Coat Hat Mask - Television Tropes & Idioms

The Question shows us how it's done.

Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah.

The boy's a time bomb!

— Time Bomb, Rancid

Mask Power meets Dressed To Kill. A conventional costume consisting of a suit, a conservative overcoat, a Nice Hat and gloves, and some form of face covering.

A character dressed this way conceals his identity in two ways. Up close, he is noticeable but not identifiable. From afar, he is not even noticeable, because he's basically dressed like everybody else. As might be expected, this mode of dress is most often seen among Badass Normal urban crimefighters; its resemblance to stereotypical Private Detective garb is no coincidence.

On the other hand, some characters combine a tuxedo (or even white tie and tails) and a mask with no intention of blending in; they just prefer formalwear for its intimidating panache. Often, this type will wear a cape instead of the coat.

Sometimes a form of Civvie Spandex. Contrast Spandex Latex Or Leather. May also be a Badass Longcoat. Contrast Malevolent Masked Men.

Examples

Comic Books

The trope originator was The Shadow, first published in 1931.
The Spirit, in most of his over 60-year run, has worn a fairly ordinary business suit, trenchcoat and fedora, a domino mask and gloves. Creator Will Eisner added the mask only as a token submission to his publisher's belief that a comic book hero is always a costumed hero.
- Likewise The Phantom Stranger achieved the effect by always being shown with his hat shading his face, rather than actually being masked.
  - In Vertigo Comics' Madame Xanadu, the title character meets the Stranger at various points through history, each time wearing a historically appropriate variant of his standard suit, cape and shading hat. In Arthurian times, he's a druid in a hooded robe; at the court of Kublai Khan, he wears robes and a keffiyeh; in Revolutionary France, he wears a 18th century longcoat and a tricorne; in Victorian London he wears evening dress, an opera cloak and a top hat; and in 1930s New York, he wears the familiar blue suit, cape and fedora.
This attire was adopted by Mr. A and The Question in the late 1960s. Both characters were created by the legendary Steve Ditko, and bear a few more similarities to each other besides their mode of dress.
- The Question's style of dressing was later adopted by Renee Montoya in 52 as The New Question.
Possibly the forerunner of The Question, the Blank from Dick Tracy also wore a trench coat, fedora and faceless mask. The difference was, he was a villain, and ugly as sin underneath.
Rorschach of Watchmen, a Captain Ersatz of both Mr. A and The Question.
In the 1940s, the original costume of the original Sandman (no relation) was a suit, longcoat, fedora and gloves — with a gas mask.
- In the original 1940s comics he wore a purple cape over his green suit (stylin'!) instead of an overcoat. The coat was a retcon done in the '90s Vertigo version Sandman Mystery Theatre (still set in the '40s), which also gave him a much more realistic (i.e. military surplus) gas-mask. It was arguably implied that this was kinda his "Year One" look, and that he eventually upgraded to the cape and sleeker mask... before ultimately going full-on spandex even later (without any mask, oddly).
The Crimson Avenger and Wing, who were closely modeled on The Green Hornet and Kato, started out with the trenchcoat-and-fedora look.
- Again, it was a cape over a suit, rather than a trenchcoat, or at least it certainly was at some prominent point. Also, a domino mask. Classy.
V For Vendetta. Possibly more like Cloak Hat Mask, but it fits.
Midnight, a Captain Ersatz of the Spirit, originally published by Quality Comics and now part of The DCU.
- Ed Gorman created a new version of Midnight as a back-up strip in Ms Tree Quarterly.
The Marvel Universe has a couple currently appearing in The Twelve (a series about revamped Golden Age characters): the Phantom Reporter and Mr. E.
Another Golden Age hero, Dr. Nemesis, wore a trenchcoat, a fedora and a surgeon's mask.
"There are times when The Phantom leaves the jungle, and walks the streets as an ordinary man"... except for the Sunglasses, coat, and hat. Only in a couple of stories has he been this way for the entire adventure.
- Even better are the "historical" adventures featuring his ancestors: It's still the same concept, but it's much funnier when he's dressed in 18th century knee-hoses and wig.
Abe Sapien is first seen going to a mansion in a trenchcoat, hat, and disguise beard (or maybe a scarf).
But the ur-example of this trope (in comics) is the Clock, the first original costumed hero to appear in comics. He wore a blue suit and a black "curtain mask" that covered his entire face.
The King, a Golden Age character from The DCU, was a Master Of Disguise. But, when he wasn't disguised as someone else, his 'costume' consisted of white tie and tails, an opera cape, a top hat and a domino mask.
Deadpool, in the Cable & Deadpool arc A Murder in Providence, dons a trenchcoat and fedora over his usual spandex, whilst "investigating".
DC villain Deadshot wore a tuxedo, top hat and domino mask while posing as a hero in his first appearance.
Masquerade from Project Superpowers.
In the French comic Tif et Tondu, their resident villain Monsieur Choc wears evening dress and a full-face medieval helm; in occasional panels he's shown taking off or putting on the helm, but his face never appears. In one story they fight a character who wears a hazmat suit with dark faceplate throughout: in the last frame, after he's escaped and they learn he wasn't who they thought, someone finds a tailcoat and helm left at the scene.

Anime and Manga

Tuxedo Kamen is an example of the flamboyant, caped type (though he doesn't actually wear a tuxedo).
While it's not always apparent, a close look at the Zero costume of Code Geass reveals that, along with a mask and cape, the main outfit is essentially a flamboyant business suit of the type the Chairman from Iron Chef might wear.
While no hat is involved, Hei's "costume" in Darker Than Black is a creepy-looking mask along with civilian clothing — he literally just wears jeans, sneakers, a shirt, and a leather jacket (the jacket is bullet-proof, but only when he wears it).
- Note that, in one episode, this almost leads to him being identified by another character, who sees him from behind in the same clothing.
Phantom Renegade of Medabots is a parody of the flamboyant cape-wearing Gentleman Thief character type, sporting a ridiculous expressive smiley mask, having a tendency to trip, fall out of trees, and generally be an accident magnet (fumbling with a rare medal in the first episode puts the entire series' plot in motion), and frequently gloats to himself about how good he is. This fact is lampshaded in Medabots The Abridged Series, where he denies being "a ripoff of the main character from V For Vendetta or Tuxedo Mask".
- And he sort of continued on in this fashion as Space Medafighter X, in the sense that he wore his Phantom Renegade costume under the newer one and even wore another mask on top of the original. "Who is Space Medafighter X? !!! It's the Phantom Renegade!"
The mystery player on Japan's All-Star team in Eyeshield 21 dresses like this. Apparently he even plays football with his face bandaged up.
Captain Bravo pulls a version of this. His Arms Alchemy Silver Skin takes the form of a long coat and hat with the hat tilted forward and the collar sticking up to hide his face quite effectively. The entire this is a self-repairing suit of armour to boot.

Fan Fic

The Wold Newton Universe fanfic The Judex Codex implies that many Mystery Men are descended from Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and the outfit is based on a racial memory of Strider's broad-brimmed hat and cloak.

Film

The title character of Van Helsing dresses like this for his introduction shot, although he quickly loses the scarf/mask.
Kroenen in the Hellboy movie has a varition of this in his first appearance; he later loses the coat and hat.
- From the Abe&Kroenen comments: "All of [Kroenen's] intimidating bulk comes from his coat!"
Jonathan Crane in the Nolanverse Batman films

Literature

Dresden Files has Dresden slowly becoming one of these. He started with a black leather duster, added some gloves because of burn scars on his hands, and just recently began wearing a cowboy hat. All he needs is the neckerchief and spurs.
The Shadow dresses in a black and red suit, cape and fedora. The only unusual garment is a silk mask over his lower face — which, oddly, doesn't hide his extremely recognisable hawk nose.
- "Clouding mens' minds" probably prevents recognition. Some versions of The Shadow could also alter their facial features to a degree. Early stories strongly indicated that the Shadow's true face had a serious disfigurement, which his mastery of disguise hid - notice the denouement of the novel The Shadow's Shadow, where someone sees the Shadow's true face and feels alarmed - obviously he did not just see Kent Allard sticking his tongue out. (Kent Allard, the true identiy of the Shadow, an aviator who faked his death before the start of the series.) The novel Dead Men Live indicates that he has little facial mass left.
- The Movie indicates any facial weirdness is the result of The Shadow's powers of hypnosis and SFX makeup, Or So I Heard.
H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man (1897) uses this trope early in the book, and his portrayal on film and in numerous cover illustrations may have helped codify the image.
Most versions of The Phantom Of The Opera.
The pulp hero The Black Bat wears a mask and, while not spandex, flexible yet all-covering black clothes to allow him to sneak around and fight. However, if he has to show himself and not just spy, he adds a coat and a wide-brimmed hat on top of his ninja-esque outfit.
French pulp anti-hero Fantomas wore this kind of outfit from time to time, the most iconic being a tuxedo, hop-hat, and domino mask.

Live Action TV

The Green Hornet and Kato, in the 1960s TV series, dressed in normal clothes (The Hornet's "costume" is pretty much a dark green overcoat, matching fedora, suit/trousers; in Kato's case, a chauffeur's uniform) and masks.
The Phantom Flan Flinger from Tiswas wears a cloak, a hat and a mask.

Video Games

Trilby in the Chzo Mythos dresses like this in the first screen of the first game, but discards the mask afterward and is never again seen in it in any of the four games. He does, however, wear the mask in The Art of Theft.
- Also, the Tall Man fits the description somewhat, although there's no hat and the "coat" is definitely not a suit coat.
  - Though he might not necessarily wear a mask.
The hero of Exit wears a black suit, a red cape, and a red scarf.
Q from Street Fighter 3rd Strike. Coat, hat, and metal facemask.
Sly Cooper, with caveats. One, he wears a domino mask over his natural raccoon mask, his coat is short enough for acrobatics, and he has no pants.
Pokemon had Will, a member of an elite group of Trainers formally called the Elite Four. He wore a black mask which actually covered one eye with blank white material, white gloves, and a purple vest-suit-tuxedo thing. Though whether or not he was covering his eye or if his eye actually is blank is subject to debate.
- Looker

Western Animation

The Gray Ghost's outfit from Batman: The Animated Series was in this vein. The Gray Ghost, of course, is modeled after about half the guys listed up there under "Comic Books."
Darkwing Duck. Noticable when asked about whether he should be prowling the city wearing a hat and mask, he asks 'What, no cape?'.

Webcomics

Almost Dr. McNinja's outfit, but his Badass Longcoat is a Badass Labcoat, and the ninja mask is both hat and face covering.
Decoy Octopus' inner self in The Last Days Of Foxhound is literally an empty trenchcoat and fedora — a lifetime of shapechanging and disguises has left him at a point where he is most comfortable with 'not really looking like anything'.
The Mysterious Watchful Presence from Everyday Heroes. More of a cloak than a coat, but still.

Web Original