way of talking, both refer to themselves by the name of their voice actress, and the first time Poemi transforms into Puni Puni Poemi, she does it right in front of the Aasu sisters. Oh yeah, and they have the same name! And yet the Aasus are still surprised that Poemi is a MagicalGirl.
91* ''Manga/MinamiKe'' has Makoto [[WholesomeCrossdresser dressing up as a girl]] so that he can keep visiting Haruka. His entire (''very'' convincing) disguise consists of a hairclip and skirt.
92* After the successful hijacking of a plane with Yutaka Takenouchi headed towards the US, one of the hijackers tries to avoid arrest by going to ''Manga/CromartieHighSchool'' and disguising as Takenouchi himself. The hijacker's disguise is actually his own mask with the kanji for 'Take' in 'Takenouchi' imprinted on it, but it somehow fools everybody in Cromartie into thinking he ''is'' Takenouchi. His disguise is a setup for some crazy situations, one in which Masked Takenouchi tells a story that gives the impression that Takenouchi has changed his character for the better, as if he had a rough life and a big criminal record. (The imposter is in his 30's.) Hayashida finally figures out at the beginning of ''Cromartie'' Volume 4 that there are TWO Takenouchis, as the real one has finally come back to the US... on a bullet train with Cromartie's students on it. [[spoiler: It doesn't help at all, then, that Masked Takenouchi suffers from motion sickness as well.]]
93* ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' is another MagicalGirl anime that uses this trope.
94** Ahiru doesn't really look all that different from Princess Tutu at first glance -- even her IdiotHair is still there, although the rest of her hairstyle seems to be cut shorter. However, Fakir is ''actively'' looking for Tutu and never notices the resemblance until Ahiru behaves so suspiciously (while wearing the necklace that Fakir ''knows'' Tutu needs to transform) that Fakir CAN'T deny it anymore. However, the trope is {{justified|Trope}} similarly to Christopher Reeve's Superman -- while Ahiru is klutzy, an awkward dancer and scatterbrained, Princess Tutu is graceful, poised, and expresses herself easily. Also, Tutu looks like an older version of Ahiru, including gaining a few inches of height and [[MostCommonSuperpower a more womanly figure]]. Plus, to most people, Princess Tutu appears to be an enormous swan.
95** This trope applies to DarkMagicalGirl Princess Kraehe as well. The only difference between her and Rue is a different hairstyle, slightly narrower eyes, and heavy makeup, yet none of the characters seem to make the connection until Rue reveals herself.
96* Not only doesn't anyone deduce any main character's secret identity in ''Anime/SailorMoon'' (despite them using no disguise at all, with the exception of Tuxedo Mask and Sailor V), but most of the time the villains don't even bother to try.
97** Notable exceptions are Nephrite and Zoisite: The former tried to find Sailor Moon by sending fake love letters from Tuxedo Mask, but eventually followed a false trail in the form of Naru; the latter discovered Tuxedo Mask's identity by pulling off his mask, proving that Clark Kenting seems to work on everyone but him. Most other adaptations don't seem to use the trope explicitly, although there they tend not to meet people they know while in costume anyway.
98** Usagi herself is the worst, surpassing even ''Superman.'' Her costume is identical to her school uniform, just cut a bit differently. She does ''not'' act differently in and out of suit (for want of a better way to refer to it, because again, it's a very very '''very''' minimal costume change.) Yet people who see both of them ''repeatedly'' never connect them, and yes, villains trying to find her identity ''did'' believe it was Naru (who looks, talks, and acts nothing like her) and not Usagi. Nothing less than directly witnessing her transforming can make someone connect the two.
99** The [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]] dodged this trope completely -- many people do recognize the Senshi out of costume, most notably Mamoru when he meets Usagi again after having seen her as Sailor Moon, Haruka and Michiru, who deliberately keep their distance, and numerous villains that target the Senshi one by one outside of battle without ever having met them before. A few minor characters also recognized the girls if they knew them as civilians and then later saw them as Senshi. Yet oddly Zoicite even notices that Usagi has the same hairstyle as Sailor Moon, yet shrugs it off as the current fad. Also, most of the later villains could sense the Senshi by their energy, rendering the whole secret identity thing pointless.
100** The manga scene referenced above has ''both'' Mamoru and Usagi recognizing each other as Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon while in civilian clothes -- or at least noticing the similarity. The key difference is that Usagi ''denies'' the possibility of Mamoru being her MysteriousProtector, while Mamoru actually takes the fact into account, suggesting that the ability to recognize the characters in disguise really depends on the person. (In contrast to the anime version, where Mamoru seemingly fails to draw a parallel between the Moon Princess, Usagi and Sailor Moon almost until she actually transformed in front of him.)
101** In the LiveActionAdaptation ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'', the Sailor Senshi have black or brown hair and more or less plausible hairstyles in civilian forms, but the TransformationSequence changes their hair to resemble the styles and colors seen in the anime. It never explains why, but it's a lot more plausible as a disguise. And with such a radical change in appearance, Ami ''still'' recognizes Usagi at first glance. Then again, she is a genius. And the best part? Even when they're transformed, ''they address each other by their civilian names.'' In front of everyone. Go figure. This was possibly carried over from the original edition of the manga, where they do call each other by their real names, although with some of the manga villains being able to recognize them anyway, this was at least excusable. Additionally, Minako recognises Rei as Sailor Mars instantly when the two accidentally bump into each other in their civvies.
102** This goes both ways, as many recurring villains are never recognised from one flimsy disguise to the next. In fact, most of the villains' "diguises" are just a change of clothes and nothing else. Jadeite was probably one of the worst, frequently appearing in public without even so much as a mask or glasses. The Creator/DiC English dub created an even more hilarious example - his name had been changed to "Jedite" and he was disguising himself as a priest named "Jed." Serena, who knows his name ''and'' his face, doesn't recognize him simply because he's changed his clothes.
103** [[WebVideo/SailorMoonAbridged The Abridged Series]] points this out:
104--->'''Jadeite:''' This plan will surely work this time because my glasses to disguise myself are ''much'' better than last episode's.
105** Also in the anime the Senshi themselves can't even see through each other's Clark Kenting without being clued in. They only recognized civilian!Minako because Artemis was with her despite meeting her as Venus in the previous episode. The first few appearances of Haruka and Michiru had them appear as shadows while in civilian form, then once their civilian form was introduced this stopped and it still took a number episodes for Moon and the Guardian Senshi to discover they were the same people (As well as the reverse) even though it's blatantly clear to the viewers. Setsuna also has to tell Usagi who she is though she seemed to have guessed at it.
106** An interesting occurrence in the S season - Usagi and co. defeat Kaolinite and assume her to be dead. Some ten episodes later, Usagi visits Dr. Tomoe and sees Kaolinite there; and yes, she does go all "OMG the villain is alive!". But then Tomoe says it's just his assistant, ''Kaori'', so Usagi assumes it's just two people with the exact same face and almost the same name. The dub (in which Kaolinite is called Kaori Night) takes it one step further - the "Kaori" alias was changed to... Kaori Night. So now, Serena assumes that they're just two people with the exact same face and the exact same name. Usagi was also thrown off by the fact that Kaolinite was actually being nice and seemed normal. And she probably had to wonder why Kaolinite would be in a seemingly nice house and have stopped trying to extract pure hearts. But still, you'd think she'd keep a close eye on her (especially with Hotaru's behavior toward "Kaori") and have told the others about it.
107** The behavior difference is also likely what keeps Usagi and co. from recognizing Uranus and Neptune as Haruka and Michiru. When in their civilian forms, the two are very nice to them, in contrast to their Senshi identities. But, you'd think that the more experienced Haruka and Michiru could figure out that Usagi is Sailor Moon -- ''unless'' you support the theory that no one in their sane mind would suspect a clumsy crybaby of being a "soldier of love and justice" (as {{Lampshaded}} once by a badly disguised Sailor Venus trying -and succeeding- to convince them and Kaolinite that Usagi wasn't Sailor Moon. In fact, Uranus seemed rather surprised when Kaolinite said that Usagi was Sailor Moon...).
108** The AbridgedSeries, as such series like to do, points out the many flaws in their disguises
109---> '''Serena''': Look, Luna, I got a letter from Tuxedo Mask!\
110'''Luna''': How the hell did he find you?\
111'''Serena''': His love led him to me!\
112'''Luna''': It was probably that your hair is pretty... unique. And you don't wear a mask.
113** In one manga chapter of the first dramatic arc, Usagi tells her father that she is Sailor Moon, despite the fact that clear photos of her senshi form has appeared all over the news, he doesn't believe her.
114** [[http://www.sailorenergy.net/SMMiniMangas/InfoTheorySSIdentities.jpg Fanon often explains that]] [[AWizardDidIt the Senshi's transformations incorporate a "disguise field" preventing anyone from recognizing them unless that person sees them transform or is close to their civilian identity and has a reason to put two and two together.]] It's as good an explanation as any.
115** {{justified|Trope}} in one occasion in the anime for Sailor Moon: Kaolinite ''had'' guessed that Usagi was Sailor Moon, but as soon as she shouted it Sailor Venus (whose job description in the manga and live-action includes being Sailor Moon's BodyDouble) showed up in disguise and fooled everyone. [[PaperThinDisguise It wasn't really a good disguise]], but [[LargeHam Sailor Venus]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvALBIfDB9c hammed it up enough that Kaolinite and the Outers fell for it anyway]]. There is also a season 1 episode where Zoicite is disguised as a fake Sailor Moon - and saves an innocent. Usagi is among the crowd of people that sees this, which could throw Naru off the scent... At least until R, when she all but admits to Usagi she guessed it.
116** Also {{justified|Trope}} in an incident in ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'': police inspector Wakagi sees Minako and ''does'' associate her to Sailor V, but ''immediately'' chastise himself for it because lately he's grown so obsessed with Sailor V he ''mistakes for her every single girl who wears a ribbon in her hair''.
117** Another justification in the manga is that most people don't ''want'' to believe that ditzy Usagi, crazy Minako, shy Ami, stoic and cynical Rei, and (alleged) bully Makoto are a group of [[LargeHam hammy]] superheroes. The only one who could be discovered is Minako, who is incredibly hammy even as a civilian... Except the one time her childhood friend Hikaru met Sailor V, she acted meeker than usual, throwing her off course.
118** In the manga Minako's disguise is also helped by the fact ''everyone'' knows that Sailor V works with the police (actually false for most of her career, a youma simply assumed and sent her challenge letter for V to the police and the public fell for it), thus she couldn't be known cop-hater Minako Aino.
119* The ''Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats''. People don't recognize them, even though they're fired out of ''a cannon'' built into the pizza parlor, they have the same names as their alter-egos, and their combat forms are largely their civilian forms with some extra armor and weapons bolted on. In one episode, [[LampshadeHanging the narrator remarks]] "No one recognizes our samurai heroes in their secret identities! Don't ask why, just one of the quirks of the show."
120* ''SeishoujoSenshiSaintValkyrie'' skewers this -- ''everyone'' recognizes that Ai Hayama is Valkyrie Ai, despite her frantic protestations to the contrary.
121* In ''Manga/WeddingPeach'', ThePowerOfFriendship acts as a shield to keep the devils from seeing who the Love Angels are, and there is implied to be some kind of magical interference. Nevertheless, Yousuke still manages to identify Peach as Momoko at one point simply because he knows her too well.
122* In ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', Char Aznable adopts the pseudonym "Quattro Bajeena", but his true identity is something of an open secret. The fact that he still uses a mobile suit in his signature color of bright red doesn't help.
123** This is more of a subversion - since most of the AEUG had never actually seen the infamous Red Comet, they wouldn't have known that this shade-wearing man was actually a Zeon AcePilot. It isn't until the heroes from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' step in that Char's identity is revealed. It's later shown that the founder of the AEUG knew all along, and unsuccessfully attempted to get Char to reveal himself publicly and become the new leader.
124* ''Anime/TurnAGundam'':
125** Loran disguises himself as "Laura Rolla" because he's a former Moonrace scout who's now piloting a rather powerful mobile suit with the Earth militia. He fully dresses for the part, complete with stays, a dress, makeup, and lessons in deportment from Kihel, so that he appears as an elegant young lady who also happens to be the militia's AcePilot. It works for ''quite'' a long time--only Harry Ord manages to see through it.
126** Harry himself goes incognito at the ''Willgem'' excavation site by putting on civilian clothes and a pair of normal glasses. Although he employs his usual tacky fashion sense (bright yellow-black argyle sweater vest and a pink shirt) and makes no effort to disguise his voice, it's sufficient to fool not only Loran but ''Queen Dianna''.
127* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', Athrun Zala pulls the same stunt Char did, disguising himself as "Alex Dino", Cagalli Yula Atha's bodyguard. People see through his disguise rather easily.
128* Kenshiro Kasumi in ''Manga/FistOfTheBlueSky'' disguises his true identity as "Yan-Wang" in public by giving himself a nerdy hairstyle and glasses.
129* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Usopp when disguised as Sogeking. The mask still reveals his long nose and he still wears his everyday clothes under his cape. The only two people fooled by this are Chopper and Luffy. Usopp eventually develops a split personality that talks and acts differently when wearing the mask.
130* In ''Anime/UruseiYatsura'', the Kunoichi character Kaede uses a pair of glasses to disguise herself. Everyone sees through it except the ninjas chasing after her, whose disguises are just as minimalistic. (One is wearing a surgical mask, the other just painted two stripes on her eyepatch, and the ancient clan leader is also wearing glasses.)
131* In ''Manga/Eyeshield21'', Sena is the eponymous Eyeshield 21, a running back with unbeatable speed. Sena is the only one with a build and height even remotely close to his "secret" identity. Most of the time he doesn't even bother coming up with a good excuse for not being there when Eyeshield 21 is. Mamori, his childhood friend and the team's manager, [[SelectiveObliviousness really takes a while to figure things out]], given the clues she has on hand.
132* In ''Anime/Persona4TheAnimation'', [[IdolSinger Rise Kujikawa]] tries this, but it doesn't work.
133* In ''Manga/Reborn2004'', the title character often uses a variety of different disguises that can be easily seen through by the audience, but Tsuna is the only in-universe character that shares this view.
134* Subverted in ''Manga/BambooBlade''. When Kojiro asks Tamaki to dress up as a [[NewTransferStudent new freshman]] named "Bureiba" in order to fulfill his kendo team's five-member quota, his old mentor (who coaches Machido High School's all-girls team) isn't fooled, and notices during a friendly match with Kojiro's team that Tamaki's and "Bureiba"'s fighting styles are similar. After challenging "Bureiba" to an impromptu match (and losing handily), he states that he knew all along, but lets it slide because it was just for practice
135* At first glance, Lelouch from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' doesn't clark-kent, the full face mask and all. But on the other hand, if you remember that Nunnally is blind and tells people apart by their voices... Yes, he does.
136** There's a voice changer installed in his helmet. It doesn't make a ''lot'' of difference, but...
137*** Lelouch also changes the demeanor considerably; as himself, he's a soft-spoken, kindly big brother as far as Nunnally is concerned, while as Zero he is a megalomaniac LargeHam.
138** A straighter example would be Euphemia li Britannia, who disguises herself amidst hostages under a pair of Clark Kent glasses. Nobody, not even the perpetrators know it's her until she takes them off and says who she is.
139*** It helps that nobody knew that there would be a Britannian princess present at all, so they weren't looking for her. Also, at this point, Euphemia is not very important, as far as the Britannian royalty goes, and not that many people know how she looks.
140** Lelouch and Nunnally are also exiled Britannian royalty, and they hide in plain sight under their real first names but using the made-up last name Lamperouge. Granted, they were somewhat obscure, were only kids when they were exiled, and the world at large thinks they died when they were kids, though one wonders what would have happened if one of their siblings looked at a phone book or an Ashford yearbook. It's likely that since the Ashfords are ''hiding'' the siblings means they likely have a setup to avoid that possibility. Of course, they are officially dead and who will look in a "commoner" school for royalty?
141* Subverted in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Ryuusei no Rockman]]'' and ''Ryuusei no Rockman Tribe''. Subaru Hoshikawa saves Luna Shirogane's life (several times!), but she does not know it is him. She has a crush on Rockman, and ironically, he is the same kid who goes to school with her and at whose house she tries to bake food for Rockman. Kizamaro Saishoin was one of the first to suspect that Subaru's real identity was Rockman, and by Ryuusei no Rockman Tribe, it's common knowledge to both him and Gonta Ushijima. Paradoxically, Luna refuses to admit this, and for the most part, no one (even Subaru!) points out any of the many flaws in her logic. Eventually, however, as the series moves on, she seems to start like Subaru as well as Rockman, and in a touching moment before Rockman enters the Denpa-wave zone, she calls him 'Subaru' and tells him she is supporting him.
142* Subverted in ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'', when Hayate instantly sees through Nagi's disguise as "Mask the Money." But then played hilariously straight when Maria puts on sunglasses and claims to be a superhero maid -- Nagi, her employer, fails to recognize her ''and wants to get her autograph''.
143** Could be considered a RunningGag in the anime, whenever Maria tries to make herself incognito, she always chooses a pair of spectacles that has the effect of attracting gazes/confessions from guys AND being identified almost immediately from those she's trying to disguise from.
144* Averted in ''Manga/PhantomThiefJeanne'': Jeanne has a completely different hair color and eye color from Maron, but they look similar enough that people at school start suspecting them to be the same person, resulting in Miyako deciding to catch Jeanne so she can clear Maron's name. The manga also has Chiaki watch Maron during her gymnastics performance and note that they have similar movement habits, [[spoiler:and it later turns out that [[SecretSecretKeeper even Miyako could tell Jeanne was actually Maron]], with her joining the police chase so she could "[[TheMole accidentally]]" release Jeanne if she actually got captured]].
145* Used in an episode of ''Anime/FullMetalPanicFumoffu'' where Kaname disguises herself by putting on a kimono and makeup and putting her hair up. Between this and her very different behavior, nobody - not even Kaname's devoted bodyguard Sosuke - connects the attractive blue-haired teenage girl who'd left previously to the attractive blue-haired woman who's just arrived.
146* In ''Manga/DoctorSlump'', Suppaman (an inept Superman parody) disguises himself as a reporter named ''Kuraaku Kenta''. Naturally, Penguin Village being a CloudCuckooLand, nobody ever recognizes him.
147* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has Lieutenant Hawkeye disguise herself by putting on glasses and letting down her hair. [[http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/Glasses.jpg Ed and Al are dumbfounded upon the (rather quick) realisation that the young, blonde, gun-wielding woman who has rushed to their aid is young, blonde, gun-wielding Hawkeye.]] This does not fool [[spoiler: Fuhrer Bradley]] for a second, with his Perfect Eye and all.
148* ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'''s usual costume plays this trope already quite straight, but in ''Anime/KaiketsuZorro'', all Diego does is put on a cape, a hat, and a less covering than usual mask that doesn't hide his friggin' hair!
149* If anything, Kotetsu T. Kaburagi (AKA Wild Tiger) of ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' is an even more over-the-top example of Clark Kenting than Superman, possibly in reference to him-his design has a lot of nods to Western superheroes, anyway. As it'd be cumbersome for him to wear his costume in public at company-sponsored parties, especially now that it's PoweredArmor, Kotetsu has to act as his Wild Tiger superhero identity outside of his PoweredArmor. It might have worked in his traditional costume, which looked a little like Batman's costume, as it made it harder to compare his alter ego's face to his actual face in the same way that Clark and Superman have the same face-but now that he's wearing Powered Armor, a skilled observer could easily tell that Wild Tiger and Kotetsu are one and the same. How obvious is the Clark Kenting, you ask? He goes about doing this by dressing exactly as he always does - same waistcoat, same nice hat, and same goatee - but with a DominoMask. ''On public television''.
150** At one point, Kotetsu tries to prove to an Apollon Media security guard that he's Wild Tiger [[spoiler:after he's been {{Unperson}}ed]] by putting on his mask in front of him. The guard points out that most people (including him) don't really pay attention to what Wild Tiger actually looks like beyond a few easily replicated {{Distinguishing Mark}}s, and that he could easily be a [[YourCostumeNeedsWork reasonably convincing cosplayer]] trying to sneak in -- something the guard deals with all the time.
151** Somehow, it even manages to fool ''his own daughter''.
152** Karina Lyle (Blue Rose), Huang Pao-Lin (Dragon Kid), and Lara Tchaikoskaya (Magical Cat) are also examples as they go unmasked all the time, using only colored wigs and, in Karina's case, makeup, colored contact lenses, and breast padding, to disguise their identities.
153* In ''Manga/PenguinRevolution'', actor Ayaori Mashiba conceals his identity from the public by using the stage name "Makoto Ayaori," and by wearing NerdGlasses and leaving his hair in a disordered mess when he's not on the job. The only person shown to ever see through this is the heroine, Yukari, who recognizes him only thanks to her unique ability to perceive star talent in the form of visible wings. The trope is {{justified|Trope}} in that Ayaori is an incredibly talented actor (although you'd think someone would at least notice the name).
154* ''Anime/TheIdolmaster'' - Haruka puts on glasses (and a hat) to avoid being recognized in public.
155* Generally averted in the PhantomThief[=/=]MagicalGirl series ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'': while the only differences in look between Meimi and Saint Tail are the clothes and the ponytail, Meimi takes great care to not show off her magic tricks as Meimi and goes to extreme lengths to not show her face as Saint Tail. Eventually, Asuka Jr., the SympatheticInspectorAntagonist chasing her, accidentally sees Meimi's face in her reflection and instantly recognizes her, and the fact he can't get Saint Tail to show her face to confirm if it really is Meimi or not ''drives him nuts''. By the time he's picked up on multiple other signs of them having the same physical features, Saint Tail has been [[BehavioralConditioning unconsciously influenced]] into acting [[SecretIdentityIdentity inhumanly unrecognizable]] to the point he ''can't'' easily mentally reconcile them as the same person despite being fairly certain that they are. [[spoiler:Ultimately, it's another close-up view of her face without her ponytail that finally confirms her identity to him for good.]]
156* Played straight and subverted in ''Anime/SamuraiFlamenco''. Masayoshi is initially the prime suspect when rumors about the title vigilante's identity begin forming, and he's only acquitted because an impostor steps in and claims to be the ''real'' Samumenco. Played straight with the Flamenco Girls, who are all popular {{Idol Singer}}s in their civilian identities, and yet somehow effectively disguise themselves with little more than wigs and {{Domino Mask}}s.
157* In ''Anime/RollingGirls'', Masami moonlights as a costumed ''Franchise/SuperSentai''-like hero known as Maccha Green. ''Nobody'' but the protagonist, Nozomi, is actually fooled by this, and it later turns out that everyone just humors Masami because they don't want her to be embarrassed.
158* ''Manga/DontMeddleWithMyDaughter'': Clara's superhero costume doesn't even come with a mask, and she's constantly seen on news broadcasts everywhere. So you'd think all of Tokyo would know Clara Haruko is the Eighth Wonder. Nope. The only ones who do are her mom, Clara's secret crush [[spoiler: Mei]], and her friends at N.U.D.E. HQ.
159* In one of the ''Manga/SonicTheHedgehog'' manga, no one can tell that [[AdaptationNameChange Nicky]] is Sonic. The only difference between the two is that Nikki is timid, he wears clothes, and he wears glasses.
160* The titular character from ''Manga/MisappropriationInvestigatorNakaboRintaro'' often appears in his civilian persona, 'Hayashi Taro', who is considerably more well-combed and [[PerpetualSmiler always smiles.]] Press his BerserkButton though, and he'll ditch the disguise in an instant.
161* ''Literature/FateZero'': Berserker's distinct armor is unrecognizable to other characters thanks to his Noble Phantasm "For Someone's Glory". For Someone's Glory is normally an ability that allows the user to disguise themselves as another person, but Berserker's Mad Enhancement makes him unable to use the skill's full potential without the use of Command Seals. Thus, For Someone's Glory manifests itself as a black, foggy BattleAura, which still obscures his appearance to other people and hides his status and parameters. While the audience are able to see his appearance, the characters only see a "black thing" and they cannot grasp his shape. Once For Someone's Glory is deactivated, characters who knew him in life are instantly able to recognize his armor and identity.
162* Take [[spoiler: Black]] from ''Anime/BloodBlockadeBattlefront'', remove his glasses, slick back his hair, and give him a snappy blue coat, and you've got [[spoiler: The King of Despair, his EnemyWithin and the BigBad of the first season]]! They even appear [[FreezeFrameBonus one after the other]] in the first season's opening, but it's entirely possible to not realize they're the same character until TheReveal later in the show.
163* ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'':
164** Lovelitchi works as an IdolSinger named Lovelin, and she works to keep this a secret from her friends at Tamagotchi School. Literally the only separating Lovelitchi from Lovelin is that she has a little blue heart printed on her cheek as the latter, and almost nobody notices this and connects the two [[spoiler:until Lovelitchi tells them all personally]].
165** In ''Yume Kira Dream'', Yumemitchi and Kiraritchi use their Yume Kira bags to transform into and gain the skills of a specific occupation. While transformed, they look enough like their normal selves that you'd think people would recognize them, but it's implied the bags may somehow change their appearances to others more than they think and nobody notices [[spoiler:until Nandetchi realizes it]].
166* Played with in ''Manga/ExcelSaga''. Matsuya undoes her ponytail and puts on a pair of glasses when she sneaks into an ILL Electronics store to look at the merchandise. Sumiyoshi spots her immediately. Her "Eeeeek!" at being discovered was uncharacteristic and quite charming.
167* In ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'', Seo's "competition-ready" look consists of just letting her hair down, and actually wearing socks. It manages to fool some Romance Academy students into thinking she was a new student, which she lampshades. In another bit of irony, the only person who manages to recognize her is Wakamatsu — who still doesn't know that she's Lorelei.
168* {{justified|Trope}} in ''Anime/GearFighterDendoh'': the Galfa have seen the pilots of [[HumongousMech Dendoh]] from day one, but, being a race of robots that have great differences between each other, the general characteristics their agents have to identify them at home are height (around 1.41 m), primary constitutive elements (water and proteins), and optical devices (two lenses. Also known as ''eyes''), like ''hundreds'' of grade school student (they gave up on the 143rd one). The agents later meet the pilots and stay around them for a while, but can't recognize them.
169* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': When Ichika starts gaining fame as an actress, she takes to wearing a pair of thick glasses while in public to avoid drawing attention.
170* ''Franchise/LupinIII'': Even as a MasterOfDisguise who regularly employs LatexPerfection, the titular thief often relies on a pair of glasses and/or a change of clothes for a disguise. Sometimes {{justified|Trope}} in that most people don't know what he looks like.
171* ''Manga/YuiKamioLetsLoose'': Yui switching with another girl who looks exactly the same aside the color scheme doesn't clue anyone in who doesn't already know that they are the same person, and she doesn't even hide her name.
172[[/folder]]
173
174[[folder:Comic Strips]]
175* Parodied in the ''ComicStrip/{{Bizarro}}'' [[http://safr.kingfeatures.com/idn/ck2/content.php?file=aHR0cDovL3NhZnIua2luZ2ZlYXR1cmVzLmNvbS9CaXphcnJvLzIwMTMvMDQvQml6YXJyb19wLjIwMTMwNDE5XzM4NS5naWY= strip for April 19th, 2013]]. Batman wears glasses in an attempt to hide his secret identity but fails because he forgets to take off his Batman costume.
176* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' parodies the trope. As an excuse not to chase a mouse, Garfield claimed he "didn't recognize him in those glasses".
177[[/folder]]
178
179[[folder:Fan Works]]
180* ''Fanfic/TheBoysRealJustice'': The Trope Namer does this to both Billy Butcher and Homelander, with none of them being the wiser. Justified since Clark makes his posture as clumsy as possible. Butcher, due to his prejudices against superpowered beings, instead thinks Superman is having an affair with Lois Lane behind Clark's back. [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Whereas, Homelander would never believe Superman has a civilian life.]]
181* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Progress}}'', Princess Luna wants to learn more about modern life, having spent a millennium as SealedEvilInACan, so she disguises herself as the mortal pony Miss Selene. To [[JustifiedTrope avoid being recognized]], she uses [[AppliedPhlebotinum a magic amulet]] that [[PerceptionFilter causes onlookers to not register the fact she is who she is]]. The shape of the amulet? [[ShoutOut A pair of glasses.]]
182* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': Alison Carter is a borderline example when she appears in the sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past'' - she didn't have a dual identity, and her status as the first Agent 13 and later, Deputy Director of SHIELD (Retired [[spoiler: until after ''Forever Red'']]), wasn't hidden, but SHIELD itself was. Her son-in-law (among others) thought she was just an ordinary government official who travelled a fair bit. However, she ''does'' carefully disguise the fact that [[spoiler: she's the daughter of Captain America and Peggy Carter, is a SuperSoldier as a result, and hasn't aged since her mid-twenties]] with careful application of specialised make-up and loose, long clothing that helps conceal her build. It works pretty well, but it's heavily implied that the main reason it works is because, like many examples of this trope, no one knows to look.
183* ''Fanfic/TheGunslingerHeroFlintlock'': Mount Lady, also known as Yu, does this in order for her old childhood friend, Izumi, to recognize her, as Izumi was unable to recognize her without her wearing her glasses.
184* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': In this story Shinji is ''Franchise/{{Superman}}' so the trope is expected. Semi-justified, as it is mentioned that Shinji vibrates at a high rate in order to blur his facial features.
185* Inverted in ''Fanfic/RiskItAll''. Ren is by his own admission a nobody, but he goes the extra mile to disguise himself as a vigilante, hiding his hair InTheHood, wearing a face mask, and putting on contacts to change the color of his eyes. He also wears baggy clothes to avoid drawing attention to his rapid recovery from his six-month coma. Despite all this, [[spoiler:his uncle, a man he's never met, deduces his identity fairly easily.]]
186* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Subverted. Asuka takes an effort into masking her ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' identity, including using a blonde wig and a mask when she's in her superhero persona. However, most of her face remains visible. And [[spoiler:[[SecretSecretKeeper Misato and Rei may have figured things out, though]].]]
187* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7630987/1/Super Super]]'': a pair of glasses doesn't stop Rapunzel from immediately recognizing Eugene as the GentlemanThief Flynn Rider she's been [[DatingCatwoman pursuing/flirting with]] in her superheroine guise as Blondie. Furthermore, Rapunzel is genuinely baffled by how Eugene doesn't seem to recognize her in turn because they've interacted with each other in costume frequently enough that he ''should'' be able to notice the similarities between her and Blondie even with her shorter brunette hair and meeker disposition out of costume. [[spoiler:It turns out that Eugene ''did'' know who she was all along, but kept quiet about it because he had fallen in love with her and wanted to pursue a real relationship with her.]]
188* Parodied for all its worth in ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8937860/1/ Hiding in Plain Sight]]''. After Harry defeated Voldemort, he ended up having lasik surgery performed. And since then, every pureblood that looks at him without the lensless glasses he carries around mistakes him for someone completely different. Deciding to play with it, he introduces himself as [[ShoutOut Clark Kent]], even explaining [[LampshadeHanging "Clark is another bloke who no one recognizes when he takes his glasses off. I'm guessing he won't mind if I borrow his name."]] But he isn't the only one in on the action. After mistaking ''Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet'' for a documentary, Amelia Bones (head of the aurors) decides to [[AdultsDressedAsChildren try it herself]] by sending, among others, [[{{Gonk}} Alastor Moody]] in disguise. And to make things even worse, their [[PaperThinDisguise disguises]] [[IdiotBall work on the purebloods as well]], so none of them can figure out why they have a bunch of six-foot-tall first-year students.
189* In the ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' fic ''Fanfic/KunoichisLikeUs'', Kasumi disguises herself as an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent named Sakura Misaka by wearing glasses and braiding her hair. Though Kasumi and the other [=DOA=] fighters are FamedInStory by the tournaments, the closest the public gets to any connection between Kasumi and Sakura is that Sakura looks like Kasumi. Then her school friends have "Sakura" cosplay as Kasumi and remain none the wiser.
190* In ''Fanfic/SuzumiyaHaruhiNoIndex'', Haruhi can disguise herself with a pair of sunglasses. Kyon comments that she still looks the same, but since Haruhi genuinely believes it will work, her unknowing RealityWarper powers cause the public to not recognize her.
191* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2100544/9/Past-Lives Past Lives]]'' a spell which makes you relive previous incarnations gives Harry and Hermione the personalities of Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff. After they exit and came back again Harry, now sporting a goatee, claims to be "Salazar Slytherin" while Hermione, in glasses, announces herself as "Rowena Ravenclaw." When a Muggleborn first year is the only one to recognize them, "Rowena" and "Salazar" comment that they needed four teachers for the school and that "Wizards and witches may have a lot of power, but they don't have a lot of common sense."
192* All over the place in ''Fanfic/JusticeSocietyOfJapan''.
193** Shinji's costume might be cheap, but at least it hides his face.
194** Shirley's costume barely obscures her face at all. In fact, she actually has to wear a hat in her civilian identity, since otherwise people would notice her [[RobotAntennae "Robot Ears"]]. Yet somehow not even Hatsune Miku (who in this continuity is Shirley's robotic [[RobotKid "sister"]]) recognizes her unless explicitly told so.
195** Sayaka's costume also makes it pretty obvious who she is, yet [[LockedOutOfTheLoop Hitomi]] is fooled completely. [[spoiler:Kyosuke, on the other hand, is not fooled.]]
196* Invoked in ''[[Fanfic/UnityFinmonster Unity]]'', as Susan Murphy doesn't wear a mask whether she's out as Ginormica or using Doctor Cockroach's shrinking equipment to return to a human height; since people expect Ginormica to be ten times larger than them, Susan passes relatively unnoticed when brought down to human form despite her distinctive white hair.
197* Played straight in ''Fanfic/TheInstituteSaga'' where Clark Kent is a part-time teacher at Bayville High until someone outs him to the world as part of a political attack that backfires spectacularly.
198* Toward the end of ''Fanfic/OriginStory'', after Alex Harris decides to act as a superhero under the name [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Superwoman]], her partner Louise insists that she keep a SecretIdentity. To do that, she starts wearing a pair of glasses and a dark-colored wig as Alex Harris. Even she admits, though, that she mostly relies on the fact that people are too busy staring at her CleavageWindow to notice her face when she's in costume.
199* In ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', Prince Blueblood is able to disguise himself by removing his trademark suit and messing up his mane. It works mostly because hardly anyone is aware he's no longer a vain, self-centered jerk, so they would never associate a dirty, unregal-looking pony with him.
200* In ''[[Fanfic/AdoptedDisplaced Batmare Beyond]]'', Rarity realises she runs the risk of being identified as the new "Batman" if she lets herself be seen, as she's the only known unicorn on Earth, and plans to avert this using magical illusions. However, when she ''does'' get photographed in costume and printed in the newspaper, no one makes the connection despite Rarity being in another photo (from a Wayne-funded charity auction) on the same page, in more or less the same pose and with the same facial expression. This leads her to declare that, "The entire population of Earth are ''morons''!"
201** Ironically Bruce gives a surprisingly sound explanation for why this is possible, quoted below (part of the omitted portion of the text referencing the TropeNamer).
202--> "Magic...several ancient cultures had beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies surrounding masks. The idea of the use of the masks was that, in donning it, you became the entity the mask represented, leaving your normal identity behind. My own experience has since revealed that those ancient cultures had a great deal of powerful magic at their disposal. It could very well be that there's some sort of magic behind that concept of masks suppressing your true self, bound in the very weft of Earth's magical field...one that protects those who don masks - metaphorical or otherwise - to protect people."
203* Subverted in ''Fanfic/TheLastDaughter''. In addition to changing her outfit and lowering her voice, Taylor vibrates her face fast enough that it just looks like a blur. Once the [=PRT=] and Protectorate get a picture with a good enough camera, they have no trouble figuring out who she is.
204* In ''Fanfic/TheDarkSideOfTheMirrorVerse'', the MirrorUniverse version of Discord is a superhero called Captain Goodguy, just like in the IDW Comics. His secret identity consists of wearing a trench coat and glasses, without making any attempt to hide the fact he's a Draconequus. This at least works on some ponies, including Mirror Fluttershy. In part because she assumes Sir Discord is BlindWithoutThem, so taking his glasses off to fight crime makes no sense. That and [[EvilCannotComprehendGood she can't imagine a]] RealityWarper would purposefully masquerade as a powerless person.
205** It's also shown earlier that Mirror!Ahuizotl/Bravery Blue pulls the same trick as prime Daring Do. Except while her disguise is more complete and she's a pony, Ahuizotl is still an...well, Ahuizotl.
206* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10336591/1/The-Senshi-Files-Silver-Warden The Senshi Files: Silver Warden]]'', the Senshi transformation explicitly comes with a disguise effect that magically prevents people from linking the two identities despite obvious likenesses and all, similar to how veils and compulsions already work in the Dresdenverse. It's good enough to leave even the Japanese Wardens looking for them on behalf of the White Council clueless, and the main reason Harry himself manages to make any more progress than they when he arrives in Japan is that [[spoiler:the orphaned girl he adopted]] in [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9125896/1/The-Senshi-File-Red-Eye the prequel]] turns out to be the missing [[spoiler:Sailor Jupiter]].
207* Parodied in a Website/CollegeHumor [[http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6926235/batman-and-superman-team-up skit of a meeting between Superman and Batman]].
208-->'''Gordon:''' Um, news flash, it takes a little more than a hat and/or glasses to fool people.\
209'''Superman:''' Really?\
210'''Gordon:''' Check this out. ''[removes glasses]'' Hey look, I'm someone else! Are you fooled? I'm not Commissioner Gordon, he's gone and...\
211'''Batman:''' ''[looks over at Gordon]'' Who are you?! Where's Commissioner Gordon?! ''[Gordon puts on glasses]'' Oh, you're back.
212* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfics, the Miraculous bearers are typically protected by some sort of identity protection magic keeping people from noticing the obvious clues. This was the case prior to the show itself establishing that the Miraculous come with PerceptionFilter abilities in-universe.
213** In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/15597090/chapters/36212475 Nino Has Done Nothing To Deserve This,]]'' the magical identity protection stops working on Nino and Alya. Two seconds later they've figured out their identities because holy ''crap'', those idiots are bad at this.
214--->'''Nino:''' I watched her duck behind a ''glass door'' to transform, Alya.
215** In the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' crossover ''Fanfic/WhatTheCatDraggedIn'', Natasha explains that despite there being countless pictures of the heroes, even a statue, people are utterly incapable of making any actual connection between them and specific people. Image recognition software is likewise stimmied. Tony can't even put a guess on Ladybug's age when he is normally famous for knowing ages at a glance because it helps him avoid literal [[JailbaitTaboo Jailbait traps]].
216** [[ConsummateLiar Lila Rossi]] is often depicted as able to see that Marinette is Ladybug (something that should be easy, see below for more), and sometimes the others too... And frustrated that nobody else notices. Then we have the ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/series/862528 Lila and Anger Management]]'' series, where Lila has noticed they look like each other... And is scared of her, as she doesn't even suspect they're the same.
217* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12169530/2/Charlie-does-the-Foxtrot-A-new-take Charlie Does the Foxtrot - A New Take]]'' Sirius' "genius" plan for disguising himself and Remus is to don glasses.
218-->'''Sirius:''' I read somewhere that you can fool anyone with a pair of glasses on your face. The world is full of gullible morons that will look past you as long as you look like one of the worker drones. Just look at Clark Kent...
219* In ''[[Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook Life is a Roller Coaster]]'', two of the students write a StoryWithinAStory as an anniversary gift for [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Cullen Rutherford]] and his wife. They turn Cullen into a superhero who hides his SecretIdentity - a history teacher - with messy hair and a pair of reading glasses. And it works.
220* In "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10941719/1/The-First-Halfa The First Halfa]]", [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Ray Stanz]] suggests that the [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom Ghost-Boy of Amity Park]] is one of a few rare ghosts that can cause "supernaturally-induced temporary face-blindness" to justify why nobody has realised that the ghost in question is actually half-human.
221* In ''Fanfic/TheSecretReturnOfAlexMack'', Alex goes to a lot of effort to physically distinguish herself from her new superhero identity of Terawatt. Terawatt wears high-heeled boots, and usually floats a bit off the ground to appear taller, while Alex always wears flats. Terawatt wears a long blond wig, while Alex has cut her hair short. The Terawatt costume includes a padded bra…
222* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', the Eri of Earth 2014.05 forges an identity as "Ringo Raiku", a six-year-old reporter at a local radio station who is attending Jaguchi City Elementary School to hide from the Eight Precepts of Death. To do this, she dyes her naturally white hair red and puts on a pair of Beebo blue glasses.
223* In ''Fanfic/LifeOreDeath'' this trope is variously subverted, averted, justified, and reconstructed at different times, even by the TropeNamer himself. In one arc, Superman disguises himself as "Carl Keanes," a legally blind man with a Seeing Eye dog, and mentions that Batman gave him lessons. That said, he still is Clark Kent in daily life, and there are two explanations for how he gets away with it. 1) Kryptonians have [[HumanAliens a different arrangement of facial muscles]], so by making faces he can drastically change his looks. 2) Earth-16 humans are suggested to have decreased facial recognition abilities, as Ferris and Miss Martian both recognize faces in ways their teammates repeatedly fail to.
224** Other than the TropeNamer though, this is mostly averted on the Team's covert missions. Ferris in particular will add several decades onto her age, and [[MasterOfIllusion Zatanna]] will glamour other Team members.
225* ''Fanfic/APossibleEncounterForAPhantom'': In his series, Danny Fenton was able to hide his identity as Danny Phantom thanks to his eye and hair color being different and having a tan in ghost form. However, Kim Possible's villains, some of who actually encountered him, vaguely recognized him, something that he's surprised by.
226* ''Fanfic/HeroicMyth'': PlayedForLaughs when Archer EMIYA decides to put on glasses to look more professional at a meeting. Tiona, who has a crush on him, doesn't recognize him until he identifies himself. He comments he wasn't even trying to disguise himself.
227* ''Fanfic/FateHaremAntics'': When Shirou meets Shielder in her civilian clothes and glasses, he doesn't recognize her until she speaks.
228* ''Fanfic/InfinityCrisis'':
229** A running theme is that whenever someone from another Earth visits Earth-38, they wonder how no one can look past the glasses to realize Kara Danvers is Supergirl.
230** In ''Distant Cousins'', after making a big media splash as Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers shows up at Cat Grant's office in civilian clothes and thrown no one recognizes her despite the fact she doesn't wear any disguise in her superhero persona.
231** In ''Women of Wonder'', when [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague the Earth-1992 Wonder Woman]] sees the mousey Yeoman Diana Prince do her [[Series/WonderWoman1975 spin transformation]], she thinks "I am ''never'' mocking Clark for the glasses again." The Earth-1992 Diana then puts on a blonde wig to pass herself off as her counterpart's "cousin."
232** Parodied in ''In Hand and Foot'' as Doreen Green wonders how Jessica Jones discovered her secret identity as Squirrel Girl. An incredulous Jessica relates Doreen doesn't wear a mask, doesn't disguise herself, and, oh, yes, has ''a giant squirrel tail'' sticking out behind her.
233* ''Fanfic/EntirelyOutOfSpite'' has the incredulous Ajax wondering why Zhongli wasn't immediately outed as the Geo Archon since he walks around with his ''very'' distinctive SupernaturalGoldenEyes and a giant geo symbol stamped on the back of his coat. However, it might be justified by Rex Lapis ostentatiously appearing once a year for the Rite of Descension -- attended mainly by ''tourists'', so Liyue's residents have nothing but rumors -- as a giant floating dragon, and when he dons a more humanoid disguise for interacting with the Adepti, he's wearing a hood to obscure most of his face and has several unusual features such as a tail. Compared to that, Zhongli appears fully human, if rather quirky in his tastes, so flies under the radar.
234* Much like in ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', the fic ''{{Fanfic/Snapshots}}'' has Marina pass for an Inkling without actually disguising herself. Inkopolis's unfamiliarity with Octolings helps, although Callie and Marie notice her immediately. When Pearl learns the truth, she feels like an idiot for not picking up on the clear differences between Marina's appearance and the average Inkling.
235* ''Fanfic/FateKaleidPrismaTaylor'': Averted. When Taylor transforms into the magical girl Princess, she doesn't have a mask and asks for one, but Opal refuses because, to her, magical girls DO NOT wear masks. Though the public mostly doesn't know her, anybody who knows her as Taylor and gets a good look at her face can recognize her.
236* In the ''Franchise/MyHeroAcademia'' fic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/39998556 The Best Part of Waking Up is Pranking Your Kids]]'' Present Mic’s hero costume needs repairs so Aizawa uses this sort of thing as a test for class I-A. Mic pretends to be a substitute teacher in his civilian clothes and some of the students start to suspect he’s actually Present Mic but by the time someone actually starts to ask if he’s Present Mic, the bell cuts them off. His face looks the same but his hair is down, his tattoos and piercings are more visible and he has red contacts (a nod to the manga vs anime eye color difference). Aizawa was illustrating how heroes could take advantage of civilian outfits making them harder to identify.
237[[/folder]]
238
239[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
240* Both Jafar and Jasmine fail to recognize "Prince Ali" as WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}, in spite of the fact that he's done nothing to alter his appearance or voice (other than [[SheCleansUpNicely clean up]]). Both catch on, though Jafar only when he sees that Aladdin has the lamp and Jasmine when she remembers his catchphrase. In the latter's defense, she ''did'' think he was dead and did sense something familiar about him when she got a good look at him.
241* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInPrincessPower'', as Super Sparkle, Kara wears a domino mask to hide her identity.
242* Nobody recognizes ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'' at the ball as the stepdaughter/servant of the Tremaines. It might be justified by having been kept in her WickedStepmother's house since she was a young girl. But neither her stepsisters nor stepmother recognizes her, though Lady Tremaine ''is'' shown to observe that there's something familiar about her, but is prevented from getting a closer look.
243* In ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'', the Supers conceal their identities via simple [[DominoMask domino masks]], that leave their unique body shapes, hair shape/color, and eye color fully exposed, yet no one seems any the wiser.
244* ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch''. Have you ever seen a blue dog or a tourist with four eyes? Stitch, however, does get questioned by Nani and the pet store owner. Myrtle also doesn't seem to quite buy the "dog" story, either. It's Jumba and Pleakly who follow this trope.
245* In ''WesternAnimation/Rio2'', Pedro and Nico don't seem to realize the very talented cockatoo with the leaf over his face is Nigel, the antagonist from the first film. Rafael is at the very least suspicious.
246* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndKryptoToo'', a major RunningGag is Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen both taking this trope to comedic levels. When Lois and Jimmy first meet Mystery Inc, Lois is busy talking before Velma removes her glasses to clean them, making both people to wonder who this new girl is. When she puts them back on, Lois automatically recognizes her... then can't find her again once Scooby steals her glasses for a small prank.
247* In ''Animation/TownMusiciansOfBremen'', the musicians seem to become unrecognizable for the rest of the characters the moment they alter their appearance even slightly:
248** In the first cartoon, they pretend to be a robber gang for EngineeredHeroics, with hardly any disguise. Both the King and his guards are completely fooled. Though it can be justified since the guards quickly flee the scene and the King is scared senseless.
249** In the sequel, the musicians (except for the Troubadour) dress up as a foreign rock group, and again nobody figures them out for quite a while. Even though they are watched by the Princess (who has actually traveled with them), the King and a huge townsfolk crowd (who have seen them performing before), and a supposedly genius detective.
250* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Trolls}}'', Bridget is frequently in the presence of Gristle or Chef, but neither of them recognizes her when she puts on some new clothes and a wig (and a more confident attitude). Granted, they probably don't pay much attention to the servants.
251[[/folder]]
252
253[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
254* Disney's live-action remakes of animated films managed to provide justifications for two of the cases in the "Animated" section:
255** In the live-action 2015 remake of ''Film/{{Cinderella|2015}}'', her family not recognizing her is justified; [[AWizardDidIt the Fairy Godmother casts a spell on her]] that keeps her identity secret from them, though not on the Prince, who does recognize her as the woman he met earlier in the forest. [[spoiler:And after the ball, Lady Tremaine manages to put the clues together.]]
256** Similarly, In ''Film/Aladdin2019'', the Genie's magic prevents everyone from initially recognizing Aladdin in his Prince Ali disguise. However, this does not stop Jasmine and Jafar from separately putting the clues they found together and realize the truth. As Genie puts it, his magic is less of a cover and more of a mask that everyone eventually sees througth.
257* In the Mike Mitchell adventure film ''Film/SkyHigh2005'':
258** Parodied with Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold, who both wear thick glasses. While Mr. Stronghold accessories with vaguely 50s-style clothing, Mrs. Stronghold just dresses like a normal mom, but she too wears glasses.
259** The character Royal Pain serves as a meta-example. Her yearbook picture is [[spoiler: Creator/MaryElizabethWinstead—who plays Gwen—[[HollywoodUgly in glasses and poorly done hair]]. Given that Gwen being Royal Pain is meant to be TheReveal, [[ViewersAreMorons the movie seems to assume that the audience will not recognize Winstead in this picture]].]]
260* Subverted in the classic Richard Donner ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' films, whose take on this trope has [[CanonImmigrant migrated to canon]] in at least some comic continuities. Christopher Reeve's vastly differing portrayals of Clark Kent and Superman really made you feel that he could get away with the disguise. To play the role of Clark Kent, he wore the glasses and slicked his hair back, sure, but he also slouched, stammered, and raised his voice by an octave so that there was a tangible difference between Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent and Christopher Reeve as Superman. This is most obvious in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIaF0QKtY0c this scene]] from ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' where he's [[UnConfession about to tell Lois the truth (but doesn't)]], and in ''Superman II'' where she figures it out on her own. All Reeve does is stand up straight and speak in his normal voice and suddenly he's another person. ''Superman II'', ''3'', and ''4'' also throw in a form of ObfuscatingStupidity to the mix by making Clark TheKlutz to add to the disguise.
261** According to legend, Reeve told most of the crew on the film that he was only playing Clark Kent while Superman was played by a stuntman, and a few of them bought it.
262** In an interview given after Reeve's death, Creator/MargotKidder (Lois) says that Reeve was ''adamant'' that Clark Kent behave nothing like Superman. To paraphrase Kidder, "Clark moves differently, his shoulders are held differently... he's a completely different person."
263** A similar good example comes in ''Film/SupermanReturns'', where Lois explains Superman's height to [[RomanticFalseLead Richard]]. Richard then says: "How tall would you say Clark is?" The two then go on to note other physical similarities between Superman and Clark. Clark draws their attention by clumsily knocking something over, then waves at them with a goofy silly/embarrassed grin on his face, looking for all the world like a complete [[TheDitz ditz]], and Lois and Richard both burst out laughing.
264*** The scene also demonstrates a particular advantage Superman has in employing this trope: he could hear them talking about him with his super-hearing, starting to make the connection, and was able to perfectly time a "Clark Kent moment" to make the suspicion seem ludicrous.
265** Ditto for the ''Film/Supergirl1984'' film as well. Kara's civilian identity involves giving herself a completely different hairstyle (brown, shorter, and curlier). A few minor differences in Creator/HelenSlater's performance also help make it believable that they are two different people. It probably also helps that nobody has any idea who ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is for the first half of the movie.
266* Parodied in ''Film/MysteryMen'', as one of the characters realizes that Captain Amazing looks identical to his "benefactor", but without glasses. (He disguises himself the exact same way Superman does.) The theory gets shouted down, as without glasses, he [[BlindWithoutEm couldn't see anything]].
267* Semi-Film, Semi-Real Life Example: Albert Walker of ''[[http://www.agonybooth.com The]] [[Website/TheAgonyBooth Agony Booth]]'' has twice admitted that he was fooled by the disguises of characters in some of the bad movies he's reviewed, which is shameful given the otherwise low quality of ''everything else in the given films''. Specifically: [[spoiler: Gene Simmons in ''Never Too Young To Die'', who dresses up as a friendly agent despite his character being a flagrantly over-the-top transvestite, and Paul Freeman in ''Shanghai Surprise'', supposedly dead and disguised, again, as an ally]].
268* Count Olaf (played by Jim Carrey) in the film version of Lemony Snicket's ''Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' disguises himself as a scientist named Stephano (false mustache and a shaved eyebrow) and a sea captain called Captain Sham (wooden leg, and a beard). Although in the books Olaf can easily be recognised when in disguise because he has a [[DistinguishingMark tattoo of an eye on his ankle]], his disguises are still comically inept.
269* Lampshaded in the Bill Murray movie Film/QuickChange where even the police were unable to give a good description of the robbers, as they were distracted by the unusual nature of the crime ( bank robbery by a clown).
270* Lampshaded in the movie ''Film/RabNeBanaDiJodi'': total nerd Suri disguises himself as fashion victim Raj by shaving his mustache, changing haircut and putting other clothes on. He later explains to a friend that if he managed to fool his wife with the disguise, it's only because God decided to help him. The trope is also slightly subverted because, like in Donner's ''Superman'' movies, it's not just the clothes that change but the character's whole behaviour. Suri and Raj talk, move and behave differently, which later leads Suri to become jealous of Raj because he wonders if people prefer him (why hello there, SplitPersonality!).
271* In ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' (1939), Literature/SherlockHolmes (Creator/BasilRathbone) disguises himself as a singer at a party. His disguise is so good that he feels audacious enough to get on stage in front of everyone and sing a tune. His disguise? Nothing more than a fake mustache. It's all in his facial contortions and mannerisms, and it comes across as plausible that nobody would recognize him.
272* In ''Film/ItHappenedOneNight'', Peter and Ellie fool the detectives who are sent by Ellie's father by acting like a low-class married couple.
273* In ''Film/ThePhantom1943'', Geoffrey Prescott resigns from Professor Davidson's archeological team to take up the heroic mantle of the Phantom, in which role he is called upon to assist Professor Davidson's team. His body language is not much difference when he's being the Phantom, and his mask leaves most of his face clearly visible, but with one exception nobody on the team shows any sign of recognizing him. Diana remarks after her first meeting with the Phantom that he "reminds me of someone we all know, but I just can't place him"; after she's met him a few more times, they have a conversation in which she clearly suspects who he is and offers him several openings to admit it, but he dodges the question and the subject is not raised again.
274* In ''Film/ThePhantom1996'', the Phantom's body language hardly changes when he's being Kit Walker, and his voice not at all; despite this, nobody seems to realise that they're the same person even after encountering both of them in quick succession, though Diana does eventually admit to having figured it out. Diana figuring out the Phantom's secret identity is foreshadowed in the scene at the newspaper office where Kit talks and poses exactly like the Phantom did just a few scenes earlier, before realizing what he's doing and breaking the pose.
275* Mocked by ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' in their spoof of the ''[[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' movie. April: "Why do you wear a mask?" Raphael: "So no one knows I'm a turtle, of course!" The turtles' masks are doubly silly because they don't have a secret civilian identity: if anything, their masks exist to reveal their identity, not to conceal it.
276* Cillian Murphy's character in ''Film/{{Peacock}}'' is a quiet wage-slave who keeps to himself. Cillian Murphy's other character in ''Peacock'' is a woman who lives in the same house, looks curiously similar, and often appears right after Cillian has gone upstairs (you know, plus the time it would take to put a wig and some eyeliner on). Nobody ever gives any sign of knowing, the only possible rationalization being that maybe in small-town 1950s Nebraska, maybe it just didn't occur to them that Cillian Murphy would probably wear a dress given half a chance.
277* In ''Film/SugarAndSpice'', the cheerleading squad robs the supermarket bank branch, dressed as... cheerleaders. In [[BlandNameProduct Betty doll]] masks. Arguably FridgeBrilliance because: 1) Who would suspect ''actual'' cheerleaders of robbing banks, and: 2) The number of cheerleading groups in a general area.
278* Subverted ''hilariously'' in ''Film/GreenLantern2011''. Hal Jordan tries to disguise his voice while speaking to Carol Ferris. It works for about a minute, but as soon as she gets a good look at him she knows who he is. This is made even funnier by the fact that the scene is a direct homage (location, camera angles, entrance, music, etc) to the famous balcony scene from ''Film/SupermanTheMovie''.
279-->'''Carol:''' I've known you my whole life! I've seen you NAKED! You don't think I would recognize you because I can't see your cheekbones?!
280* Jason puts on a fake mustache to imitate his father to fool the principal in ''Film/MysteryTeam''. It doesn't work.
281* Played with in ''Film/{{Steel}}'' where the armor covers almost all the protagonist's body. Unfortunately, the title character is 7 feet tall, so it's completely obvious to anyone who sees him in both identities. The cop witness recognizes him, not the least because John has a scar in the exact same spot where Steel had a bleeding wound. The cop feigns ignorance because Steel saved his life earlier. Lampshaded by the BigBad:
282-->'''Burke:''' ''[upon seeing Steel for the first time]'' [[SarcasmMode Now I wonder who that is]].
283* Briefly used in ''Film/TheRoom2003'':
284-->'''Johnny:''' ''[removing his sunglasses]'' Hi, can I have a dozen red roses, please?\
285'''Shop Clerk:''' [[MemeticMutation Ohai Johnny]], I didn't know it was you.
286* Played with in ''Film/ThePrestige''. Borden (Creator/ChristianBale) and Angier (Creator/HughJackman) often adopt disguises to sneak into each other’s shows, but they tend to just be false beards that don't fool anyone who knows them. [[spoiler:Then at the end of the movie, it turns out Borden's identical twin (also played by Christian Bale) had been disguising himself as the assistant Fallon ''the whole movie'', and concealed it by wearing big glasses, a hat, a false beard, not speaking, and makeup to make his face look chubbier. In fact, they'd been swapping off; a RewatchBonus is detecting the subtle differences in Borden.]]
287* ''Film/TheRebelSet'', a 1950s B-movie crime caper, had ringleader Ed Platt disguising himself to evade detection ''from his own gang'' by wearing a clergyman's collar - this was called out mercilessly on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. The episode guidebook notes that on their first viewing of the film, it took everyone quite a while to realize he was even supposed to be in disguise.
288* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
289** Several times in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''
290*** At the Smithsonian, Steve hides his identity by wearing a big jacket and a baseball cap. Only one awestruck kid recognizes him, but is convinced to keep it secret. May help that Captain America hasn't been in the public eye much for over 70 years in-universe, and his costume usually covered half his face and deliberately drew attention to his chest (no, not for [[MrFanservice that reason]]).
291*** Steve uses this again when he's on the run, wearing a hoodie and thick-rimmed glasses with thick lenses. An Apple employee gives him a querying stare, but it turns out he just recognized that they own the same kind of glasses.
292*** Natasha just relies on a hoodie. She shows her experience with this trope by giving advice to Steve on how to remain nondescript, including not running and pretending to be conversing ([[FakeOutMakeOut and kissing]]).
293*** In the second end-credits stringer, [[spoiler:Winter Soldier/Bucky visits the Smithsonian disguised, wearing a jacket to cover his metal arm. Of course 99% of those who have seen the Winter Soldier's face are likely dead]], so it's just some random person to the general public... at least until they walk right up to the [[spoiler:[[AmnesiacDissonance display about his life]] complete with giant portrait headshot. At the least, the portrait has him clean-shaven and in a military buzzcut not his Winter Soldier PermaStubble and long hair. Also, he's officially dead]].
294** In ''Film/IronMan3'', Tony goes on the run and runs into a fan of his who recognizes him instantly. He also happens to have copied Tony's hair and beard. This also kinda explains why few people seem to recognize Tony undercover. It's ''clearly'' not Tony Stark because he's not driving around in sports cars and being flamboyant and wearing expensive clothes. He's just some random dude who copied Tony's look. This may also explain Cap at the museum; people probably think he's some Cap ''admirer''.
295** The Winter Soldier is at it again in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', living anonymously in Europe, [[spoiler:speaking all the local languages fluently and wearing two or three layers of sleeves and a left glove at all times of year]]. Even when [[spoiler:he's framed for bombing the UN and(a very blurry photo of) his face is all over the news, exactly two people seem to notice (the magazine-stand owner and whoever called in the tip)]].
296** In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', both Thor and Banner decide to disguise themselves on Sakaar. Bruce goes through the traditional route for this trope by putting on Tony Stark's sunglasses, but Thor points out that he's already in disguise because nobody on the planet knows who he is, because they've only seen the Hulk. Thor himself is called out for his PaperThinDisguise when Valkyrie points out that the blanket Thor haphazardly threw over his head doesn't even conceal his face.
297** Lampshaded in AscendedMeme form in ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'', which amusingly enough has its example of this subverted since the heroes ''are'' recognized.
298--->'''Scott Lang''': We look like ourselves at a baseball game!
299* Zig zagged in ''Film/Catwoman2004''. It takes quite a while for the male lead to figure out that Patience is Catwoman. The first thing that tips him off is that they both have similar handwriting - he gets both samples analysed and the expert says that it's obviously two very different people. For the record, Patience's mask really doesn't hide that much of her face.
300* In the Melissa [=McCarthy=] vehicle ''Film/{{Spy}}'' her character wears several different disguises that are all Paper Thin (wearing various wigs and ugly touristy clothing, or wearing very stylish outfits like ball gowns and leather). Several times she is seen by a few of the same people but they don't realize that she is the same person each time. But parts of that may be her quick-thinking nature.
301* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''Film/KillBill'': When the Bride finally confronts Bill, he monologues about the nature of [[SecretIdentity secret identities]] in superhero comics. Bill points out that, whereas most heroes have to put on the costume to become their alter egos since Superman was born as the alien Kal-L, his alter ego is in fact Clark Kent. Bill theorizes that Clark Kent is Superman's critique of humanity, comparing him to the Bride trying to blend, in when she was really born to be a killer.
302* In ''Film/TheBlackbird'', Dan the criminal and thief disguises himself as his fictional twin brother, "the Bishop", supposedly the operator of a charity mission in the Limehouse slums. All he does is put a pillow on his back to make himself look like a hunchback, and draw his leg up to his hip as if it is withered. ''Everyone'' buys this disguise--his criminal associates, Scotland Yard, and his ex-wife.
303* Averted in ''Film/JudgeDredd'', where the titular Judge is almost immediately recognized ''by his chin''. All someone has to do is cover up the top half of his face. Anyone who has seen Dredd up close in his helmet knows that chin.
304* ''Film/{{Hydrozagadka}}'', being an AffectionateParody of {{superhero}} movies, naturally features this trope. TheParagon of all virtue does not even wear a domino mask - and yet even his LoveInterest has no idea of his civilian identity.
305[[/folder]]
306
307[[folder:Literature]]
308* The villains in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' seem to be quite good at this, possibly because most of them are identified by a few distinguishing features -- such as a unibrow, baldness, {{Hook Hand}}s, or just very pale faces. A frequent occurrence is that the Baudelaires are very quick to see through Count Olaf's terrible disguises, but often miss seeing through those of his accomplices. (This element is dropped from both the film adaptation and Netflix series; the accomplices' disguises tend to be just as bad.)
309* ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'': When working in Pym's advertising agency in ''Murder Must Advertise'', Wimsey wears glasses and combs his hair with a side parting. It changes his appearance enough that when the Pym's typists see him in his normal evening dress and monocle, they aren't sure if he's the same person, particularly when he behaves as if he doesn't recognise them.
310* Cleverly {{averted|Trope}} in ''Literature/TheShadow'', as readers are first led to believe that the Shadow's secret identity is Lamont Cranston (as he is in [[Radio/TheShadow the radio show]]), but the very next novel has the real Lamont Cranston wake up to the Shadow in his room, quite perfectly [[MasterOfDisguise borrowing his face]]. The Shadow also commonly goes by five other identities, some borrowed, some invented, as well as single-use identities in many stories. Readers had to wait '''seven years''' to find out his real {{backstory}} in "The Shadow Unmasks", which involved FakingTheDead twelve years beforehand and arranging to be miraculously "found" when he needed a new primary identity.
311* ''Literature/{{Ripliad}}'': Tom Ripley pulls this off very successfully in the first novel: blonde hair and a big smile, and he's Dickie Greenleaf. Slightly darker hair, a meek slouch, and non-prescription horn-rimmed glasses, and he's Tom Ripley. Subverted twice because (a) the novel goes into extreme detail about Tom's preparations and his fear of being caught, and (b) Tom is so ''completely batshit insane'', he almost believes he's two different people.
312* In the ''Literature/MillenniumSeries'', Lisbeth Salander has insisted on her punk rocker girl appearance so heavily, even comically exaggerated it during her trial, that she can adopt any other persona and nobody would recognize her, as they would not be expecting that. She disguises herself as a blonde and carries a fake passport by the name 'Irene Nesser' and nobody -- policeman, border guard, or airport security man -- cares to look closer.
313* In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', Zakath takes advantage of this after he's more or less shanghaied into joining the companions on their quest. Despite being the Emperor of nearly half the world, all he has to do is grow a beard and change clothes to go unrecognized; he explains that most of his subjects have only ever "seen" the Emperor as an image on coins, and of the minority that ''have'' seen him in person, most saw only the guards, attendants, and trappings around him. No one would expect to see the Emperor riding through the backcountry unattended, unshaven, and in ordinary clothes.
314* In ''Literature/TalesOfAnMazingGirl'', Sarah wears glasses. She admits that it works simply because it's very awkward to go up to someone and ask them if they are "'Mazing Girl". If they deny it, that's not much of a conversation starter.
315* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
316** Corran Horn hides as one "Kieran Halcyon", with some dye to make himself a blonde. [[{{Squick}} Everywhere]]. He also grows a beard. [[JustifiedTrope Given that he's an X-wing fighter pilot, it's actually a fair disguise, since his name may be famous but images of him are going to be fairly rare]].
317** A {{justified|Trope}} example appears in ''Literature/DarthBane: Rule of Two''. Darth Zannah infiltrates the Jedi temple on Coruscant by disguising herself as Jedi Padawan Nalia Adollu. Her only alteration to her appearance is dying her blond hair black. Justified because it's established that Zannah and Nalia look very similar, it's been five years since anyone on Coruscant has seen Nalia, and Zannah uses the Force to mask her connection to the DarkSide.
318** [[Literature/XWingSeries Hallis Saper]], for the first half of ''Starfighters of Adumar'', wears a pair of eye-concealing goggles over her eyes and a 3PO droid head ("Whitecap", which houses her recording equipment) on her shoulder. [[IconicOutfit This outfit]] turns out to have been created for just this purpose: when she wants to be more circumspect, she simply removes the goggles and tucks Whitecap under her cloak. After Whitecap [[StopCopyingMe malfunctions]], she's forced to abandon this outfit, to the point that it becomes a minor RunningGag that people don't recognize her (since, after all, they're expecting the two-headed lady).
319* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
320** Moist Von Lipwig of ''Literature/GoingPostal'' and ''Literature/MakingMoney'' turns Clark Kenting into a lifestyle and an artform. He has very in-distinctive looks normally, so he adds accessories like beards and moustaches, a spot of makeup, a VerbalTic in order to give any eyewitness report something to latch on. In his official duties, he wears very distinctive clothing to distract from his face, and when the newly formed newspaper reporters come to interview him, he fights tooth and nail to avoid being clearly photographed.
321** Subverted in ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'' when two "undercover" Watchmen (Nobby and Detritus) do a terrible job of disguising themselves...but that's intentional, as Vimes sent the two most distinctive officers available so that the ''real'' undercover cop would go unnoticed.
322* ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': In book 4 (''Beyond the Blue Moon''), when Rupert and Julia return to the Forest Kingdom as Hawk and Fisher, they count on their both having aged to conceal their real identities. With the masses, it seems to work, mostly because their official portraits are so idealized as to look nothing like they had even when they were younger; at the end, it's subverted, as everyone who'd actually ''known'' them admits that they'd recognized them both immediately, but kept quiet about it for reasons of politics and/or to respect their wish for anonymity.
323* In the earliest version of ''Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast'', Beauty is visited in her dreams by a prince who begs her to save him and she fails to realize that he and the Beast are one and the same until his transformation. This normally wouldn't qualify as an example of this trope due to the handsome prince and the hideous Beast looking nothing like each other, except that the prince ''wants'' Beauty to realize his real-life identity and does everything short of telling her outright, including telling her that she's made him unhappy right after she refuses to marry the Beast and ''changing places repeatedly with an image of the Beast'' when she asks how she can help him. This makes Beauty look like an even bigger dumbass than Lois Lane; at least Superman actively tries to throw Lois off his scent, whereas the prince ''constantly'' tells Beauty to look past appearances and find him "no matter how I may be disguised"! This may be the reason why later adaptations of the story drop that particular detail.
324* In ''Literature/LesMiserables'' Jean Valjean has many disguises, which are not picked up on by anyone. Visual adaptations emphasize that going from rags to well-dressed makes even Javert, specifically searching for Valjean, doubt himself.
325* PlayedWith in ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel,'' possibly the UrExample, where no one connects the foppish Sir Percy Blakeney with the Scarlet Pimpernel. This is justified partially because no one knows [[MasterOfDisguise what the Pimpernel actually looks like,]] as well as thanks to Sir Percy's ObfuscatingStupidity.
326* In the Literature/FatherBrown mystery "The Queer Feet", the thief Flambeau employs this to pull off a heist--exploiting the fact that, at an expensive restaurant, the rich patrons and the wait staff both wear nearly identical dress coats. In the dining room, he walks and carries himself like one of the waiters, [[BeneathSuspicion so he's ignored by the rich men]]. Outside the dining room, he affects the manner of a diner who'd gotten lost, so he's dismissed by the other waiters. He moves in and out of the dining room, and once the meal is over, he clears the table before the ''real'' wait staff can do it. He would have gotten away with the silverware if Father Brown hadn't heard Flambeau switching from one gait to another (hence the title) and put the pieces together.
327* In ''Literature/TheReunionWithTwelveFascinatingGoddesses'', Tooi is summoned to another world twice. The first time he becomes a famous hero, and the second time he claims that he's his own successor. He doesn't bother disguising himself the second time around, and even uses the same cover story (being Laila's freeloader) and demonstrates the same power. The disguise works because of a case of YearInsideHourOutside: while Tooi has aged one year from his previous visit, everyone in the other world has aged ten years (so most expect Tooi to be 26 instead of 17, not knowing that he's from Earth).
328* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror,'' a world where miracles to [[BackFromTheDead raise the dead]] and [[FountainOfYouth restore youth]] are a known fact, Daylen Namaran has the same name as the Conqueror, [[IdenticalGrandson looks like the Conqueror]], sounds like the Conqueror, [[GrumpyOldMan talks like the Conqueror]], [[TheNoseKnows smells like the Conqueror]], [[HairTriggerTemper acts like the Conqueror]], wears the Conqueror's jacket, wields the sword magically linked to the Conqueror, and has all the skills of the Conqueror ... but he is most definitely ''[[PaperThinDisguise not]]'' [[EvilOverlord Dayless the Conqueror]].
329-->'''Daylen:''' "Piss off, and stop trying to cause a riot with your stupid conspiracies."
330* ''Literature/TheSupervillainySaga'' has the phenomenon explained in ''Literature/TalesOfSupervillainyCindysSeven'': This phenomenon is [[JustifiedTrope justified by the existence of disguise spells]] which make it so no matter how obvious the disguise is, people will be unable to connect the dots between a superhero and their secret identity. Cindy even reflects that [[SecondSuperIdentity some heroes have multiple identities]] while being utterly unable to recognize that Revolutionary Girl is clearly Ultra Goddess with a ponytail. Tellingly the disguise also completely works on Gabrielle's own daughter.
331* In ''Literature/VillainsCode'', Lodestar barely looks different from her civilian persona Helen. She's also terrible at playing a civilian, constantly catching herself and allowing too much to slip out. And yet no one ever catches on. It turns out to be a side effect of her power. Unless she tells someone or transforms right in front of them, people's brains will refuse to connect the obvious dots. Something will nag at the back of their minds, but that will be it. If Helen runs behind a tree, and Lodestar flies out moments later, everyone will just idly wonder where Helen went off to.
332* Usually averted in ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', but Lisa as Tattletale explicitly does this, wearing only a domino mask as a disguise and deliberately modifying her body language in-costume to throw off suspicion.
333[[/folder]]
334
335[[folder:Manhwa]]
336* ''Manhwa/{{Yureka}}'': It's illegal to alter one's appearance on the Net, so characters who want to exploit the [[ForumSpeak G.I.F.T]] [[InvokedTrope have to disguise themselves entirely with clothes and attitude.]] It's a recurrent theme, but is [[{{Reconstruction}} played with realism]] and isn't [[PaperThinDisguise infallible]]: those actively invoking this get delayed recognition at best.
337[[/folder]]
338
339[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
340* Done for laughs on the third-rate variety show ("Second-rate variety show!") ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' by Creator/MarkHamill. He first appears in full Skywalker costume and gets pegged as Hamill right off the bat -- only to run out the door to get his "cousin" and reappear seconds later dressed casually as Mark Hamill. At the end of the episode, both appear onscreen just to mess with Kermit's mind.
341* Mocked in the French satiric show ''Series/LesGuignolsDeLInfo'' with Super Menteur ("Super Liar"), the "superheroic" alter-ego of Jacques Chirac. Even OnlySaneMan PPDA keeps wondering "Who could be Super Menteur?" On the other hand, his "superpower" is to make everybody believe his BlatantLies, including "[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Jacques Chirac isn't Super Menteur!]]"
342* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSlimGoodbody'': In this continuity, Slim Goodbody is a superhero, and both he and his alter-ego work for the same organization, Body Control. In fact, his alter-ego is Captain Halen Hearty, the ''head'' of Body Control! One of the tricks Slim uses to disguise the fact that he and Halen are the same person: while in his Captain Halen Hearty persona, he wears glasses. He doesn't as Slim Goodbody.
343* ''Series/SesameStreet'': Parodied by Super-Grover, whose bespectacled alter-ego is "Grover Kent, ace doorknob salesman for ACME Inc."; which leaves the fact that they both just happen to be furry blue monsters wholly unexplained.
344[[/folder]]
345
346[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
347* Justified in ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful''; Princesses have a power known as Dual Identity, which causes people to perceive their mundane and transformed forms as two separate people, even if they have exactly the same face with no mask whatsoever. And even if someone somehow gets enough clues to suspect the truth, the Princess can influence their mind to cause them to shrug it off as a coincidence.
348** The supplement ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigilDarkAndLight'' plays this ability for ParanoiaFuel by showing how it's perceived by [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil Hunters]]; aside from the fact it means ''anyone'' around Hunters might secretly be a Princess without them even realizing it, it makes it near-impossible for them to pursue them: all a Princess has to do is get out of sight, and when they finally catch up, all they find is an apparently regular civilian who they ''cannot'' recognize as the Noble and who will immediately direct them to the wrong direction before disappearing in the crowd.
349* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' features maskless superhero Princess, whose powers include the fact that no one realizes who she is.
350[[/folder]]
351
352[[folder:Theatre]]
353* This is OlderThanSteam: in Creator/WilliamShakespeare's play ''Theatre/KingLear'', the Earl of Kent(!) returns from banishment in a fairly flimsy disguise to help the king. Even before he goes mad, Lear fails to recognize him along with everyone else, despite having known him for years. Later in the play, after Edgar is accused of plotting against his father the Earl of Gloucester, he tears at his clothes and covers himself with mud to disguise himself as a "Bedlam beggar". The disguise is good enough to fool his father, his godfather King Lear, the Earl of Kent (who is also in disguise and who Edgar fails to recognize), and the King's fool (easily the smartest person in the whole cast). In the final scene of the play, Edgar dons another disguise that fools his half-brother Edmund, though the stage directions imply that he may be masked.
354* In fact, many of Shakespeare's plays use this, including most of the comedies. In ''Theatre/MeasureForMeasure'', the Duke, who rules the city, wanders around speaking to all the main characters with no attempt at disguise other than a priest's robe. In ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'' and ''As You Like It'' women dress as men with little effort other than wearing men's clothing. Rosalind (the protagonist of ''As You Like It'') remarks, in short, that no one will pay attention so long as she wears breeches and carries a sword. Orlando, the man in love with her, doesn't recognize her, even when she [[RecursiveCrossdressing "pretends" to be Rosalind]] so he can practice courting. Most scholars agree these disguises would have been useless and flimsy, so the audience could easily see through them. This, mostly, is the joke, because women were not allowed to act in Shakespearean times; you would have a man who was playing a woman who pretended to be a man imitating a woman and so on. Also, until roughly the 1950s, clothing was how you told who was a man and who was a woman. People just went with the gender suggested by the clothing.
355%%* Pick a Mozart opera, any Mozart opera -- and many, many others.
356%%* ''The Barber of Seville'' (both the original play by Beaumarchais and the opera by Rossini) play this for laughs.
357[[/folder]]
358
359[[folder:Video Games]]
360* Misaki and her "Michelle" identity, in ''[[Anime/BanGDream BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!]]''. Even though she actively tries to get the other members of Hello, Happy World! to understand that she's Michelle, everyone besides Kanon is enough of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} to continue to think that she's just Michelle's friend and that Michelle is an actual humanoid, talking, DJ bear. This includes her actively taking her Michelle costume off in front of them, at which point Kaoru, Kokoro, and Hagumi all [[ViolationOfCommonSense assume that Michelle warped into the shape of a girl]] [[TooDumbToLive and that Michelle herself somehow ran away while they weren't looking.]]
361* Played with in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Original Generation 2'', where Elzam's disguise as Rätsel Feinschmecker is utterly transparent, and ''he'' knows it. But because it gives the rest of the group PlausibleDeniability about the fact that an ex-[[TheDragon Dragon]] is working with them, everybody goes along with it. This mostly consists of substituting "Rätsel" for "Elzam", even when talking about something that was officially done by Elzam.
362** He even gets away with just ditching the disguise when he has to go to a funeral. It would be tacky to wear the disguise to the funeral, after all.
363* A minor one in the original ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'': This happens during a chance encounter with the princess Jelanda and the mercenary Arngrim (the first two party members Lenneth picks up); Jelanda is able to hide her prim and girlish appearance with thick glasses and a ''babushka''; both effectively make her look like an older woman.
364* In the video intro to ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}: VideoGame/RavingRabbids 2'', Rayman infiltrates the Rabbids' ranks by donning a disguise consisting of a pair of Rabbid-style googly eyes on a headband, a sink-plunger loaded into his gun, and a lungful of helium. One of the senior Rabbids is on the lookout for Rayman, carrying the CD slip-case for the previous game as a reference image, and comes close to rumbling him -- until Rayman lets loose a Rabbid-like manic "BWAAAHHH!", which dispels the Rabbids' remaining doubts.
365* In ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'', nobody seems to figure out that Geo Stelar is Mega Man unless he's explicitly transformed (Or changed back) in front of them. Combine the hairstyle, the voice, the eyes, and the fact that Geo is close to the scene every time before and/or after something goes wrong would kinda make people think. In the anime, Bob Copper actually puts two and two together... and, in a moment of unbelievable stupidity, actually asks if Geo is one of Mega Man's ''groupies'' ([[FaceFault Much to Geo's own surprise]]). In the same anime, when Luna finds out, she goes into a state of complete denial, despite the insistence of Bud and Zack and Omega-Xis showing up in front of them at times. Granted, her denial faded in the final episode of Tribe, but still.
366* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' features a mission in which your character has to infiltrate a Freakshow base. In order to facilitate this mission, you're given a disguise. What is the disguise? A rusty, spiky chestpiece (worn over your regular costume) and a bright red mohawk (ditto).
367* Early on in ''Videogame/FinalFantasyVII'', the characters disguise themselves as enemy troops to steal passage aboard a boat. For the most part, this works quite well, as Shinra troops are covered in head to toe with armor and baggy combat jumpsuits, but there are two major exceptions: Barret, the big black dude with a [[ArmCannon gun for an arm]] dressed as a sailor, and Red XIII, a cat/wolf-like creature who can't walk very well on two legs and whose tail sticks out of his uniform!
368** They actually play with it some in this case. Upon Arrival, one conversation option results in Mr. Gun Arm being described as looking like 'a bear wearing a marshmallow suit', and he ends up hogging up the bathroom looking at himself in the mirror, wearing said sailor suit, if he's not in your party. As for Red XIII... he dances back and forth from foot to foot, obviously having issues standing on two legs, but comments that he 'makes a pretty good human being' when you talk to him... after which he turns to the side, allowing you to see the tail (flaming tip and all) sticking out of his pants.
369* Played with in ''VideoGame/ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis''. The resident superhero, "The Flay", fights crime in the school, alongside his {{sidekick}}, who is TheHero in the main story. Their costume? It's a mask that covers ''only their eyes'', while still wearing their CustomUniform. And ''everyone'' is fooled...
370* Done both ways in ''Videogame/TeamFortress2'', depending on the team. Spies wear a mask that consists of the face of the class they're disguised as. If you're on their team, you can see them as a spy. If not, well, it's a perfect disguise (until the shooting starts).
371** Or even before it starts, if you're alone with one and they happen to be [[InTheBack standing right behind you...]]
372* Maria in ''VideoGame/SilentHill2''. Although more intricate than "standard" Clark Kenting (clothes, hair, cosmetics, ''vastly'' different personality) James once mentions that she looks a lot like Mary then never mentions the resemblance again. Heavily justified though in that not only is James completely batshit insane but [[spoiler: it isn't really Mary at all, merely a construct James has invented due to among other things his refusal to accept her death]]. Yes, [[MindScrew it is a very strange game]].
373* Yeager in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' does this when he disguises himself as Regaey. Granted, the name was a dead giveaway, but his demeanor as Regaey was very meek compared to his actual personality.
374* The trope is an essential part of the ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' series of games. Walk calm, wear the right uniform, and carry the right gun in the right way (ie. out-of-sight or in off-hand), and no one will notice you're a six-foot-tall, pale, hairless man with a bar code tattooed on the back of your head.
375** ''[[VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin Silent Assassin]]'' actually ''subverts'' the trope: disguises consist of a simple uniform and sometimes (Russian levels) a hat. It doesn't matter if someone sees your face, getting out of sight and changing uniform ''will'' fool that guy, even though your face is clearly visible. There's one exception: the Japanese levels. Guard uniforms here include a balaclava and NV goggles but despite these and the fact that it's night, the snipers scattered around the level WILL recognize you.
376** Zigzagged in ''[[VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution Absolution]]'': disguises will fool regular people but if you run into anyone who is wearing the same clothes as you, they will immediately notice you're not one of them, even at distances large enough to stretch disbelief. The only way to avoid this is to use an "instinct" draining special move that causes 47 to... keep his head down.
377* In ''VideoGame/{{Alundra 2}}'', it is obvious to the player that the Pirate Queen's bodyguard is Flint's father, but Flint and everyone else can't see it. His outfit and hairstyle are unchanged from the last time Flint saw him, the only difference being the addition of a mask.
378* Raphael aka Phantom R of ''VideoGame/RhythmThiefAndTheEmperorsTreasure''. His disguise is wearing a [[BadassInANiceSuit suit]] and a [[FedoraOfAssKicking fedora]]. Bonus points for wearing glasses in civilian mode.
379* In ''VisualNovel/TrueLoveJunaiMonogatari'', the famous IdolSinger Sonoko Takahashi, who has her face plastered all over posters and [=CDs=] around town, is able to pass herself off as an ordinary NewTransferStudent to the PC's high school by simply putting her hair up, wearing glasses, and going by the alias of "Ryoko Shimazaki"...which happens to be her [[RealNameAsAnAlias actual birth name]]. She comes under no suspicion by any of the students she interacts with other than the PC, and the PC only begins putting two and two together when he sees her without her glasses on.
380* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney - Trials and Tribulations'', Elise Deauxnim is (as you can probably guess from [[MeaningfulName the name]]) another, previously mentioned character in disguise. Said disguise consisted of changing her name, wardrobe, and hairstyle. She does nothing to conceal her face, and she hasn't aged very much since she was last seen. What makes this curious is that [[spoiler:her own daughter, Maya]] was able to recognize her face from a photo earlier in the series, but doesn't do so now.
381* ''VideoGame/FreddyPharkasFrontierPharmacist'': To hide his true identity, Freddy [[spoiler: makes a false ear for himself (his real ear having been shot off in the prologue)]]. No one seems to recognize him until [[spoiler:Penelope removes his ear and is shocked to discover that it's Freddy]]!
382* ''VideoGame/ShantaeAndThePiratesCurse'': Parodied with He-Man {{Expy}} Bran-Son. Not only does Shantae point out that his magical disguise was just his alter-ego Brandon with a jazzy halter-top, but he also transforms in front of an audience who already knew about his secret identity beforehand due to his InUniverse popularity. Despite all this, based on his dramatic speech, his identity still manages to be a secret to most of his allies and enemies.
383* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' has shameless BadassBiker FemmeFatale EVA and her "Tatyana" persona which is achieved with a pair of glasses and a change of clothes (a Soviet military uniform). The whole disguise is reliant on changes to her body language, and she does it so effectively that not only does it work on the other characters, but quite a few ''players'' were fooled into thinking they were two different women.
384* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'' where Rean dons a pair of glasses on his first day at work because he's too popular as [[LegendaryInTheSequel the Ashen Chevalier]] and his future students see through his disguise immediately. Played straight for when he travels to different parts of the country where no one recognizes him if he starts wearing his glasses.
385** In the second game in the series, Machias disguises himself in rebel-held territory by taking his glasses ''off''. It appears to work, possibly because the only people he actually needs to keep his identity (as the son of a key official in the overthrown government) from is the highly unpopular local guard detachment. Everyone else appeared to know who he was and was willing to keep his secret.
386* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': During the Summer 2018 event, Lancelot buys a bunch of doujinshi from Mash's group. He's only tanned and wears a pair of glasses, yet Mash is unable to recognize him. It's possible that he used For Someone's Glory to cause this effect, since For Someone's Glory is a Noble Phantasm that allows him to make him unrecognizable to other people.
387* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'': The ''Octo Expansion'' DLC gives players the option of playing as the Octolings, a race of human-like octopuses, in Inkopolis Square. The Octolings, however, are the sworn enemies of the Inklings, a race of human-like squids who make up the majority of Inkopolis Square's population. So how do the Octolings are able to intermingle with the Inklings without causing animosity? [[RefugeInAudacity They pretend to be Inklings and treat their physical differences (especially with the hair and eyes) as just an exotic trend]]. The Inklings all seem to buy this explanation. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that while older generations of Inklings have held a grudge against the Octolings ever since the Great Turf War, the current generation has no animosity towards the Octolings since that war was ancient history. Pearl, for example, still sticks with her friend Marina despite learning that she's an Octoling from Cap'n Cuttlefish]].
388* It's all but outright stated in ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy'' that [[spoiler:Professor Sycamore is not just Jean Descole's latest disguise, but rather his real identity that he spent most of his life as before becoming Descole. Unlike his more elaborate LatexPerfection disguises, Sycamore looks like Descole with the hat, coat, and mask removed.]]
389* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV'': Most of the cast are unaware that Krohnen is blatantly, obviously [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001 K9999]]. The player however, knowing that Krohnen is essentially K9999 with longer hair, goggles, a biker jacket (that is ''still'' yellow), a scarf, and more cybernetics, is far less likely to be fooled.
390* ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' introduces [[HeroicDolphin Palafin]], who actually uses this as a gameplay mechanic. Most of the time, it looks just like an ordinary [[FriendlyPlayfulDolphin Finizen]], its [[EvolutionPowerUp pre-evolution]], just with a pink marking on its chest. When it's first sent into battle, it takes on its Finizen-like "Zero" form, which has mediocre stats. However, if it is switched out, it will turn into its "Hero" form, which has stats on par with [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokemon]]. According to the Pokédex, it never transforms while others are looking.
391* ''VideoGame/Dishonored2'' plays this straight with Emily Kaldwin, Empress of the Isles, who is on the lam in the city of Karnaca following a coup. Unlike Dishonored 1 protagonist Corvo Attano, whose disguise features a full face mask, Emily's disguise consists of nothing but a bandana covering the lower part of her face. Her eyes, hair, and entire outfit from the neck down remain unhidden and unchanged from her canonically very well-publicized appearance (in-game dialogue states that her face appears minted on coins within the empire, and she appears on wanted posters all over Karnaca). Despite this, only a few major characters among the countless characters that can be interacted with throughout the game ever seem to recognize her.
392[[/folder]]
393
394[[folder:Web Animation]]
395* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'':
396** Coach Z actually tries to convince everyone that he is both Damp Towel Man and his creatively-named secret identity, Dan Towelman. As usual, nobody cares.
397** Played straight with the Thnikkaman. No one (with the exception of Homestar Runner, of all people) seems to realize he's actually just Bubs in sunglasses and a piece of paper with a "TH" on it taped to his shirt. Coach Z even tried to "unmask" him, but failed hilariously.
398* Splendid from ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' is a Superman parody, so naturally he indulges in this in [[Recap/HTFSeeWhatDevelops one episode]]. His disguise consists solely of [[HalfDressedCartoonAnimal a tie]] and a pair of glasses. He doesn't even remove his mask.
399* ''WebAnimation/PrincessNatasha'': Taken to extremes with the titular character. While she at least has dark shades covering her face in her spy identity, the only significant difference between her princess and exchange student personas is that she wears her hair in a ponytail instead of a bun. Even wearing her signature princess gown to play a princess in a school play doesn't harm the masquerade; the closest anyone comes is noting they have the same name.
400[[/folder]]
401
402[[folder:Webcomics]]
403* ''Webcomic/BronzeSkinInc'': The giantess Helena is the only giantess with blue hair. The giantess superheroine Titan Tits also has blue hair. Yet somehow Dante is the only one to put the two and two together.
404* In ''Webcomic/SwordCatPrincess'', Kathryn "disguises" herself as Artemis by wearing symmetrical stylized streaks of red paint over each eye. Despite the fact that her recently "deceased" alter ego Kathryn Kennedy looks exactly like Artemis without war paint, no one seems to notice that they are, in fact, the same person -- until Erica finally notices and steals a red marker to draw the "disguise" [[http://www.swordcatprincess.thecomicseries.com/comics/76/ over a newspaper photo of Kennedy]]. (The "paint" is actually the [[http://www.swordcatprincess.thecomicseries.com/comics/24/ blood of her deceased first lover]], Etienne.)
405* Played mostly straight in ''Webcomic/{{Sidekicks}}''. Most superheroes and sidekicks make no attempt to conceal their face, merely changing into their costume, yet their secret identities are never compromised. Lampshaded in season 2 by an employee from Lamia's workplace when she walks into the office late after having defeating a villain as [[spoiler:Nightmare]].
406* Parodied in the "Punyverse" arc of ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. As a RunningGag, characters keep noting, "Who would have thought that Princess Princess-Princess is the secret identity of Secret Angel Princess Princess-Princess? Boy, that sounds stupid when I say it out loud." Outfit-wise, she and the rest of the GOFORTON team just wear a uniform and a helmet with a transparent visor in their hero identities.
407* Lampshaded in ''WebComic/{{Smithson}}''. Micki has met both the local superhero and his alter ego, Chuck, but hasn't figured it out yet, despite having seen Chuck [[TheGlassesComeOff without his glasses]]. Chuck is astonished at that.
408* Happens in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', to the point where Tedd can fool Will and Gill without even meaning it -- they call him an impostor when they see him without his glasses.
409** Also massively parodied with an incredibly lame (but apparently successful) government campaign to hide the presence of aliens on earth by such methods as having them wear T-shirts that say "Homo Sapiens".
410** [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-12-27 More recently]], Rhoda used this to hide from people harassing her following her appearance on the TV News the day Pandora appeared. It worked, both on fellow students and on at least a few readers.
411* Parodied in the "superhero fantasy" arc of ''Webcomic/BoyMeetsBoy'': one character [[http://boymeetsboy.keenspot.com/d/20030606.html points out]] that Foxman's roommate Collin looks identical to his nemesis His Mind Kills, but wholeheartedly accepts Foxman's explanation that they can't be the same because His Mind Kills wears goggles.
412* Parodied and lampshaded in Polish webcomic "KOPS". During his cameo, Superman is disguised by wearing glasses... AND his superhero costume. Resident snarker notes that "Superman is weird", whereas resident idiot completely fails to see through the disguise.
413* Played straight in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' when Agatha, Wooster, Zeetha, and Krosp ride right in through the [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070316 gate of Mechanicsburg]] just after a giant hologram of Agatha has been seen and discussed from as far away as China with Agatha wearing no disguise of any kind, instead relying on the cover story they came up with. [[spoiler:Only von Mekkan figures it out and because the Castle rather blatantly points her out, even the fake Hetereodyne doesn't notice.]] In Mechanicsburg's defense, there's a big difference between "discussed" and "discussed ''accurately''". And Agatha wasn't wearing [[DistractedByTheSexy that dress]]...
414* In ''Lost in Space'', a (fat, smoking) cherub tries to infiltrate a group of SuperSoldiers [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 loyal to the Chaos God of Disease and Decay]], which he succeeds in by ''coughing''.
415* ''Webcomic/BadGuyHigh'' has [=SuperDan=], whose costume is him putting on a cape.
416* Parodied and subverted in ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}'' when one of the main characters notices the obvious similarity between new superhero Hyperman and up-and-coming reporter Lance Clarkson. When she confronts Clarkson about it, it turns out that they ''aren't'' the same person, and that Clarkson has been playing it up to make people ''think'' that they are.
417* Parodied and subverted in ''Webcomic/PvP''. Two characters are speculating on the identity of LOLBAT, when one suggests it's Rex Roffle and another says that's obviously silly. Besides the obvious MeaningfulName, he looks and acts just like LOLBAT, complete with the mask. Then, the next day, we find out that LOLBAT is actually Butler, so unless he's keeping up ''three'' identities, Rex Roffle is just a random IdenticalStranger.
418* ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'' has Uma and her father (aliens stranded on Earth) disguise themselves by wearing glasses and doing their best to blend in with humans... despite the fact that they resemble [[BeastMan cows]]. Justified in that the glasses are heavily implied (and later [[https://eheroes.thecomicseries.com/comics/470 clearly]] [[https://eheroes.thecomicseries.com/comics/472 demonstrated]]) to be some kind of AppliedPhlebotinum.
419* Parodied in ''Captain Excelsior'', where everybody except superheroes and supervillains can see through the disguises. And we're not even talking about PaperThinDisguise here: even a hint of a mustache on a superhero who usually doesn't have one makes him invisible to other supers.
420* Parodied in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', where the Doctor attempts to disguise himself as a different doctor by... pinning his name tag on his coat. While still wearing his ''ninja mask''. Nobody is fooled.
421* ''Webcomic/CaptainBroadband'' keeps a Secret Identity Costume on him at all times (plus a Sidekick Gimp costume for his sidekick). He's yet to use it though.
422* ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' examples:
423** Robin cannot for the life of her figure out that Amber is Amazi-Girl, in spite of the fact that ''it's not even a secret''. She is, instead, convinced that Ultra-Car -- who is exactly what they sound like -- is Amazi-Girl. The insane lack of sense this makes is lampshaded regularly.
424** She also thinks that Spider-Car (a family minivan wearing a ComicBook/SpiderMan costume) might be Amber, but definitely not Ultra-Car (who at that time was a [[SnarkyNonhumanSidekick artificially intelligent minivan]])
425** Meanwhile, in the AlternateUniverse of ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'', Amber ''does'' keep her identity a secret, with Danny in the Lois Lane position. She begins to ruffle her hair and lower her voice as Amazi-Girl to maintain the secret. This isn't an issue for the other characters, though -- those actively pursuing Amazi-Girl's secret identity have no idea who Amber is, and Amber's closest friends don't seem to be aware of the masked vigilante on campus. It works out pretty well, as it turns out, as [[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/familiar/ photos of Amazi-Girl show up in the student newspaper]] and the idea that she is Amber is discarded because people can't imagine Amber being able to do what Amazi-Girl does. Also, personality-wise, Amber seems to [[SplitPersonality actually dissociate]] about it.
426* ''Webcomic/KiwiBlitz''. Averted. The media quickly begins to theorize that Steffi is Blitz, pointing out they physically resemble each other and that Kiwibot is similar to other mechs built by her father.
427* In ''Webcomic/EvilPlan'', Kinesis states, [[http://evilplan.thewebcomic.com/comics/1484047/prologue-page-20-villains-dont-need-masks/ "A change of clothing and hair, and anyone can be a new person."]]
428* Invoked in one ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' strip: [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2150 "What would you say your greatest weakness is?"]]
429* In ''Webcomic/{{Rhapsodies}}'' Kate tries to keep her "literary career" mostly secret by wearing fashionable glasses in public hoping she'll be mistaken for "some generic blonde" the rest of the time. [[http://rhapsodies.wpmorse.com/11022010/ "Dedicated to fighting for truth and justice.'']]
430* Subverted in ''Webcomic/PrincessChroma''. The main character's [[MinidressOfPower magical girl costume]] is a poor disguise and absolutely nobody is fooled by it no matter how much she insists she and "Princess Chroma" aren't the same person.
431* ''Webcomic/RipHaywire'' manages to be unidentifiable to his long-time girlfriend Cobra simply by wearing an eyepatch... acceptable as it's an AffectionateParody of action-adventure comics.
432* Parodied and exaggerated in ''Webcomic/KongTower'', in which coworkers are introduced to a new employee named Greg T. Notaroach, who is very clearly a giant cockroach wearing business casual, Groucho glasses, and a toupee. They notice the toupee. Also played straight with a few other characters.
433* Mike in ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'' tries to make up for years as a huge JerkAss by becoming a costumed hero (a GoodSamaritan dressed up to bring attention to problems, not an actual vigilante). Mike is very distinctive with a giant schnoz and bug-out eyes. It's ZigZagged as there's a long arc about a local blogger trying and failing to unmask him despite Mike's obvious Muppet-like appearance, and even Davan completely fails to see through the costume, but then other people Mike's known for a while can still tell without too much trouble.
434* ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'' has a variation on this with former pop star Erika hiding out in a SoulSuckingRetailJob, though not actually bothering to change her name or appearance. Despite being a fan, Piro [[https://megatokyo.com/strip/535 completely fails to make the connection]] until he is hit over the head with it, demonstrating how lack of context plays a big role in this trope being successful.
435* ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'': Lampshaded on the page [[http://www.lastres0rt.com/comic/but-she-has-totally-different-glasses/ "But she has totally different glasses"]] in which the media gets hold of evidence that Daisy was the "renegade" [[MagicalGirlWarrior Galaxy Girl Scout]] Arael.
436-->Newsreader: [[SarcasmMode "Personally? I never would've guessed."]]
437* ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'': Thanks to an abused childhood, Amber has another personality, Amazi-Girl, who patrols the local university campus at night, righting wrongs. Her abusive father, Blaine, resents paying for Amber's college education and seeks to kidnap her. During a fight with Amazi-Girl — who he fails to recognise as wearing Amber's body — he masks up and reveals his body armor, going full super-villain. Later, he succeeds in kidnapping Amber and several members of the cast but is now seeking revenge on Amazi-Girl. [[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/stoked/ When he confronts the kidnapees in his mask and armor]], demanding to know her whereabouts, not only does Amber fail to recognise her father, but when Amber claims to be Amazi-Girl, Blaine laughs the idea off.
438* Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'', with Peanut's [[ShowWithinAShow strip within a strip]] in which Spot (Superdog) has a secret identity as Professor Spot. In one identity he wears a cape, and in the other he wears glasses. That's it. His reporter girlfriend Stripe doesn't figure it out until a pair of glasses literally fall from the sky on to Spot (Superdog)'s face. So he uses his super-hypnosis, [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands which is definitely a real superpower he had all along]], to make her forget again.
439* It doesn't come up a lot in ''WebComic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'', but Wonderella has a SecretIdentity in spite of neither her civilian nor superhero costumes having any kind of concealment for the face. She even wears her crown thing in civilian clothing. The same applies to at least some of the other superheroes and/or villains. To be fair, her other identity might just not be on the radar of anyone outside the superhero community (where they do know each others' identities) -- at some point, she complains that she's only famous as Wonderella and not as Dana Price. However, it's definitely an example when, in [[http://nonadventures.com/2019/08/05/date-and-switch/ "Date and Switch"]], Wonderita -- who has the same sort of costume -- advices her to show up in her costume first to check out a blind date so that she won't be recognised, saying she does that all the time.
440[[/folder]]
441
442[[folder:Web Original]]
443* Justified in ''Literature/SailorNothing'' -- one of the MagicalGirl powers they possess is an inability to be recognized unless someone thinks about it really hard.
444* Played straight and subverted with ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', in which, while Penny apparently does not recognize VillainProtagonist Dr. Horrible as her laundromat buddy Billy, his ArchNemesis Captain Hammer does, likely from having seen his video blog, and uses this opportunity to ruin Billy's life even further by trying to steal Penny, the girl that he loves. Penny finally "mistakes" Dr Horrible for Billy at the end when she [[spoiler: is delirious and near-death]], leading her to reassure him with the painfully ironic line, [[spoiler: "Captain Hammer will save us"]].
445* Shadow Hawk of ''Website/EpicTales'' may have a full body costume, but he uses his birth name as his superhero identity. His logic is that it's such an obvious connection, that people will think it's too obvious. So far everyone who has met both of his identities has been able to figure it out, as well as a few who have only met one of his identities but know of the other.
446* Subverted in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' stories. In the beginning of the third Phase book, on the first day of school at the [[SuperHeroSchool Whateley Academy]], the headmistress Mrs. Carson gives a speech to the new students. Before the end of the talk, Phase has figured out that the headmistress is also the superheroine Lady Astarte. By the end of the book, Phase has figured out that Mrs. Carson is ''also'' a former superheroine of the '80s, Ms. Might. By the end of the fourth book, Phase has figured out that the early-thirties-looking Mrs. Carson is actually in her mid-seventies and has had at least two other superhero identities over the decades.
447* Website/ChannelAwesome:
448** [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] can't figure out [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Doctor Insano's]] true identity...even when he has a photograph of Spoony ''in hand'' when confronting Insano. His first guess is That Chick with the Goggles, who's both the wrong gender AND ethnicity.
449** ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' treats this differently, having Insano as Spoony's SuperpoweredEvilSide of which everybody is aware (even Linkara, though he isn't happy since Spoony's his friend and Insano's his arch-rival). A deleted scene offered an inversion, where Insano "disguises" himself as Spoony simply by acting more normal. Of course, Noah Antwiller (Spoony's actor) has said that he loves making up wildly contradictory origin stories for Insano just to play with the fans.
450** Nobody can seem to recognize WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick when she has her hair down and wears messy clothes, either.
451** Creator/MaraWilson goes unrecognised in the Chick's review of ''{{Film/Matilda}}'', with her hair in a bun and wearing glasses. Even when taking off the disguise, she isn't recognised as the former Matilda until she arranges her bangs in the same way.
452%%* Parodied in this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1yCh0hKiaI five-second film]]
453* In ''[[http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2976222/1/Leviathan Leviathan!]]'', Troy never seems to realize that the "[[IneffectualSympatheticVillain supervillain]]" he constantly fights/helps and the man he's in love with are one and the same in spite of 1) their names being Leviathan and Levi respectively, 2) him coming ''[[MasterOfDelusion this]]'' close to putting two and two together early on, and 3) him repeatedly commenting on how much Leviathan reminds him of Levi to the point of [[DoppelgangerDating flirting with Leviathan in his superhero guise as Triton when Levi rebukes his advances as Troy]]. Even when he learns that Levi can't be human due to the [[ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex Man of Steel, Man of Kleenex]] problem, he ''still'' doesn't connect the dots. Then again, ''Leviathan!'' is an AffectionateParody of superhero tropes and Troy is exactly the kind of hero who'd be too lovestruck to notice the obvious.
454* ''Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars'': During a trip to Silver City, Marcia became Magi Magi Magician Gal, a magical girl with "magic". Some of the astute members of the group figured out the relation between the two, but some of the others were stumped.
455* In ''Series/{{Noob}}'', Tenshirock eventually turns out to have been a player before becoming TheCracker he is in the main timeframe. His reason for the change relies on someone who has seen his gamer avatar not knowing that the hacker is him. Differences between his player and hacker avatar: clothing style, moving from a mask covering his lower face to CoolShades, and getting rid of the cursor that floats on top of legitimate player avatars. Identical features: physical appearance, OnlineAlias, and possibly voice, which would all be quite easy to change in the MMORPG setting. [[spoiler:His own son]] is shown to have completely fallen for it in the finale.
456* In ''Literature/ArrowAndAce'', The Peacock, one of the most popular vigilantes in San Francisco, has bright blue hair. Interestingly, Andrew, the head of The Peacock Fanclub has the same blue hair, not to mention the same height and build. A number of characters theorize that there is some connection between Andrew and The Peacock, but due to the different mannerisms and tics Andrew uses while The Peacock, no one has guessed that they're the same person.
457* Parodied in the [[Creator/DropOut CollegeHumor]] video where Batman meets Superman. Commissioner Gordon and Batman mock Superman for thinking putting on glasses fools anyone, and Gordon says it's as stupid as saying that by just taking off his glasses he'd be unrecognizable. And when he takes them off...
458-->'''Batman:''' Who are you?! '''Where's Commissioner Gordon?!''' ''(Gordon looks confused, puts glasses back on)'' Oh, there you are. There was some other guy who was just here...
459* ''Blog/HowToHero'' discusses this concept in their guide to maintaining a secret identity.
460* On ''Roleplay/NoPixel'', all Davey Doherty had to do to hide is remove his trademark CoolHelmet and speak in a different voice, and no one knew it's him.
461[[/folder]]
462
463[[folder:Real Life]]
464* Creator/TomCruise prepared for his role in ''Film/{{Collateral}}'' by taking a job as a [=FedEx=] courier, which he worked for weeks while secretly filming himself. The video shows Cruise interacting with customers, walking around in broad daylight and even having protracted conversations with people on his lunch break, and going totally unrecognised because he was wearing sunglasses and a hat.
465* Comedian Groucho Marx painted on his famous mustache with grease paint for most of his career. He was surprised to find a large crowd of fans who had gathered to see him at a train station completely ignored him when he got off the train. Realizing what had happened, he ducked into his car and smeared on a grease paint mustache, and was instantly recognized.
466* Reportedly, Creator/MarilynMonroe would employ this with a curly black wig, a pair of sunglasses, and some loose-fitting clothes. She was also apparently very good at changing her body language in public, to the point where she was able to walk completely ignored in a crowd -- until she fluffed up her hair and struck a pose, and was instantly swarmed.
467--> "Do you want to see ''her?''"
468* Music/{{Shakira}} went unnoticed in public for a couple of months by wearing modest clothing, going by her middle name, and wearing a baseball cap.
469* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Morecambe Eric Morecambe]], at one time half of the most famous comedy double act in Britain, used to get by in public by taking his trademark glasses off and affecting a limp. His son has stated that this worked so well he wouldn't even get recognized by people sitting next to him on trains or planes.
470* Music/{{Jewel}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmv1VhrtYRo went onstage at a Karaoke bar as 'Karen']], wearing a wig, glasses, and false nose, and was unrecognized. (A few people even called her '[[HollywoodHomely homely]]'.) She sang a few of her own songs, to acclaim from the crowd. She then stripped off the disguise and went back in as herself and sang a few. No one made the connection. Admittedly, it was dimly lit.
471* The ''Series/MythBusters'' crew:
472** They were asked to test this out at their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXODD49KNCw&feature=player_detailpage#t=254s San Diego Comic Con 2012 panel]], which they actually did. While Tory failed with glasses, Kari found that wearing a cap was sufficient enough to fool everyone (she even fooled Grant and other friends when she walked the floor wearing one).
473** Creator/AdamSavage stated on the show that he is more recognized on the street when he is together with [[Creator/JamieHyneman Jamie]], because while people can recognize his features, it's Jamie's trademark dressing style that takes the spotlight.
474--->"I ''might'' be that guy from that show, but he is ''definitely'' that guy from that show."
475* Tyra Banks once did this live and in-person on an episode of ''The Today Show''. Without makeup or hair styling, while walking with a slump and wearing a pair of glasses, she went into the crowd outside the Today set's window as a "production assistant" to ask people about their opinions about supermodels and Tyra Banks in particular. After a couple of minutes of absolutely ''no one'' realizing it was her, Banks pulled her hair back, straightened her posture, took the glasses off, and suddenly ''became" Tyra Banks, Supermodel. The crowd loved it.
476* While filming ''House of Wax'' in Australia, Creator/ParisHilton had to wear a brunette wig if she went out in public to do her exercises. She wasn't recognized, if the "making of" TV spin-off is to be believed.
477* Creator/HayleyAtwell [[https://twitter.com/HayleyAtwell/status/598279129285406721 has]] [[https://twitter.com/hayleyatwell/status/592480595810222081 twice]] been in places where movies with her in them are playing. She wasn't recognized either time, and all it took was a pair of glasses.
478* Creator/HenryCavill [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvj0X-d2mO0 wandered around Times Square and wasn't recognized]], even though there were large ads for ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' in the area and he was ''wearing a Superman shirt.''
479* [[Series/GameOfThrones Daenerys Targaryen]]'s actor, brunette Creator/EmiliaClarke, has told an anecdote about an adoring fan once recognizing Creator/KitHarington and pressing his companion into taking pictures of them, never realizing that it was Clarke.
480* Creator/AntonyStarr said in ''Inside Series/{{The Boys|2019}}'' that people hardly recognized him as Homelander once he returned to his natural brown hair and wore glasses - and appropriate to a character who's a CorruptedCharacterCopy of Superman, the others noted it was basically Clark Kent in real life. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ArMBTHZDnk&feature=youtu.be The comments of an excerpt of the show]] downright have people shocked at how just putting glasses makes Starr a totally different person!
481* Music/DollyParton's famous blonde hair is a wig. In her day-to-day life, especially when she goes out with her fame-averse husband, she wears her natural brown hair, minimal makeup, and modest clothing, at which point she simply looks like an average woman her age. She also has several tattoos on her arms, hence why she always wears long sleeves as part of her public persona. She is never photographed out of "costume" precisely to maintain a level of anonymity.
482* In recent years, it's become a MemeticMutation that famous skateboarder [[VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater Tony Hawk]] is [[https://www.upworthy.com/tony-hawk-not-being-recognized seemingly capable of doing this]] ''everywhere'', with people thinking he only ''looks'' like Tony Hawk or otherwise dismissing him.
483* Wrestling/SashaBanks opts for brightly coloured wigs and makeup when wrestling, and never posts pictures of her natural hair or without makeup, to allow herself to go unrecognised in public.
484* Creator/ReneeZellweger worked undercover at a British publishing house for months to prepare for her role in ''Literature/BridgetJones''. She wasn't recognised, even when she kept a framed picture of then-fiancé Creator/JimCarrey on her desk. Her co-workers merely thought it was odd but didn't say anything out of fear of upsetting her.
485[[/folder]]
486

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