Line #40 TheFaceless/Literature


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14	* ''Literature/Alice2014'': Terceira’s face is covered by a veil. Could also apply to Abel, who is never seen. Some of the monsters have no faces either.
15	* ''Literature/TheBalancedSword'':
16	** The mysterious wizard Khoros's face is always [[EyeObscuringHat hidden by the shadow of his hat]], no matter what the lighting conditions or the angle you look at him from.
17	** Terian, Tobimar's patron god, is always depicted with his face concealed by a blaze of light.
18	** Myrionar, Kyri's patron god, takes it a whole lot further: As the god of justice, for all people regardless of race, gender, or category, It is referred to with a gender-neutral pronoun and never shows Its face nor allows Its face to be depicted, so that Its own categories (if it has them) are not apparent. It is always represented by Its emblem, a set of scales balanced on a sword tip.
19	* Many, though not all, of the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Ten Who Were Taken]] from ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'' novels are fond of hiding their faces- one of them takes this to the point that he's actually known as the Faceless Man (all the Taken, like most wizards in this setting, go by descriptive titles, since their true names could hold power over them). Most prominent, however, is Soulcatcher, who keeps her face concealed behind her helmet for the entire first novel- in fact, between the face-hiding and the fact that she usually wears masculine clothing, it's not until the end of the book that the protagonists are even sure she's female.
20	* ''Literature/TheBlueNosedWitch'': The three {{Bedsheet Ghost}}s Blanche spends the night trick-or-treating with never show their face, and [[AmbiguousGender their gender is never indicated]]--they're only referred to by height.
21	* BigBad [[ImmortalityImmorality Gerridon]] from the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'' has never had his face clearly glimpsed or described in any of the novels - he's always shrouded in shadow/ wearing a mask/ standing behind the POV character or an object/ etc. Heroine Jame actually lampshades this fact in ''Sea of Time'', thinking to herself that it's ironic that despite the fact that Gerridon's influence has shaped her life, she's never actually gotten a good look at his face.
22	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' - Skazz, a student from the Unseen University has long hair that covers all of his face but his nose's tip.
23	* Squickily literal example from the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' Taladas Trilogy- BigBad Maladar ''peeled his face off'' as part of an unknown dark ritual, leaving a skull-like ruin behind. Even he's rather ashamed of this, so he usually wears a deep hood with magical shadow inside it to conceal his deformity, revealing it only when he wants to strike terror. This habit actually earned him the nickname "the Faceless Emperor" in-universe.
24	* The Reaper from ''[[Literature/{{Shannara}} Elfstones of Shannara]]''. (And for that matter, for much of his appearances, the Dagda Mor, too.)
25	* ''Literature/ExperimentalFilm'': After her son Hyatt's disappearance, Mrs. Whitcomb spent the rest of her life in mourning outfits that covered her entire body. One theory for how she disappeared from a train is that she removed her veil before exiting with the other passengers; she hadn't shown her face in public in years, so no one would have recognized her.
26	* In Creator/FritzLeiber's ''Literature/FafhrdAndTheGrayMouser'' stories, both [[TheMentor mentor-warlocks]] are The Faceless. With names like "Sheelba of the Eyeless Face" and "Ningauble of the Seven Eyes", it's fairly simple to guess ''why'' they keep their faces hidden.
27	* The narrator of ''Literature/ImThinkingOfEndingThings'' recalls an incident from her childhood where she woke up in the middle of the night to find a tall man standing outside her bedroom window, except the only visible part was his torso. Though she can't see his face and he shouldn't be able to see her, he still waves and is gone in the morning. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane She's unsure if this was a nightmare or not]].
28	* Joelle Van Dyne a.k.a. "Madame Psychosis", from David Foster Wallace's [[{{Doorstopper}} magnum opus]], ''Literature/InfiniteJest'', is never physically described, and wears a veil over her face at all times. She claims this is because [[TheBeautifulElite any man who gazes on her unearthly features instantly falls in love with her]], but ([[UnreliableNarrator slightly suspect]]) anecdotal evidence suggests that while this may ''once'' have been true, the face beneath the veil was horribly disfigured. In either case, her unmasked features play a key role in [[spoiler: the [[BrownNote titular film]]]].
29	%%* Agawin from ''Literature/TheLastDragonChronicles''. Until ''The Fire Ascending''.
30	* In the original version and first adaptation of ''Literature/TheLorax'', the Once-ler's face is never seen in either the "present" or "past" timeline. The second adaptation takes a different approach--see the Western Animation folder.
31	* In the original picture book of ''WesternAnimation/MarsNeedsMoms'', Mom's face isn't shown until the end when [[spoiler: she gives her space helmet to her son so he won't suffocate, almost dying in the process]].
32	* Creator/NathanielHawthorne's short story ''The Minister's Black Veil'' tells of a Puritan minister who one day inexplicably dons a black veil to cover his entire face. The simple addition of the veil changes him from a beloved and respected figure to an item of fear and horror, and he wears it for the rest of his life.
33	* In ''Literature/MoonOverSoho'' the BigBad uses magic to make his face look blank, and if you pierce the magic spell he has a full face mask, to conceal his identity.
34	* The face of [[spoiler: Haliax, the BigBad]] from ''Literature/TheNameOfTheWind'' (as well as most of the rest of him) is shrouded by both a black cloak and shadows. Considering the face of one of his subordinates that we do see, this is probably a good thing.
35	* The illustrated Creator/RogerZelazny novel ''Literature/ANightInTheLonesomeOctober'' does this with UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper. Other characters are shown full-faced in the drawings accompanying each chapter, but Jack appears once in a rear view and once with his arm raised, concealing his lower face.
36	* [[EnigmaticMinion Chlorr]] from the ''Literature/OldKingdom'' trilogy is known as Chlorr ''of the Mask'' for a reason; she always hides her face behind a bronze mask and continues to do so even after becoming a [[OurLichesAreDifferent Greater Dead]], meaning that her original mortal features would have largely ceased to exist. Later on, [[SealedEvilInATeddyBear Mogget]] taunts her by calling her "Chlorr No-Face", implying that there may be a very good reason for the mask. [[spoiler: The prequel ''Clariel'', Chlorr's StartOfDarkness, reveals that the original purpose of the mask was to provide protection from Free Magic creatures that can burn human skin with a touch; by the novel's end, Clariel's/Chlorr's face ''has'' been burned and she's using the mask to cover it up]].
37	* Miss, from ''Literature/{{Pale}}'', always has nearby objects positioned in such a way as to hide her face and hands due to her nature as a Lost-her concept as a person is literally "faceless woman." Anyone who tries to get a glimpse of her face finds the universe conspire to frustrate them as leaves blow between them, glare from sunlight is suddenly in their eyes, or she simply [[OffscreenTeleportation vanishes]]. Her point of view chapter reveals that she literally lacks eyes and a mouth, despite being able to approximate vision and speech.
38	* Erik, the eponymous Phantom of ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', originally wore a full-face mask and was very much a Faceless - until subsequent remakes cut said mask and the underlying deformity down by a lot. A made-for-tv miniseries of this from the 90s goes a step further with this and never shows the Phantom's face to the audience, even when unmasked--thus rather neatly avoiding a possible SpecialEffectsFailure.
39	* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' - Lemony Snicket, the elusive author, is often photographed but never from the unobscured front. We don't even get to see him in the following series, ''Literature/AllTheWrongQuestions'', despite him ''being the main character''.
40	** Sir, from ''The Miserable Mill'', always has his face obscured by a massive cloud of cigar smoke.
41	* 'She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed' from Creator/HRiderHaggard's ''Literature/{{She}}'' is usually draped from head to foot in gauzy, mummy-like wrappings because, according to her, her beauty drives men mad. Given that she is all-powerful men who do glimpse her are wise to meet her expectation.
42	* ''Literature/TheSilverChair'': When Eustace, Jill and Puddleglum meet the Green Lady and the Black Knight, the knight has wears a visor obscuring his face. In a later scene in the BBC adaptation, the same black knight wears a mask obscuring his face and hair. [[spoiler: This is probably because otherwise, the audience would know he is Prince Rilian, who had appeared in previous scenes.]]
43	* Ser Robert Strong in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', he is a massive towering knight, completely clad in armor, and no one knows who he really is or what he looks like. [[spoiler:There are theories that he is [[TheDreaded Gregor Clegane ]] resurrected by [[MadScientist Qyburn]].]]
44	* In the Literature/StarTrekShatnerverse novel ''The Return'', Kirk is BrainwashedAndCrazy from Romulans, and keeps his face concealed.
45	* [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Humanoid angels]] that appear in some of Creator/TakashiYanase's picture books (such as ''Anime/TheRoseFlowerAndJoe'', ''Shiroi uma'', and ''Su Ginoki To No Giku'' always have their faces obscured by their top hats. The only visible part of their face shown is their chin.
46	* Orual of Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'' begins wearing a veil shortly before she becomes queen. As a result, her face becomes the subject of much rumor among the populace, and Orual herself was regarded as "something mysterious and awful". The truth of the matter is, she was ''ugly''.
47	* ''Literature/TheUltraViolets''' mothers' faces are never seen from the neck up.
48	* [[EvilSorcerer Avshar]], BigBad of the ''Literature/{{Videssos}} Cycle'', always wears some configuration of helmet, hood, and/or veil in his on-page appearances, revealing his true face only when he wishes to strike terror. [[spoiler: The reader finally finds out what he looks like in the last book when he unmasks himself in front of the protagonists - the centuries-old Avshar suffers from AgeWithoutYouth (at least in appearance - he has the strength and vitality of a man in his prime) and now resembles a mummified corpse more than a living man. This neatly explains why Avshar prefers to conceal his appearance, and why the revelation of it invariably results in a horrified reaction]].
49	* In Creator/JamesSwallow's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' ''[[Literature/BloodAngels Red Fury]]'', the Angels Sanguine wear their face-concealing helmets even among their fellow Space Marines, also sons of Sanguinius; they only take them off when among themselves, and even there, they wear face shadowing hoods.
50	* ''Literature/WarriorCats'':
51	** "The Voice in the Tunnel", a mysterious cat that Ivypool and Blossomfall encounter in ''Sign of the Moon'' is one. Because it's really, really dark in the tunnel, and because Ivypool apparently can't tell voices apart, Ivypool can't make out any of their features, nor can she figure out their gender. It wasn't until the following book, ''The Forgotten Warrior'', that Ivypool returns to the tunnel and meets up with this character again that she finds out who they are. It's [[spoiler:Hollyleaf, a vanished and presumed dead protagonist from the previous story arc, ''Power of Three''. [[IKnewIt Just as suspected by fans.]]]]
52	** Also in ''The Forgotten Warrior'', the prologue begins with a mysterious cat that is not described and is referred to with only gender neutral pronouns. Speculation went wild when the prologue was released online. The final verdict on the mystery: [[spoiler:Although the prologue is made to make you think it's Hollyleaf, it's definitely not her. We never do find out who it is, but given the events of the novel it is almost certainly Sol.]]
53	* In ''Literature/TheWitchOfKnightcharm'', the top-ranked student in the Scholomance and the leader of its elite squad always masks her face with shadow.
54	* In ''Literature/TheYearOfRogueDragons'', the wizard Scattercloak always wears a hooded cloak, veil and gloves, and never takes them off even at meals (he'll sit at the table, but he goes somewhere private to actually eat). He even masks his voice, speaking in an androgynous, accentless, possibly synthetic monotone. It's never revealed why he does it--it could all be pure affectation for all anyone knows.

Context TheFaceless / Literature