[[KingdomHearts http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/KingdomHeartsNobody.jpg]]
[[caption-width:129:Would you like some candy?]]

->''"I know you want your identity safe, but think 'low profile', not 'ringwraith'."''
->-- '''Tip''', ''SluggyFreelance''

A [[InTheHood hood]] that conceals the face is often a required matching accessory.

One of the oldest required dress codes by the Forces of Darkness. A BlackCloak villain sometimes even [[CardCarryingVillain refers to himself as "Evil" or "Dark."]] The higher-up {{Black Cloak}}s are usually supernatural beings patterned after TheGrimReaper. The Nazgûl/Ringwraiths from ''TheLordOfTheRings'' and the Dementors from the ''HarryPotter'' books/films are the quintessential examples. [[EvilMinions Lesser]] {{Black Cloak}}s are usually {{cult}}ists of some kind belonging to a SecretCircleOfSecrets or ReligionOfEvil.

Often {{Black Cloak}}s will wander around in public. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Nobody ever seems to question]] the people who are obviously concealing their identities. As with Stormtrooper armor, it's very easy for good guys to [[DressingAsTheEnemy steal the uniform and walk around undetected]] in enemy territory, at least for a little while. Wearing a black cloak also signifies if a hero is dallying with TheDarkSide, or is an AntiHero.

This is sometimes paired with a [[MalevolentMaskedMen Malevolent Mask]] for extra creepiness.

See ColourCodedForYourConvenience.
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime ]]

* Used in ''Claymore'' whenever the characters need to go undercover.
* The protagonist's disguise in ''CodeGeass'' involves a helmet that completely hides the face and a black cloak. [[strike:Though it remains a mystery if he really is a good person, or is just wanting power for himself.]] [[spoiler:As of the series finale, he is officially a good guy - one might even call him "Christlike..." For obvious reasons.]]
** In the manga series that's most faithful to the anime, Lelouch actually does wear a black cloak before having Zero's costume made.
* Nekozawa from ''OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' wears one of these partially to be mysterious, and because he is extremely photosensitive.
* ''{{Naruto}}'' has The Akatsuki, who have painted very stylish red clouds on their Black Cloaks, which, in a minor subversion, don't come with hoods (though some of them wear conical hats).
** You can tell when an Akatsuki is about to die, because they will generally throw off their cloak or it'll be burnt or destroyed.
* Lord Ashram from ''RecordOfLodossWar''.
* Exedore/Exsedol's redesigned form in the {{Macross}} universe: his entire body below the neck is shown as a black cloak with retractable tendril-like arms, but he's a fairly nice guy who serves as {{The Spock}} instead of being a villain.
* In fitting with mage theme, ''MahouSenseiNegima'' gave us the definitely final boss by the [[RedBaron title]] of "Mage of the Beginning" who wore one of these [[UltimateEvil to emphasize his mysteriousness]]. He looks like [[http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/813/lifemakerve5.jpg this]].
*Wiseman aka Death Phantom, BigBad of the second season of SailorMoon is a skeleton in a black cloak.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Commercials ]]

* The Scottish Widow life insurance ads, although she's a goodie. We think. Being a widow at that age leads to questions...
** [[AllThereInTheManual The company was originally set up to provide for war widows]], who'd typically be quite young, SoYeah

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* In his progression from innocent farmboy to Jedi Knight, Luke Skywalker started in a white outfit (''StarWars''), underwent most of his training in a grey flight suit (''The Empire Strikes Back'') and wore a black jumpsuit under the traditional brown robe when he proclaimed himself a full Jedi Knight (''Return of the Jedi''). Also, at the end of [=RotJ=], note that he comes to the celebration at the end with the front of his tunic partly unzipped... resulting in a patch of gray, surrounded by the dark.
** Although the [[ExpandedUniverse comics and novels]] that take place afterward state that he stained himself with the Dark Side quite a bit by then, they were primarily written after the fact and may be considered a RetCon.
** A straight ''StarWars'' example, though, is The Emperor/Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious, who shows up this way in the original trilogy, the prequels, and the AnimatedAdaptation, ''StarWarsCloneWars''. Anakin, his protege, originally omits the cloak from his personalized leather Jedi attire, but as he gets darker, he starts donning it as well. He upgrades to the signature black cape and life-support system of Darth Vader after losing to Obi-Wan.
** Lucas has [[AllThereInTheManual explained this phenomenon in interviews]]. In Star Wars, warm colors and Earth tones symbolize "humanity" (in the inclusive sense) while pure black and pure white both symbolize impersonality. Hence the Empire is entirely black-and-white to signify that it is coldly institutional. Luke wears black to signify that he has become more reserved and withdrawn from daily tumult with his Force training.
***This explanation falls apart when you think about it: in the prequels, the Jedi wear earth tones and are also some of the most impersonal characters in the entire series.
**** The explanation was made years before the prequels came out. In fact, it has been revealed that originally the Jedi were all supposed to wear black in the prequels, but this plan was ditched because they didn't want the viewers to be confused who's who, and wanted to make Obi-Wan and the rest of the Jedis immediately recognisable as such. Since the original trilogy had established brown cloaks for the Jedi by accident, they had to stick by that to retain the iconic style they had unconsciously created.
***** Occam's Razor explanation: brown cloaks are easier to clean than white cloaks.
* The [[spoiler: Neighbourhood Watch Alliance members]] in ''HotFuzz''.
* Those damn Ephors from ''[[ThreeHundred 300.]]''
* Mostly inverted in ''TheMatrix'' where the good guys were identified by their distinctive black leather trenchcoats. On the bad guys' side, The Twins in particular not only wore white trenchcoats but where themselves albino.
** And it fits within the setting considering the main characters are computer hackers and other varieties of internet geeks, who of course are going to give their avatars cool outfits with long flowing black cloaks.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

*Not technically a villain, but still inspired by the Reaper, this is the garb of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come from ''AChristmasCarol'' by CharlesDickens, published in 1843.
*The Ringwraiths in ''TheLordOfTheRings''.
** Lampshaded in Bored of the Rings.
*Voldemort's Death Eaters in the ''HarryPotter'' series, as well as the Dementors.
* In ''TheBaroqueCycle'' famous people traveling incognito wear black sashes, anyone who recognizes them is supposed to ignore them while they are wearing the sashes.
* Subverted in ''Don Quixote'', when the titular ingenius hidalgo mistakes a group of Benedictine friars for evil wizards, making this OlderThanSteam.
*Somewhat subverted in the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' novels, by Takhisis, the "Queen of Darkness". Although she has a great many forms (including a [[NightmareFuel giant, five headed dragon]]) not one of them contains a BlackCloak... Although, the followers of [[BlackMagic Nuitari]], including [[spoiler: [[MagnificentBastard Raistlin]]]], wear black ''robes'' with hoods...
* Dracula himself.
** Lampshaded in "Love at First Bite."
*** Dracula doesn't wear a black cloak in the book. The cloak originated in the 1924 Hamilton-Deane play and was made famous by (of course) Bela Lugosi.
* The {{supervillain}}ess Hekate's 'Master', so horrific that even she is scared of him, in the WhateleyUniverse stories.
** Jinn when going around on Campus as Shroud has one (and being a autonomous telekinetic construct possesing Objects she also technicaly IS the Cloak)
* Poked fun at in the {{Discworld}} book ''Going Postal'', where an experienced con man is annoyed that his underling thinks hurrying through city streets in a voluminous black cloak avoids attention.
--> TheIgor: Allow me to take your highly notithable hooded black cloak thur.
**The Auditors physically manifest as gray hooded robes ... with nothing inside them.
** Also parodied (of course) in ''Guards! Guards!'' by the Mysterious Ancient Brotherhood of ... something, complete with passwords, magic rituals, and much debate between members of the circle.
* Averted in ''TheWheelOfTime'' in a town next to {{Mordor}}, where clothing that conceals your face in any way is against the law, because the servants of The Dark One could use them to pass as human.
* TheRiftwarCycle comes at this trope from both sides. To the Kingdom of Isles, the black-robed Tsurani magicians were the most horrible monsters, maintaining the portals that made the war possible and occasionally bringing their unheard-of power directly to the battlefield with terrifying results. On the other side, the magicians were hardly evil and considered themselves loyal citizens, selflessly serving their empire (which itself isn't TneEmpire after all). And the black robes weren't meant to be ominous - it's just their uniform.
* Cowl in ''TheDresdenFiles''. Quoth Harry:
-->''Touche, oh dark master of evil bathrobes''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

*An episode of ''HighlanderTheSeries'' had Duncan being attacked in his dreams by a BlackCloak. He went to a mystic who specialized in this, who gave a lot of psychobabble about the darkness within, and told Duncan not to fight it and try to understand it. It turned out that the mystic ''was'' the BlackCloak, and it was a scheme to get Duncan to drop his guard.
*Typical villains in various ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''AngelTheSeries'' episodes.
*The Ghouls from ''PowerRangersLightspeedRescue''.
* In ''BigWolfOnCampus'', the protagonist falls for the trope when he sees a BlackCloak attacking an old man. As it turned in, it was just [[TheGrimReaper death]] doing his job, which he had to pay up for.
* The new-series ''DoctorWho'' episode "End of the World" has a group of {{Black Cloak}}s who, at one point, seem to be behind the evil plot; however, they're really a decoy for the true villain.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music Videos ]]

* The cult members in [[LinkinPark Linkin Park]]'s music video [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1zVmfan32U "One Step Closer"]] dress like this. Partially subverted, since curious onlookers ''do'' notice a Black Cloaked individual's strange garb and decide to follow him to his hiding place. HilarityEnsues.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

*Organization XIII from the ''KingdomHearts'' games, though they tend to pull down their hoods and show their faces unless they're being intentionally mysterious. For unexplained reasons, however, ''Mickey Mouse'' is also wearing one of these through half the game. Might be explained away as a disguise, except for, y'know, [[/folder]]

[[folder: THE EARS ]]
...
**[=DiZ=] says somewhere during ''Chain of Memories'' that the cloaks have some darkness-resistant properties, but which exactly and how much exactly we hear not. However, this might explain Mickey wearing one while travelling the darkness as well as [[spoiler:helping Riku suppressing Xehanorts Heartless]]
***[[spoiler:A scene in 358/2 Days reveals that it's not the cloak that suppresses Xehanort's Heartless, but a black ''blindfold''.]]
*The Shadowlords from ''{{Ultima}} V''.
*The Black Cloak Society from ''[[KingsQuest King's Quest]]''.
* The Testaments from ''{{Xenosaga}}''. [[spoiler:Albedo Piazzola]] is a ''White'' Cloak who is arguably creepier than any Black Cloak this troper has ever seen.
* The Sephiroth clones from ''FinalFantasyVII'', though they're more innocent victims forced to take after their namesake, only doing evil when directly manipulated by him.
* ''Arcanum''[==]'s final boss [[spoiler:Kerghan ]] is a BlackCloak (well, the cloak is red and gold, but its the same idea) as are most of the Molochean Hand assassins trying to murder you.
* ''FireEmblem'' games almost always have a BigBad wearing a ''purple'' cloak, functionally the same as black. They always use dark magic and quite often play the {{Dragon}} to, well, a dragon.
** The purple is likly for art reasons, as a black cloak would mess with the outline
** Also, all dark magic users, even good ones, wear cloaks of this kind, though of varying and often nondark colors (normal enemy shamans wear red, for instance).
* Los Illuminados of ''ResidentEvil 4''
* Tyrael from ''{{Diablo}}'' is a ''brown'' cloak, and oddly enough, he's one of the good guys.
**Although [[spoiler:The brown-cloaked figure seen in the cinematics is actually Baal ''pretending'' to be Tyrael. And he's definitely ''not'' one of the good guys.]]
** And there's the Dark Wanderer, dressed similarly in ''almost'' black, although he doesn't much bother to hide his face with the hood. Maybe because [[DemonicPossession it's not his, anyway]].
* The ''Seekers'' from ''{{Gothic 2}}''.
* [[spoiler:Princess Zelda]] in ''TheLegendOfZelda: Twilight Princess''. In this case, it's a cloak of mourning for [[spoiler:her fallen kingdom]].
* The Ethereals of ''{{X-COM}}: UFO Defense'' take them in orange. The image under their autopsy research entry is the only time we see their faces. Subversion: Without the cloaks, they don't look very badass.
* In the DS adaptation of ''FinalFantasyIV'', when monsters are represented over the gameworld (normally during a cutscene) it is through a black cloacked figure.
**Happened in the orginal and the Sequal too. Though in those the cloaks are more Blueish.
* The Cult of the Damned from World of Warcraft.
* [[KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Darth Revan]] sports one of these, as well as a face-concealing mask, hakama-pants, and complex armor. Darth Nihilus's costume is all in black and also includes a hooded cloak; Traya as well. Most other Sith in those games aren't quite so concealed - Dark Jedi mooks have hoods and cloth covering their noses and mouths, but no capes.
** Of course, the ''real'' reason for Darth Revan's mask was [[spoiler: that he/she's your player character]] and you're not supposed to find out about that just because of a few visions.
* Purge in SpaceChannel5 Part 2 wears a Black Cloak, although he ditches it later.
* Members of the Black Hand in the [[MurderInc Dark Brotherhood]] in the video game Oblivion wear black cloaks and hoods, as do necromancers. Oddly, even brand new black hand robes appear to have significant green staining.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Parodied multiple times in ''{{Adventurers}}!''. In one case, a character has both this ''and'' is sitting in complete obscuring darkness; when asked why, she states that she really needs to get around to replacing some lightbulbs.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* Lord Carruthers' Shadow in the ''{{lonelygirl15}}'' [[SeasonFinale season 1 finale]], "lonelygirl15 Season Finale".
** Lord Carruthers himself (and [[spoiler:Sarah]]) in series 3.
* The aptly-named Cloakar from the web fiction serial ''DimensionHeroes''.
* The BigBad of ''BrokenSaints'', [[spoiler: Lear Dunham]], sports one of these.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

*The evil Wizard named [=NoHeart=] from the ''CareBears'' children's cartoon was a BlackCloak.
*Skeletor is depicted this way, especially in the newer version of ''{{He-Man}}''.
** In the newer version he spends half of the first episode just in a black cloak with his face hidden in the shadows, presumably for dramatic effect, even thought ''everyone'' watching knows exactly who he is and approximately what he's going to look like.
*Raven from ''TeenTitans'' is technically heroic, but as a [[HalfHumanHybrids half-demon]] destined to destroy the world, she qualifies as "[[DarkIsNotEvil dark.]]"
**Perhaps ironically, when she is corrupted by [[spoiler: a dragon trapped in an ancient tome]], she switches to a ''white'' cloak.
*** She also wears white when [[spoiler: she's gone reclusive and insane in a BadFuture.]] LightIsNotGood much?
*The Hooded Claw from ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''.
* Scavenger's first appearance in ''TransformersArmada'' has him wearing a cloak that hides most of his body. Why does a robot have a cloak?
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