Basic Trope: Mooks - especially Elite Mooks - using gasmasks as their identity-concealer of choice.
- Straight: Mooks wear gasmasks for no discernible reason other than intimidation.
- Exaggerated:
- Mooks eat, drink, and sleep without taking off their gasmasks. note
- The mooks wear whole costumes of sewed together gas masks!
- Downplayed:
- Mooks wear gasmasks only occasionally.
- Gas Mask Mooks are mixed in with Mooks wearing different kinds of masks. And for a little comedic affect, the gasmask-wearing mooks say "Man, this thing you're wearing is ugly" to mooks wearing Nixon Masks.
- The mooks themselves aren't more deadly than normal, the air is just filled with chemicals that aren't meant to be inhaled. Otherwise, they don't wear gasmasks.
- Justified:
- Mooks wearing gasmasks either use chemical weapons or fight in toxic environments.
- The gasmasks of Elite Mooks are there to administer Super Serum.
- The mooks in question have damaged or stunted lungs.
- The mooks Bizarre Alien Biology does not allow them to breathe air, only the gas their masks administer to them.
- The mooks wear these masks to protect their identities.
- Inverted:
- The heroes all wear stylish, custom-made Gas Mask, Longcoat Hazmat Suits, while the villains either opt not to, or have no need to.
- Mooks don't wear gasmasks in hazardous situations where wearing one would be expected and a very good idea.
- Subverted:
- A mook removes their gasmask and shows their face, to bring up a What Measure Is a Mook? moment.
- The mooks remove their gasmasks once there's no danger of anything hazardous (besides bullets).
- Double Subverted:
- ...but the face underneath the gasmask isn't human.
- ...And they promptly put them back on once the gas attacks start again.
- Underneath the gas mask, the mook is revealed to be wearing a surgical mask, an oxygen mask, or even another gas mask.
- Parodied:
- Every single villain wears a gasmask, because they are all deathly afraid of catching a flu.
- Or cannot bear even the slightest foul odors.
- Alternately, the mooks are gas masks.
- Zig Zagged:
- The Empire spans many star systems - a handful of which are inhospitable - and houses a buttload of various species, from humans, to Green Skinned Space Babes, to warm and fuzzy ones, to outright Starfish Aliens. Many of them have unique resistances and allergies. Some wear their masks out of combat, while others don't even put masks on in combat. Masks themselves vary not only in look, but also in quality. Even the heroes put on gas masks with regularity. Add also inconsistent rules on chemical weapon usage, for in- or out-of-universe reasons. And boy, does this get confusing.
- Some of the mooks are wearing gas masks for whatever reason, and others aren't (usually to denote that the former are elite mooks).
- The gas masks are worn by the Redshirt Army, but not by the villains' mooks or any of the named heroes and villains.
- Averted: Not a single gasmask-wearing Mook is encountered by the heroes.
- Enforced:
- "We need our Mooks to look scary and evil! Like, Nazi-evil! I know - let's make them all wear gasmasks!"
- "We only have enough budget to hire ten actors for mook roles. Let's make them all wear gas masks, so the audience won't be able to tell them apart." note
- Lampshaded: "I don't care if the air's clean, private, you will put on that gasmask!"
- Invoked:
- "Well, truth be told, chemical warfare isn't a real risk; we can't afford it, and the rebels wouldn't do it. The gasmasks aren't there to counter chem attacks, they're to help keep my minions separate from the common rabble."
- The villains equip and train their forces to occupy extremely hazardous environments and build their citadels and headquarters there, in the hopes that it'll complicate things for the heroes.
- Exploited:
- The heroes steal uniforms off some mooks, and the gasmasks they had allow the heroes to easily pass for those mooks.
- The heroic side doesn't use gas masks, and the villains all use them. Cue mass use of chemical weapons by the villains.
- Defied: "When was the last time outside of drills we had to use these gasmasks? Screw it, I'd rather be able to see clearly."
- Discussed: "Do you know why we must wear those idiotic gasmasks all the time? We're not even using chemical weapons! Actually, that's also a valid point. Why aren't we using chemical weapons, being all-out evil and shit?"
- Conversed: "Why do those villains in video games fancy gasmasks, even if there's no practical reason? I fail to see the point."
- Deconstructed:
- Mooks have a hard time running around with those annoying filters impairing their breath and cannot see a thing because of their gasmasks.
- A huge chemical attack/accident causes people to hallucinate and think that the people in gas masks are their enemies. The Only Sane Men are the ones wearing gas masks.
- The gas masks are all damaged, allowing in some hazardous chemicals.
- Because of the high rate of mook attrition and the limited financial resources, the masks are of poor quality and fit-testing is an afterthought, and many of them are exposed to hazardous substances as a result.
- Reconstructed:
- Mooks still think that added protection and the fear factor are worth it.
- Said people are wearing gasmasks because they were behind the accident in the first place.
- The gas masks are well-made enough to allow them to see as clear as day and breathe normally.
- Some protection is better than none, and most of the mooks are aware of the limitations of their masks and have modified them to fit better and be more effective.
- Played For Laughs:
- The mooks are completely unintelligible. Hilarity Ensues.
- The mooks have trouble telling eachother apart, and things get even more wacky when the Adventure Duo barges in, posing as a pair of them.
- Played For Drama:
- The Mooks come from a Death World and cannot take their gasmasks off as normal air is poisonous to them. They are unable to enjoy ninety percent of what galaxy has to offer. This is what drives them to start Hostile Terraforming other planets.
- Everyone in the story wears a gas mask because the environment they live in has been irreversibly polluted - however, some wear masks with a large clear visor, symbolizing their attempts to retain their humanity, and others wear armored masks with Glowing Eyes of Doom, casting off their humanity aside in disgust.
- Played For Horror: The heroes spend some time fighting dangerous, threatening Doom Troops and not knowing what's under their gas masks - and when one of the mooks finally removes their gas mask, it turns out they're horribly disfigured, or a Lovecraftian monstrosity... or worse, there's nothing under the mask but a black void!
Back to Gas Mask Mooks
