History Main / HarmlessLadyDisguise

* In the "Moonlight Sonata" arc in ''Manga/CaseClosed'', after a young boy named [[spoiler:Seiji Asou]] escaped the strange death of the rest of his family because [[IllBoy he was hospitalized in Tokyo]], [[spoiler: he was adopted by an old friend of his dead family (which let him stay unnoticed), and grew up into [[HospitalHottie a handsome]] [[DudeLooksLikeALady (and girly-looking)]] [[HospitalHottie doctor]]. He then returned to his island under the false name Narumi Asai ([[AlternateCharacterReading not totally false, actually]])--as a female doctor--to investigate their murders and have his {{Revenge}}. [[MagnificentBastard He got away with almost all of it]], confronting and then killing all the culprits while leaving strange music-related messages... but when he was caught by Conan, Seiji set his family's old house on fire and [[DrivenToSuicide stayed inside as it burned down]], [[FaceDeathWithDignity calmly playing the Moonlight Sonata in his father's old piano]] despite Conan's desperate pleas for him to live.]] Note: he, like most villains in the series, was portrayed [[SympatheticMurderer with so much sympathy]] that viewers would, at worst, consider him an AntiVillain. Strangely, in Italy, due to homosexual connotations, the trope wasn't spelled out (but still implied) to get it past the {{Media Watchdog}}s.

* In the Jim Belushi comedy ''Taking Care of Business'', Jimmy Dorsey [[ItMakesSenseInContext disguises himself as his own mother to break into a prison]]. It somehow works.

* In ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' a grounded Tim who cannot get out of the house without his dad noticing spots an internationally wanted criminal who dresses up as a pregnant woman and then leaves as one of their own hostages on a breaking news segment. His frantic hushed calls to the rest of the Batfamily result in the crook's capture when he pulls the same stunt to try and escape the police in Gotham.

[[folder:Folk Heroes]]
* The Swedish criminal FolkHero Lasse Maja used this extensively. (Lasse is a traditional Swedish male name, and his real name. Maja is a traditional Swedish female name, and the nickname he used. It appears he was not a cross-dresser otherwise, he only used his female persona to carry out his schemes.)
* In one ballad, RobinHood was nearly cornered when he exchanged clothes with an old woman. She was captured by the sheriff; he got away and brought his merry men to face down the sheriff.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology]]

* Captain Qwark disguises himself as a woman more than once in ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal''. One of the occasions was in a [[GameWithinAGame vid-comic sidescrolling minigame]].

*** If Tequila Joseph is pitted against his future self, Old Joseph will be shocked and horrified [[OldShame to remember he actually did that]]. There's of course what happens if either of them win.
--->'''Joseph''': I can't believe he instantly knew it was me. [[DramaticIrony This old man's really something... I have no doubt about it now!]]
--->'''Old Joseph''': This is one dangerous disguise... I can't let any of my family members find out about it!

* In the "Moonlight Sonata" arc in ''Manga/DetectiveConan'', after a young boy named [[spoiler:Seiji Asou]] escaped the strange death of the rest of his family because [[IllBoy he was hospitalized in Tokyo]], [[spoiler: he was adopted by an old friend of his dead family (which let him stay unnoticed), and grew up into [[HospitalHottie a handsome]] [[DudeLooksLikeALady (and girly-looking)]] [[HospitalHottie doctor]]. He then returned to his island under the false name Narumi Asai ([[AlternateCharacterReading not totally false, actually]])--as a female doctor--to investigate their murders and have his {{Revenge}}. [[MagnificentBastard He got away with almost all of it]], confronting and then killing all the culprits while leaving strange music-related messages... but when he was caught by Conan, Seiji set his family's old house on fire and [[DrivenToSuicide stayed inside as it burned down]], [[FaceDeathWithDignity calmly playing the Moonlight Sonata in his father's old piano]] despite Conan's desperate pleas for him to live.]] Note: he, like most villains in the series, was portrayed [[SympatheticMurderer with so much sympathy]] that viewers would, at worst, consider him an AntiVillain. Strangely, in Italy, due to homosexual connotations, the trope wasn't spelled out (but still implied) to get it past the {{Media Watchdog}}s.

* In ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', the soldiers attempt to gain access to a heavily guarded fortress by disguising themselves as washerwomen. Subverted in that [[spoiler: all of the soldiers save the lieutenant are actually women...who just happen to be disguised as men.]] ItMakesSenseInContext.

* Eames, [[TheBigGuy The Forger]], does this in ''Film/{{Inception}}'' [[spoiler:to distract Fischer while Cobb brings him over to their side]]. Unlike most of these examples, he uses illusion rather than a physical disguise.

* Hannibal once dressed as a nun on an episode of ''Series/TheATeam''.

*** In yet another episode, he pretended to be an old lady. More specifically, Murdock's mother.

* Joseph Joestar of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' disguises himself as a lady in order to get inside a Nazi compound. [[IncrediblyObviousDrag It doesn't work]] - he's over six feet tall and has the build of a professional wrestler. The Nazis take one look at him and ready their guns.

* Joseph Joestar of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' disguises himself as a lady in order to get inside a Nazi compound. [[SubvertedTrope It doesn't work]] - he's over six feet tall and has the build of a professional wrestler. The Nazis take one look at him and ready their guns.

* In ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'', the soldiers attempt to gain access to a heavily guarded fortress by disguising themselves as washerwomen. Subverted in that [[spoiler: all of the soldiers save the lieutenant are actually women...who just happen to be disguised as men.]] ItMakesSenseInContext.

** Joseph gets the "tequila" outfit as an alternate costume in ''VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven'', with him claiming that he's trying to pull this routine on their opponents. Most of the cast has special dialog where they tell him what a poor disguise it is or call him a creep; amusingly, Polnareff points out the obvious flaw in the disguise (the whole "six feet tall and beefy" thing) and Joseph's reaction is "[[GratuitousEnglish OH NO!]] [[TheDitz I didn't even consider that!]]"

* At the end of ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'', the villain has the place guarded to stop any soldiers coming in to save the day, but a few of Mulan's male colleagues talk their way in, disguised as concubines. [[IncrediblyConspicuousDrag Ugly concubines]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/OpenSeason 2'', Elliot (who is a deer) dresses up as an old lady to get pass security to the pet camp where he thinks Weenie is being held prisoner. Somehow the man watching for trespassers completely falls for it, even mistaking another old lady (who was wearing the same attire as Elliot's disguise) for the culprit.

** An extreme example since Quark underwent surgical transformation rather than just donnin a disguise.

* ''Series/TheMagician': In "Illusion of Black Gold", three [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels bikers]] disguise themselves as old ladies to crash a funeral parlour and stage a kidnapping.

* The title character on ''Baretta'' frequently did this. A couple of them can be seen in the opening credits.

** Joseph gets the "tequila" outfit as an alternate costume in ''VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven'', with him claiming that he's trying to pull this routine on their opponents. Most of the cast has special dialog where they tell him what a poor disguise it is or call him a creep; amusingly, Josuke[[note]]The ''Diamond is Unbreakable'' version, not the ''[=JoJolion=]'' character named for him[[/note]] points out the obvious flaw in the disguise (the whole "six feet tall and beefy" thing) and Joseph's reaction is "[[GratuitousEnglish OH NO!]] [[TheDitz I didn't even consider that!]]"

* TheLoneRanger disguised himself from time to time in order to reconnoiter; very occasionally he dressed up as an old woman.

* In MichaelFlynn's ''[[Literature/SpiralArm The January Dancer]]'', near the end, Hugh at one point is disguised as a woman.