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[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/no_mask_the_hunchback.png]]]]

->'''Camilla:''' You, sir, should unmask.\\
'''Stranger:''' Indeed?\\
'''Cassilda:''' Indeed, it's time. We all have laid aside disguise but you.\\
'''Stranger:''' I wear no mask.\\
'''Camilla:''' ''[terrified, aside to Cassilda]'' No mask? No mask!
-->-- ''Literature/TheKingInYellow''

A horror trope which has become something of a DeadHorseTrope, as it's now almost always played for comedy. It involves a character seeing an ugly face and begin pulling at it, on the assumption that it's a mask. Of course, it's actually someone's face and the puller will typically be HorrorStruck. Sometimes a purely comedic variation will occur with wigs if the joke is that [[LadyLooksLikeADude a woman looks like a man]]. Also closely related to [[MistakenForPregnant "I'm not pregnant, I'm just obese"]] jokes. Compare with YourCostumeNeedsWork, ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself, MistakenForFakeHair and NotAZombie. Can be a result of the monster being MistakenForAnImposter.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Happens to the main character of ''Manga/AngelDensetsu'' where a new guidance counselor first scolds him for wearing a frightening mask and begins pulling on his face, and then [[CrossesTheLineTwice accuses him of mutilating himself to scare people]].
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasTheLegendOfTheSunKing'' when Ishmael asks Doraemon what's the deal with his ''tanuki'' mask, oblivious that Doraemon is a robot cat.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** Most people assume that Alphonse Elric just really likes wearing armor, since he never even takes his helmet off. In fact, after Al lost his flesh-and-blood body, [[EmergencyTransformation in order to keep him from dying completely, his soul was bound to the closest substitute in the immediate vicinity]], meaning [[AnimatedArmor that empty suit of armor]] ''is'' his body.
** In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', there's an omake episode that has the premise that the characters are [[AnimatedActors actually actors]]. One of the jokes involves the reveal that the freakish-looking transformed Gluttony ''is not''.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Despite dressing like a clown, Buggy's [[GagNose round, red nose]] is actually real. It's possible he picked a clown theme just so his nose would seem less conspicuous.
** During the Water 7 arc, a ban on masks is put into effect (since there was a carnival going on in a nearby town) after a failed assassination attempt on the mayor. [[{{Gonk}} An ugly-looking woman]] out to board the [[CoolTrain sea train]] can be seen desperately tugging at her face in order to prove that it isn't a mask.
* A straight and kind of subtle example occurs with the villain of the first ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' movie. Kain is a semi-amorphous black figure wearing what seems to be a white opera mask, though an [[ExpressiveMask unusually expressive one]]. Viewers might well assume it's an affectation that he uses to define where his head is. In the finale, when he [[TurnsRed gets serious]] and takes a form like a giant rat, the mask changes as well, illuminating that this is his actual face.
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', one of Amon's first assignments involved a serial predator known as Applehead. She turned out to be a seemingly-kind old woman, and the horrific red "mask" turned out to be her ''real'' face. The normal face was actually LatexPerfection, allowing her to remain hidden among humans.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* In episode 439 of ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'', Weslie disguises himself as Wolnie, and Wolffy spends the episode chasing him down. Eventually, he comes across the actual Wolnie and, assuming she's Weslie, pulls on her face to remove what he thinks is Weslie's mask. it isn't, and Wolnie hits Wolffy with her frying pan.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* A very creepy example turns up in the Creator/ECComics ''Tales from the Crypt'' story "Only Skin Deep". For years, maybe two, maybe three, this dude has seen this gal with a fabulous figure and a wonderful personality at a Halloween party (and only at that party). Only thing is, she's always wearing this horrible wrinkly witch mask. Finally, he proposes to her, they go get married right after the party -- still in their costumes. They consummate their marriage in a hotel, but the kicker is, she turned out the light before they undressed. He dreams that she's still wearing the mask; pulling it off, she wears the same mask underneath. He wakes up, turns on the light, and yep, there she is, wearing the mask. So he pulls it off and... off comes her skin. It was her real face.
* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':
** The Joker sometimes likes to pretend he's wearing makeup, but that ain't makeup. Well, [[Film/TheDarkKnight except...]] DependingOnTheWriter, he does sometimes wear lipstick. The bleached skin and the green hair are almost always the real deal, however. Sometimes the lipstick is just [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} the Joker making a joke]], putting the lipstick on over already-red lips. [[ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily Other times]], he's cut his face off and [[NoFaceUnderTheMask only raw flesh is beneath.]]
** On their second meeting, Batman tries to unmask Man-Bat, who laments that he ''wishes'' his mutated bat form was a disguise.
* Done in a ''ComicBook/{{Firebreather}}'' comic, where half-dragon Duncan, while on a field trip goes to a mall, and escorted out by security after they insist on him "taking off his mask."
* ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} vs. ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' has Kate Bishop meet Wade for the first time while he's not wearing his mask. Because it's Halloween, she compliments him on his awesome Freddy Krueger makeup only to be informed by Clint that [[FacialHorror that's his real face]]. Awkwardly trying to play it off, she turns to face Clint with a [[https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/2r01en/excerpt_kate_bishops_face_expressions_are_pure/ comically mortified expression.]]
* In ''ComicBook/OriginalSin'', the Orb's associates ask him to take off his mask, and he explains he doesn't wear one, his head [[FacelessEye is actually a giant eyeball]]. They are understandably squicked.
* What looks like ComicBook/TheTick's costume is by all indications his actual body. The antenna even work. In ''Series/TheTick2016'', someone asks which it is, and Tick (who in this version [[AmnesiacHero doesn't remember his own past]]) is mystified.
-->''Am I never naked, or am I never not naked?''
* ComicBook/GhostRider used to pull this occasionally. It freaked the hell out of ComicBook/SpiderMan upon their first meeting.
* In a 1970s comic, ComicBook/{{Morbius}} runs into a woman who tells him his make-up is "too much". He responds that his pallor is not artificial, "You see me as I am".
* In ''ComicBook/SpiderMan2099: Exodus'', during the fight with the Masters of Evil, Spider-Man tries to pull of Zemo 2099's mask (which appears to be basically the same as the current Zemo's, if perhaps a bit more formfitting). Cue Zemo screaming that it's not a mask, and Miguel being horrified to realise he's pulling someone's face off.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Inverted in [[http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=15990 this]] ''Series/DoctorWho'' Fan Fic, as the non-mask-wearing character in question is an attractive HumanAlien.
* In ''[[FanFic/HTFTheStranger The Stranger]]'', the titular character is stuck in the WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends world, but is under the impression that everyone is in costume. It's only when he tries opening someone's "costume" in a fit of rage [[AccidentalMurder that he's proven otherwise]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* In the [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney adaptation]] of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'', Quasimodo's deformed face is mistaken for a mask when he attends the Festival of Fools, leading to an awkward moment when Esmerelda tries to remove his "mask" on stage in front of the entire festival. Thanks to some hasty damage control from Clopin, the crowd gets over their initial horror and embraces Quasi as the King of the festival... until a couple of soldiers [[ProducePelting start throwing vegetables]], after which [[MoodWhiplash the mood quickly turns ugly]].
* At one point in ''WesternAnimation/{{Scooby Doo On Zombie Island}}'', Fred tries to remove a mask from a zombie who he keeps guessing is one of several presumed shady characters. Instead, he [[OffWithHisHead tears the zombie's head clean off.]]
-->'''Fred:''' ''[trying to pull the "mask" off]'' It's the gardener!
-->'''Daphne:''' No.
-->'''Fred:''' ''[keeps pulling]'' It's the fisherman!
-->'''Shaggy:''' No.
-->'''Fred:''' ''[keeps pulling]'' It's the ferryman!
-->'''Scooby:''' [[SpeechImpairedAnimal Ro]].
-->'''Fred:''' Ah... maybe it's... ''[[[WhamShot pulls the head clean off]]]'' [[OhCrap ...real?]]
** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheCyberChase'' during the final level which brought back Mystery Inc.'s RoguesGallery, Scooby and Cyber-Scooby try to unmask Gator Ghoul, discovering the hard way that the monsters in the game are not disguised criminals like their counterparts in the real world were.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''
** The Joker in ''Film/Batman1989'' wore flesh-colored makeup to cover up his face, which toxic waste had earlier bleached white.
** ComicBook/TheJoker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' wears make-up, but the scars are real.
* In ''Film/{{Galaxina}}'', the titular protagonist is trying to relieve the BigBad, Ordric, of the film's MacGuffin, the Blue Star. She proposes a little intimacy so they can discuss the disposition of the Blue Star, if he'll agree to remove his mask so she can see his face. At the revelation that she's looking at his face, she apologizes and he blows it off. Must happen a lot...
* ''Film/{{Help}}'': After the cult members get rounded up in a snare knocking out who they think is Ringo (but is first Paul, then John in a latex mask) the MadScientist finds the ''real'' Ringo, first pulling at his face a few times before yanking him away by the nose.
-->'''Ringo:''' I can't understand -- they kept pullin' at me nose! And mine of all noses!
* ''Film/JMenForever''. The Lightning Bug is ostensibly a MasterOfDisguise to explain why he looks like different Republic FilmSerial supervillains. At one point he enters as Film/TheCrimsonGhost, who hid his SecretIdentity behind a skull mask.
-->'''Goon:''' Swell mask, boss.
-->'''Lightning Bug:''' What mask?
* ''Film/JohnnyEnglish'': PlayedForLaughs at the climax, when Johnny attempts to expose the fake Archbishop of Canterbury at the evil mastermind's coronation, having earlier discovered the mastermind's plot to install an imposter in a detailed mask at the coronation. Only, the mastermind has since ditched the "fake Archbishop" part of his plan, so English ends up trying to pull off the ''real'' Archbishop's face on international TV.
* Rocky from ''Film/{{Mask|1985}}'' is asked to take his mask off. It's his face.
* ''Film/MiracleOn34thStreet'': In both versions, St. Nick invites children to pull off his "fake" beard, only to be shocked it's real.
* Parodied in ''Psycho Ape'': Nancy's boyfriend tries to pull a prank on her and her friends by jumping out at them in an ape costume, so when the titular escaped killer ape breaks into the house moments later, she assumes it's him again and tries to pull his mask off. The mask ''does'' come off, but that's because the ape was also wearing an ape mask for some reason. Adding to the absurdity, the boyfriend's ape costume and [[PeopleInRubberSuits the costume used for the "real" ape]] in the film are one and the same.
* ''Film/ScoobyDoo2002'': When Velma sees one of Spooky Island's demons for the first time, she thinks it's just another crook in a costume and tries to unmask it, only to learn the hard way that the demons are in fact real.
** PlayedForLaughs at the end of ''Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed''. After Velma unmasks the BigBad ([[LatexPerfection twice]]), Fred attempts to do the same to their accomplice:
-->'''Fred''': And the real identity of [[spoiler:Ned]] is-- [''tugs at his hairline'']
-->'''[[spoiler:Ned]]''': Ow!
-->'''Fred''': ...[[spoiler:Ned]]!
** ''Film/ScoobyDooCurseOfTheLakeMonster'': When the gang subdue the Lake Monster, Fred asks for help in trying to unmask it, but Daphne tells him that the Lake Monster might be in fact real after all.
* Gul'dan in ''Film/WarCraft2016'' wears robes with SpikesOfVillainy sprouting everywhere. However, when he removes his robes for the mak'gora, we see they're actually coming from inside his body due to his use of fel magic.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jokes]]
* A military-themed joke about gas mask training:
-->'''Drill Sergeant:''' Masks on! Masks off! Masks on! Masks off! Kowalski, I said ''masks off!''\\
'''Kowalski:''' But it ''is'' off...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Played straight in Robert W. Chambers's ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'', a short story collection that inspired Creator/HPLovecraft and was a precursor of the CosmicHorrorStory. The quote used at the top purportedly comes from the titular play, of which we never get more than a few small excerpts, as it drives its readers [[BrownNote insane]] (no actual ''performances'' are ever suggested). The King in Yellow character is implied to be some sort of HumanoidAbomination.
** The exchange may also be a reference to a similar moment in Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath'', where a mysterious party guest also declines to remove his mask, though the reveal ends up going [[NoFaceUnderTheMask a different route.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Beastly}}'', Kyle goes to a [[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself Halloween party]] where he starts talking to a girl who asks to see him again, but to do so, she needs to know what he looks like. You know the rest.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Parodied by [[TheGrimReaper Death]] in ''Literature/TheLightFantastic'', explaining why he appeared at a summoning ritual with a cocktail and a sausage-on-a-stick. [[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: "The party's nice, but I expect it'll all go downhill after midnight. It's when they think I'll be taking my mask off." ]]

** Terry Pratchett played a similar situation (almost) straight in his short story ''Turntables of the Night'', with the catch that it's from the perspective of a guest at the party ([[UnreliableNarrator who may or may not be drunk]].)
** ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'' features Death appearing to a recently-deceased man while dressed in a bright red suit and an extremely cheap skull mask.[[labelnote:*]]A [[ShoutOut nod]] to ''Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath'', though that one is NoFaceUnderTheMask.[[/labelnote]] The man demands that Death removes his mask, to which he complies. The man then asks him, [[OhCrap with rising panic]], to remove his ''other'' mask...
** In ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'', [[spoiler:Mrs. Proust sells stereotypical warty and hideous witch masks and gloves, and appears to be wearing a full set. Then Tiffany realizes that the masks she sells are copies of her own face.]]
* An interesting variation occurs in the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book ''Literature/TheHauntedMask'' and its [[Literature/TheHauntedMaskII sequel]]. Here, the titular mask and its siblings were ''real faces''. The work of a MadScientist, the artificial (we hope!) faces started out beautiful, but became monstrous because the experiment was flawed.
* May have been the case during the Bal Masque in Gaston Leroux's original ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''. {{Justified|Trope}} example here: Erik's deformed features actually resembled a skull, so everyone thought he was wearing a skull-like mask with his Red Death costume. Also an homage to the above Poe story.
** It's referenced directly when Christine unmasks him - Erik digs her fingers into his skin to prove his appearance is genuine, all the while mockingly asking if she thinks this isn't his real face.
* In ''{{Literature/Quozl}}'', the [[BeastMan rabbit-like aliens]] are wandering around Disneyland pretending to be people in suits. ([[spoiler:The protagonist's sister had written them into her kids' TV show]]) HilarityEnsues when [[spoiler:the security guards confront them for being dressed up like characters ''[[GlamourFailure from a rival company]]''.]]
* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': In what is undoubtably a ShoutOut to Robert W. Chambers's ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'', the crew members of the Quicksilver encounter a rather disturbing mask-wearing, yellow shrouded merchant when passing through the lost city of Carcosa halfway through the course of ''Reynard the Fox''. Shortly after this encounter, the clearly troubled captain of the ship claims that he encountered the same merchant at least fifty years previously.
-->'''Bruin:''' How do you know it was the same merchant? Did he wear that weird mask?\\
'''Captain Roenel:''' That was no mask. No mask.
* Creator/ShelSilverstein's poem "Best Mask?"
-->''They just had a contest for scariest mask,\\
And I was the wild and daring one\\
Who won the contest for scariest mask--\\
And (sob) I'm not even wearing one.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Happens multiple times in ''Series/TheMunsters'', usually to Herman whose appearance most resembles a person in a Frankenstein's monster costume.
* Used in the first episode of ''Series/{{Torchwood}}''. The fact that the guy looks like an alien wearing a normal janitor's jumpsuit plays with you.
* ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'''s Papa Lazarou is not normally wearing makeup, despite looking like some manner of MonsterClown; he needs the makeup to cover the ''rest'' of his face rather than the genuinely skin-colored parts when he wants to look human.
* In the ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' episode "Only Skin Deep" (itself adapted from the aforementioned comic book story of the same title), the guy finds out the woman [[spoiler:a deranged SerialKiller who murders men and cuts off their faces for her "art"]] he hooked up with during a Halloween party isn't wearing a mask when he scratches her and draws blood.
* Used in an episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' when Fred's [[{{Muggles}} "very normal"]] parents first meet green-skinned demon Lorne, they refer to him as a man in a bathrobe wearing make-up. Lorne defensively replies that "it's just a little eyeliner."
* A meta example: when Rene Auberjonois first started playing Odo on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', he would eat lunch in the Paramount cafeteria and prank people by ''pretending'' that he wasn't wearing a mask. The makeup job gave him an unsettling resemblance to a burn victim.
* The ''Series/UltramanTiga'' episode "Deban's Turn!" features Deban, a child-like, harmless alien who lives with a travelling circus troupe. According to the troupe leader, Deban's backstory involves the alien bumbling into the group, which they befriend thinking he's just another costumed performer, but they later discover the truth when asking for Deban to remove his mask during lunchtime.
* Played with in the ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode ''The Masks,'' where [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin everyone wears hideous mask]] to earn an inheritance, only to find the masks deformed their faces.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho''. El Chavo and La Chilindrina decide to try and scare Quico by playing ghosts, the former with a bedsheet and the latter with a horror mask. When they get caught, Don Ramón angrily tells la Chilindrina to take the mask off, and she complies. Then as he exits the house, he demands (again) that she takes off the mask, only for her to inform him that she already did, and when he verifies that she's telling the truth, she starts wailing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Manhua]]
* Parodied in ''Manhua/OldMasterQ'' in one story where he encounters a BedsheetGhost. Seeing the ghost's face to be cloth, Master Q decides to yank it... behold, a ''two-headed'' ghost!
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Multiple Media]]
* Used in ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' on multiple occasions.
** On ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'' in "The Exterminator" episode Don Adams keeps removing masks off Lorne Chumley until by accident he pulls at his face. "Well I guess that really is Lorne Chumley".
** Another ''Scooby-Doo'' example is the Halloween 1976 episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooShow'', where Shaggy falsely thought Elwood Crane was wearing a mask.
** Perhaps their most famous instance was in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'', since that movie was advertised as "The Monsters are Real". And so, when Fred PULLS a head off, it's shocking for all present.
** Then in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheCyberChase'' when they meet up with old monsters, Scooby and Cyber Scooby attempt to unmask the Gator Ghoul to end up learning this virtual one is real.
** In ''Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed'', [[spoiler:the guy working for the Evil Masked Figure is Ned, whom Fred tries to unmask, only to find out that he is exactly as he is]].
-->[[spoiler:'''Ned:''']] Ow!
** In the ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' episode "The Man in the Mirror", Fred Jones' biological parents Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves respectively disguise themselves as Fred and an elderly Daphne Blake to try and trick the gang into leading them to the Planispheric Disc. When Scooby and the gang turn out to be wise about their ploy, Fred tries to unmask his father, only for Brad to reveal that he isn't wearing a mask and actually had plastic surgery done to make him look like his son. Judy has her face tugged on by Velma as well, who admits that she knew she also had plastic surgery and just wanted to cause her pain for the heck of it.
** In the half-hour Halloween special ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheSpookyScarecrow'', Fred compliments the hunchbacked and misshapen store owner Mr. Bumpy on his mask, only for Mr. Bumpy to reply with "What mask?"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/{{KISS}} used to [[BlatantLies insist]] this was the case with regards to their makeup. Taken to the extreme on the cover of their ''[[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/55/Kiss_Unmasked_Album_Cover.jpg Unmasked]]'' album.
* Music/ManWithAMission also insist that they are not wearing masks. They claim that they are artificial life forms engineered by Music/JimiHendrix.
* In the music video for Music/CaravanPalace's "Plume", a humanoid alien robot crash-lands in Tokyo and [[FishOutOfWater spends a while struggling to get along with the new denizens]], but finally becoming friends with a group of {{cosplay}}ers roaming the downtown. At one point, one of the girls seemingly makes a love confession to him that he reciprocates... [[HopeSpot until she tries to take his robot head off, realizes it's real, and runs off in fear.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'': In Act I Scene I, Cyrano is described by one of his friends, Raguenau:
-->''Above his Toby ruff\\
he carries a nose!—ah, good my lords, what a nose is his! When one sees it\\
one is fain to cry aloud, 'Nay! 'tis too much! He plays a joke on us!' Then\\
one laughs, says ''He will anon take it off.'' But no!—Monsieur de Bergerac\\
always keeps it on.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': At the start of Chapter 4, when [[spoiler: Nekomaru Nidai]] comes back as a cyborg after being mortally wounded in the last chapter, Kazuichi thinks they're just wearing an elaborate costume... up until he tries to take off their mask.
* This happens in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' in the first meeting with Teddie. While Teddie's head isn't a mask [[spoiler:at first]], it ''is'' detachable, to Yosuke's shock when Teddie takes it off to reveal his hollow body.
* Fain of ''VideoGame/{{Lusternia}}''. He [[BeautyToBeast used to be a handsome leader]] amongst the Elder Gods, but he partook of too much of the [[PsychoSerum Soulless elixir]] and his trademark mask became fused to his face. His full title, incidentally, is "Fain of the [[Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath Red Masque]]".
** Rendered even creepier by the fact he can ''still make expressions with it'', the metal of the mask violently contorting to reflect his wrath.
* Played for laughs in the second ''VideoGame/{{Professor Layton|AndTheDiabolicalBox}}'' game. When the professor and Luke first run into [[spoiler:Inspector Chelmey]], who Don Paolo had [[LatexPerfection impersonated]] in the previous game, Luke immediately assumes it's him again. He has to be pried off the victim, who has ''no'' idea why Luke is trying to pull his face off.
%%* In the second ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' episode, Guybrush can converse with [=LeChuck=], who had been turned human at the start of the game, and accuse him of faking being human by trying to pull off his mask.
* Discussed in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight''. An Arkham Militia member can say that's he still creeped out from having to talk to Scarecrow and another will mock him for being afraid of his mask "It's Halloween, remember?". Leading to this:
-->'''Arkham Militia #1:''' ''(grimly)'' It's not a mask.
-->'''Arkham Militia #2:''' ''(horrified)'' What that [[FacialHorror thing]]-that's his ''face''!?!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': [[MaskedLuchador Strong Bad's]] mask apparently ''is'' his face, according to the first episode of WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail. When he decided to indulge his audience and remove his "mask" in the [=SBEmail=] "the chair", he wound up gurgling and screaming in pain, [[TheUnreveal all safely concealed behind his new, enormous executive chair]], after which he declared "[[ImNotDoingThatAgain I am NEVER gonna do that again!]]"
* In one video by ''Website/CollegeHumor'', which is a parody of ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'', Shaggy immediately suspects that a security guard is the culprit. He grabs for the guard's face and pulls it off, revealing...the inside of the guard's face.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Not a horror example, but in ''Webcomic/FurWillFly'', when Brad first arrives in the AlternateUniverse, [[http://www.jadephoenix.org/fwf/comics/index.php?date=fur_fly5.jpg he tries taking off Stewart's and Natalie's animal masks]]. Needless to say, it doesn't work.
* In ''Webcomic/LeagueOfSuperRedundantHeroes'', after vanquishing Snob Goblin, Defendress assumes he's wearing a mask (since otherwise, all of his "superpowers" are revealed to be coming from technological gizmos) and tries a DramaticUnmask, [[http://superredundant.com/?comic=361-disarmament except his green-goblin face happens to be his real one.]]
* Late in ''Webcomic/SquidNinja'', the title character explains he's not actually wearing a balaclava: Members of his clan have unnaturally pitch-black skin, obscuring their features. Likewise, his "skintight ninja bodysuit" is his bare skin, which explains how it doesn’t get in the way of his shapeshifting.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In the story "Tall Tales" in the ''WebOriginal/{{Paradise}}'' setting, characters who began to see through the WeirdnessCensor assume that the {{Funny Animal}}s they see are humans wearing costumes. Of course, they are all attending a UsefulNotes/FurryFandom convention at the time.
* In [[http://strangeandsecretfaces.blogspot.com/2011/05/fever-ship.html this creepypasta]] for ''Franchise/TheFearMythos'', this trope is applied to [[EnemyToAllLivingThings the Plague Doctor]]:
-->"He had a funny beak face," the child said. "I asked him. I asked him why he was wearing such a funny mask. He told me that he wasn't wearing no mask."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* In the ''WebVideo/TheSixCatsParade'', Manchinha, a black and white cat, apparently is wearing a mask, but it's just his fur color. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRQe7TznFw4 this video shows it better]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', Batman attempts to wipe the Joker's makeup off to identify him, but it doesn't work.
-->'''The Joker:''' Smear free. It's permaclown!
* Seen in a first-season episode of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' cartoon, in which Beej helps Lydia throw a Halloween party - by bringing a number of monsters from the Neitherworld to be guests. Her rival Claire picks one out and fawns over him all evening, mistakenly believing he's a really cute boy in a costume. Toward the end of the evening, Beej suggests that she introduce him to her parents in order to make it official, and she urges him to "take off that silly head." [[ExactWords He does]].
* Played with by ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' in a ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' parody.
-->'''Captain Hero:''' This is no fat monster... ''[[OffWithHisHead (rips Toots' head off)]]'' It's a [[HighPressureBlood blood fountain]]!
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'':
** In Episode 65, Mr. Cat wears a disguise as Pretty. Kaeloo thinks that the real Pretty is Mr. Cat disguised as Pretty and tries to pull her face off until she sees the real Mr. Cat somewhere else.
** Happens to Pretty again in Episode 83, this time with Stumpy thinking she's Ursula in disguise.
* ''WesternAnimation/LoopyDeLoop'' was twice mistaken for a person in a wolf costume, once at a costume party, and once thought to be a criminal.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': The cartoon ''WesternAnimation/BroomStickBunny'' inverts this. Witch Hazel, wanting to stay the ugliest witch of all, gets jealous when she mistakes WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, who's trick-or-treating in an ugly witch costume, for a witch who's more hideous than she is. She doesn't realize he's not a witch until she serves him a [[MagicPotion beauty potion]] disguised as tea.
-->''[Bugs raises the cup to his masked lips.]''\\
'''Witch Hazel:''' Come on, come on! Drink it, drink it!\\
'''Bugs:''' Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. I'll have to take off me mask first.\\
'''Witch Hazel:''' Mask?
* Once on ''WesternAnimation/MagillaGorilla'', Magilla went to a costume party and saved the day. But when asked to remove his costume every one freaked out to learn he was really a gorilla.
* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouseTheNewAdventures'': In "Don't Touch That Dial," Mighty Mouse winds up in a Franchise/ScoobyDoo spoof where the characters think he's a legendary rat monster. They try to pull off a mask from him, then it cuts to the kid watching it on TV as we hear an ungodly rip.
-->'''Scuzzy:''' Hey, there's nothing in here. Just a neck and some tendons.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'', Brutus asks the Sea Hag to disguise him via a [[FountainOfYouth youth potion]] which makes him look handsome so he can charm Olive Oyl. Popeye somehow recognized Brutus via the latter's voice, then tries to "takes [''sic''] off that mask" (to quote Popeye directly) by ''clawing'' at Brutus' face, which obviously doesn't work, much to Olive's disconcertion.
* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'': In "Hard Times at the Huskin' Bee", when Wirt and Greg arrive in Pottsfield, they see what appear to be [[PumpkinPerson pumpkin people]] and Wirt seems vaguely worried this trope is in effect. Once he talks to one, however, [[DefiedTrope she (truthfully) explains they're just costumes]]. [[spoiler:Beneath the costumes, however, they're ''[[DemBones walking skeletons]]''.]]
* Played straight and inverted on different sides in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode [[Recap/TheOwlHouseS2E17EdgeOfTheWorld "Edge of the World"]]: King at first appears to find his homeland, where everyone is a furry HornedHumanoid with a SkullForAHead like him. Turns out they're [[MageSpecies witches (humanoids)]] who ''hunt'' King's species while dressed up like them, and they thought King just had a particularly good costume.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Punch}}'': In David Suzuki's segment on mimes, he states that, despite popular belief, mime's aren't really people in make-up. He proves this by picking up a nearby fire hose and spraying a mime with it. The mime's "make-up" doesn't have a single bit of white or black running down.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Used at the end of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E25WhoShotMrBurnsPartOne Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part 1)]]":
--->'''Chief Wiggum:''' This isn't Mr. Burns' face at all! It's a mask! ''[pulls on his face]'' Oh wait, it is Burns. Heh -- his wrinkly skin lo-looked like a mask.
** [[NonIronicClown Krusty's]] face is [[NegativeContinuity usually]] shown as stark-white without anything put on it. In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E11HomersTripleBypass Homer's Triple Bypass]]", Krusty tells Homer what heart disease has been like and points at his own face: "I got news for ya. This ain't makeup."
** Also inverted by Krusty in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E15BartTheFink Bart the Fink]]", where he goes under the alias "Rory B. Bellows" for a while. The Rory persona looks like a "normal" ''Simpsons'' character -- that is, with yellow skin, short brown hair and a normal nose. It turns out that it isn't Krusty without his clown makeup, but rather Krusty with a disguise that covered his usual clown face... even his red nose is hidden under a fake yellow one!
** In one episode, the Simpsons go to a [[FictionalCounterpart not-Ikea]] and meet its mascot, a figure made out of allen wrenches known as "Alan Wrench".
--->'''Bart:''' ''(knocks on the side with an audible metallic clang)'' Cool costume.\\
'''Alan Wrench:''' ''(robotic voice)'' It's not a costume, they found me inside a meteor.\\
'''Marge:''' Excuse me, where can I find hamper lids?\\
'''Alan Wrench:''' ''(normal voice)'' Hamper lids? Third floor. ''(turns back to Bart, robotic voice)'' Help, I need tungsten to live. Tungsteeeen!
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' episode "All The Smurf's A Stage", Timid Smurf has been impersonating various Smurfs in order to show his acting ability, and he is (almost) convincing in each of his roles. When the Smurfs who don't know Timid was doing all these acting roles go to Papa Smurf to tell them that there is a Smurf among them that is impersonating other Smurfs, another Papa Smurf shows up, and Brainy pulls on his beard, thinking him to be the impersonator, only to find that that was the ''real'' Papa Smurf and the Papa Smurf they were talking to was Timid impersonating Papa Smurf.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** [=SpongeBob=] once pulled Squidward's face off, thinking it to be a disguise. It wasn't.
** Same thing happened with Mrs. Puffs and the prison guards after [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick tried to sneak into prison disguised as guards.
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