History Main / HughMann

See also ClarkKenting and PaperThinDisguise. Compare BadBadActing, and OutOfCharacterAlert. Not to be confused with ''FundayPawpetShow'' character Hugh Manatee.

-->'''Zim''', ''[[WesternAnimation/Invader Zim]]''

->'''[[GeneralFailure Zapp]]''': We can't be too careful with these codes. Rumor has it a double agent may be aboard this very ship. You, ensign, what's your name?\\
'''Decapodian''': [[TropeNamer Hugh Mann]], sir!\\
'''Zapp''': Hugh Mann? Now that's [[NamesToTrustImmediately a name I can trust]]. Run down to the central battle computer and enter these codes. Chop, chop!
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

'''Decapodian in a PaperThinDisguise''': [[TropeNamer Hugh Mann,]] sir!\\
'''Zapp''': Hugh Mann? Now that's [[NamesToTrustImmediately a name I can trust]]. Run down to the central battle computer and enter these codes. Chop, chop!\\
'''[[OnlySaneMan Kif]]''': ''[as Hugh scuttles off sideways]'' [[GenreSavvy Um, sir? There's something about that ensign that's--]]\\
'''Zapp''': You're damn right there is! [[ComicallyMissingThePoint That strapping young lad's gunning for your job. And he just might get it.]]

* Frequently used heroically by ''{{Scooby-Doo}}'', who seems to get away with impersonating the bad guys' own human and/or monstrously-disguised henchmen with ease, despite being 1) a terrible actor, 2) impaired by a speech impediment, and 3) a freakin' Great Dane.

* Jenova from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. If the dead facial expression and missing arms and feet weren't a tip-off, she's wired into [[EvilIsVisceral giant, pulsating tentacles and winged appendages]]. But hey, if a {{mad scientist}} says she's your mother, who are you to question? Jenova proves itself quite capable of re-creating clothing (right down to Sephiroth's trenchcoat and masamune sword), so the fact that it starts out looking like a gnarled, naked woman suggests "she" abandoned all disguise once the Cetra overpowered her.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', the team sneaks aboard a Shinra ship disguised as Shinra soldiers. Red XIII, a red wolf-like creature, clearly has trouble standing on two legs, and doesn't bother to cover his tail. Naturally, their cover is not blown. (That said, no ''real'' Shinra soldiers are ever seen speaking to him, and given his familiarity with humans it's unlikely he'd say something ''too'' ridiculous even if they did.)

->'''[[GeneralFailure Zapp]]''': We can't be too careful with these codes [to Earth's automated defenses]. Rumor has it a double agent may be aboard this very ship. You, ensign, what's your name?\\

* An episode of MadTV has several campaign commercials for "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLSlGmVrmuM Smith Comma John, Human Being for President]]", in which the candidate demonstrates his human American nature with SuspiciouslySpecificDenial ''aplenty'', statements like "I am sitting next to fire. Willingly.", and introducing his wife: a golden retriever. The capper is when he partakes in the all-American activity of eating corn dogs - first sticking his hand into a deep fryer to retrieve one, and then "eating" it via the magic of visual effects: the camera stops for a moment, a bite is missing, and he pretends to be chewing, before going for another "bite". ''Sooo'' not an alien.

* Jenova from ''FinalFantasyVII''. If the dead facial expression and missing arms and feet weren't a tip-off, she's wired into [[EvilIsVisceral giant, pulsating tentacles and winged appendages]]. But hey, if a {{mad scientist}} says she's your mother, who are you to question? Jenova proves itself quite capable of re-creating clothing (right down to Sephiroth's trenchcoat and masamune sword), so the fact that it starts out looking like a gnarled, naked woman suggests "she" abandoned all disguise once the Cetra overpowered her.

* In ''FinalFantasyVII'', the team sneaks aboard a Shinra ship disguised as Shinra soldiers. Red XIII, a red wolf-like creature, clearly has trouble standing on two legs, and doesn't bother to cover his tail. Naturally, their cover is not blown. (That said, no ''real'' Shinra soldiers are ever seen speaking to him, and given his familiarity with humans it's unlikely he'd say something ''too'' ridiculous even if they did.)

[[quoteright:239:[[{{Futurama}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Hughman_2389.jpg]]]]

** This varies by scene. In the scene in the car, he is very obviously a mannequin. In the scene in the restaurant, he's just got a sheen to his skin and the ''funny'' talking.
** Subverted in another episode of ''Series/DoctorWho'', "New Earth." Cassandra now ''possesses'' Rose, and the Doctor ''pretends'' not to notice till anything becomes sufficiently dramatic.
** Another subversion: In "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood", after one of the characters becomes possessed, Martha notices something off about her, and she confirms this by asking whether she'd like jam and sardines in her tea. "I like the sound of that."

* Reversed and subverted in an episode of ''Series/StargateSG1''. Reversed, in that it's a human, Daniel Jackson in this case, trying to pass for a Goa'uld--hey, at least he speaks the language!--and subverted in that the name he gives, "The Great and Powerful Oz," doesn't fool anybody.
** Also played straight when Sam is taken over by a Tok'ra. She acts rather odd, but no one seems to notice anything until she starts dialing up the gate. In another episode, Colonel O'Neill is duplicated by a crystal entity and everyone, even his ex-wife, thinks the entity is him even though he speaks very haltingly and suddenly acts like he's once again depressed about his son's pre-show pre-movie death. Another reversed/subversion in another episode, O'Neill pretends to be a Goa'uld (although all he knows is "Jaffa Kree!") but the Goa'uld he's trying to bluff don't really buy it.
*** O'Neill thought it might work because the last time the people he was trying to bluff saw him, he was about to be implanted with a Goa'uld symbiote. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know that Goa'uld (as well as former Goa'uld hosts) can sense the presence or absence of a symbiote.
** The O'Neill duplicate episode came fairly early in the series, and the team didn't know each other all that well yet; Sam didn't even know about O'Neill's family tragedy. O'Neill's ex-wife just assumed he finally wanted to talk about their relationship and their son's death -- she noticed his odd behavior, but assumed it was caused by psychological trauma. Since she was a {{muggle|s}}, there was no reason for her to suspect that "space alien duplication" was a valid explanation.

** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in "Off the Grid" when Daniel, Cam, and Sam are all arguing over who would make the most convincing drug dealer for their meet with the bad guys and Teal'c says they're all equally unlikely. Subverted when Mitchell's attempts at posing as said drug dealer backfire off screen and the audience just sees the team running for their lives.

* From ''SoulHackers''' remake, there's an image of a [[PettingZooPeople Halphas]] name-dropping this trope in conversation

* In ''GravityFalls'', Mabel meets a new boyfriend who calls himself "Normal Man" - Mabel presumes he meant Norman - who acts very off. [[spoiler:Though Dipper believes he's a zombie, he's actually a bunch of gnomes.]]

* One of many UFO gags sprinkled in ''GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. During the mission "Stowaway," Mike Toreno instructs Carl Johnson to destroy a jet carrying explosives for use in the Middle East. The {{MIB}} onboard the plane will spout strange phrases while attacking Carl, including: "you evolved from shrews", "this endangers everything", "carbon based buffoon", "idiotic mammal", and "the great day will come".

* In two of the ''Sparks Nevada: Marshall on Mars'' episodes of ''Podcast/ThrillingAdventureHour'', a shapeshifting alien spy from Jupiter is comically bad at impersonating Sparks and Croach in back-to-back episodes.

* In two of the ''Sparks Nevada: Marshall on Mars'' episodes of ''ThrillingAdventureHour'', a shapeshifting alien spy from Jupiter is comically bad at impersonating Sparks and Croach in back-to-back episodes.

* In two of the ''Sparks Nevada: Marshall on Mars'' episodes of ''TheThrillingAdventureHour'', a shapeshifting alien spy from Jupiter is comically bad at impersonating Sparks and Croach in back-to-back episodes.

* Jenova from ''FinalFantasyVII''. If the dead facial expression and missing arms and feet weren't a tip-off, she's wired into [[EvilIsVisceral giant, pulsating tentacles and winged appendages]]. But hey, if a {{mad scientist}} says she's your mother, who are you to question? Jenova is quite capable of re-creating clothing (right down to Sephiroth's trenchcoat and masamune sword), so the fact that starts out looking like a gnarled, naked woman suggests she abandoned her disguise once the Cetra defeated her.

* Jenova from ''FinalFantasyVII''. If the dead facial expression and missing arms and feet weren't a tip-off, she's wired into [[EvilIsVisceral giant, pulsating tentacles and winged appendages]]. But hey, a naked woman's a naked woman, right? It was enough to trick the Cetra civilization, who were nearly driven to extinction before they sealed Jenova away. it's possible that her current, gnarled appearance came about from attacking the Cetra after gaining acceptance from them.

* Jenova from ''FinalFantasyVII''. If the dead facial expression and missing arms and feet weren't a tip-off, she's wired into [[EvilIsVisceral giant, pulsating tentacles and winged appendages]]. But hey, a naked woman's a naked woman, right? It was enough to trick the Cetra civilization, who were nearly driven to extinction before they sealed Jenova away.