Basic Trope: A character unleashes their inner monster through the look on their face.
- Straight:
- George looks like a normal guy with long wavy hair thanks to limited Shapeshifter powers. When he's angry or about to fight, he drops the disguise and reveals his hair is actually snakes, his skin is scaly, he has cobra fangs and his eyes are slitted.
- George is a Retired Badass and looks rather amiable, but when it's time to kill and maim, he develops the nastiest Kubrick Stare you've ever seen, complete with a Slasher Cheshire Cat Grin.
- Exaggerated: George doesn't so much have a Game Face as a One-Winged Angel Body Horror form made of stitched together Nightmare Faces.
- Downplayed: George’s game face consists of his skin getting a vaguely greenish tinge and his face muscles going into a scary rictus and Death Glare.
- Justified:
- George is a Shapeshifter and his true form is a gorgon.
- Truth in Television — soldiers in services like the United States Marines are ordered to develop a "war face" to look meaner in combat.
- Inverted:
- George has a “Compassion Face” that is angelic in its beauty and ability to make even murderously angry people stop and stare in awe.
- Rather than show a monster face sometimes, George prefers to switch to his human face when he wants to intimidate enemies because it’s better at conveying emotion and demonstrating how smart he is.
- Subverted: Everyone expects George, who everyone knows isn’t human but a monster in disguise, to reveal his Game Face once in danger. He gets angry and some Special Effects happen… which switches out his street clothes for combat armor and a weapon.
- Double Subverted: … which gets topped off by having the armor undo his disguise to reveal a four armed, Scaled Up Gorgon George.
- Parodied: George’s game face is himself in clown makeup. While not that scary on its own, George knows a Coulrophobianote spell.
- Zig Zagged: George can change his face to make himself scary looking, only it’s a hologram emitter, but he does have a scary true form.
- Averted: Gorgons can’t shape shift or cast illusions, George can hid his snake hair in hoods or hats or wigs, but he has no Game Face otherwise.
- Enforced: Since the setting has The Masquerade in place, characters like George have to have their monstrousness be able to be hidden and shown at a moment’s notice.
- Lampshaded: "You’re pretty gorgeous for a gorgon, George… let me guess, you’re actually using some form of magic to hide your petrifyingly ugly looks?"
- Invoked: George is a normal human with extensive knowledge of costuming and practical special effects, he poses as a gorgon by creating a Latex Perfection mask of a gorgon underneath one of him as a human.
- Exploited: Susan leads George into a crowded place so he can’t use his Game Face and gorgon powers without breaking the masquerade.
- Defied: George stays in gorgon shape all the time, despite being able to look human.
- Discussed: "You’re calling me Bishōnen? Have you seen my Game Face?"
- Conversed: "Why is he only in gorgon form sometimes?" "Saves on special effects. Plus, the Estrogen Brigade needs their eye candy."
- Implied: George starts to attack someone, which cuts off into a Gory Discretion Shot, from which George's face doesn't appear to be human.
- Played For Laughs: George's game face is actually that of an adorably precious bunny, or something similar.
- Played For Drama: Once George breaks the facade, he becomes a much more dangerous opponent; thus, things get a lot more serious when he's an obvious gorgon. May also include a Jump Scare for added effect.
Back to Game Face.
