History Main / PaperThinDisguise

While this is not quite a DiscreditedTrope, these days Paper Thin Disguises are parodied as often as they are used seriously. The trope is still an important dramatic convention in live theater and opera productions -- where a really good disguise would render the character unidentifiable from the cheap sets, and be beyond the scope of the prop budget to boot -- but is usually employed along with some kind of nod to audience acknowledging the absurdity. This can sometimes be exaggerated for comedic effect, for example wearing bunny ears and becoming indistinguishable from a real rabbit, or pretending to be an ancient statue by simply [[NobodyHereButUsStatues standing still in a specific pose]]. Children's shows still employ this trope regularly without any parody element.

* This was the main gimmick for the [[PurrTenders Purr-Tenders]] toy line: fluffy plush cats wearing fake ears and muzzles so they could pass as 'exotic' animals like dogs and mice. (The fact that they could all [[TalkingAnimal communicate with humans]] and came in [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair pink and purple]] apparently didn't make them exotic enough.) Somehow, the disguises ''worked''... until they started purring.

->''"Mr. Burns, it '''was''' naive of you to think I'd mistake this town's most prominent 104-year-old man for one of my [[AdultsDressedAsChildren elementary school students]]."''

* In one series of ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' strips, Peppermint Patty enlisted Snoopy's help to find out who took her teacher's bock of golden stars. Snoopy disguised himself as Patty and took her place in class; however, it was little more than a wig resembling Patty's hair. Still, it fooled her teacher ''and'' Marcie, although Marcie was a little suspicious. ("What kind of illness makes your nose grow but the rest of you shrink?" she mused.) Meanwhile, Patty's disguise while she looked for the box of stars was just as absurd; she put on a fake mustache and work clothes and posed as a janitor named "Hans Hanson". She didn't fool Marcie, but she did fool the teacher. (And she did manage to find the box of stars, which had fallen into a wastebasket. Ironically, Snoopy did so well in class, he got one on his test.)

* In [[http://garfield.com/comic/1990-06-07 this]] ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' strip, Liz may not be fooled, but as the next day's strip showed, Jon sure is.

** Furio Tigre disguises himself as Phoenix Wright in order to frame someone for murder. This 'disguise' consists of a suit, a fake attorney's badge (''made of cardboard!'') and loudly proclaiming himself to be Phoenix Wright. It works despite every major player in the case knowing Phoenix personally. Because they have the same [[AnimeHair hairstyle]]. ... Furio Tigre is ''[[http://aceattorney.wikia.com/wiki/Furio_Tigre huge and orange.]]'' The defendant mentions that many people in the courtroom had "big question marks over their heads" when Not Phoenix made his appearance, but every time someone tried to point this out, Furio [[ScreamingWarrior literally roared them into silence]]. Even more bizarrely, the disguise is apparently good enough to ''fool the player'' -- the first you see of Furio Tigre is in the chapter intro where Phoenix Wright loses a case... and he's rendered as completely indistinguishable from the real Phoenix.

** Furio Tigre disguises himself as Phoenix Wright in order to frame someone for murder. This 'disguise' consists of a suit, a fake attorney's badge (''made of cardboard!'') and loudly proclaiming himself to be Phoenix Wright. It works despite every major player in the case knowing Phoenix personally. Because they have the same [[AnimeHair hairstyle]]. ... Furio Tigre is ''[[http://aceattorney.wikia.com/wiki/Furio_Tigre huge and orange.]]'' The defendant mentions that many people on the courtroom had "big question marks over their heads" when Not Phoenix made his appearance, but every time someone tried to point this out, Furio [[ScreamingWarrior literally roared them into silence]]. Even more bizarrely, the disguise is apparently good enough to ''fool the player'' -- the first you see of Furio Tigre is in the chapter intro where Phoenix Wright loses a case... and he's rendered as completely indistinguishable from the real Phoenix.

** Furio Tigre disguises himself as Phoenix Wright in order to frame someone for murder. This 'disguise' consists of a suit, a fake attorney's badge (''made of cardboard!'') and loudly proclaiming himself to be Phoenix Wright. It works despite every major player in the case knowing Phoenix personally. Because they have the same hairstyle. ... Furio Tigre is ''[[http://aceattorney.wikia.com/wiki/Furio_Tigre huge and orange.]]'' Gumshoe mentions that many people on the court had "big question marks on their heads" when Not Phoenix made his apparition, but every time someone tried to point this out, Furio [[ScreamingWarrior literally roared them into silence]]. Even more bizarrely, the disguise is apparently good enough to ''fool the player'' -- the first you see of Furio Tigre is in the chapter intro where Phoenix Wright loses a case... and he's rendered as completely indistinguishable from the real Phoenix.

->''"Mr. Burns, it '''was''' naive of you to think I'd mistake this town's most prominent 104-year-old man for one of my [[DawsonCasting elementary school students]]."''

* A Dunkin' Donuts ad had the company donut maker (a portly little guy with a moustache) spying at a rival donut place dressed as a woman, coyly holding a hand over his moustache and not fooling the anxious counter man.

“Who, me?” he said. “Don’tcha remembers me? [...] Don’tcha remembers yer old pal, Colt Skylark?”

* [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] tried to Wrestling/CMPunk's steal an audience member's clothing and hide in the crowd trick but his mask and the tassels hanging off of it stuck out like a sore thumb. Wrestling/DaizeeHaze has also worn some disguises in her efforts to aid Delirious...with mixed results.

* In ''{{ProfessionalWrestling/TNA}}'', what disguise did {{Wrestling/Sting}} wear when he attacked Wrestling/RobVanDam from the crowd? [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GTzHd1h47o A Sting mask]].

The opposite of LatexPerfection, and often a special case of WigDressAccent. A character that the other characters ''should'' recognize (or at least recognize as out of place) dons a disguise and is treated as neither recognizable nor conspicuous. This disguise is so completely transparent that the audience wants to shout "For the love of God, it's ''him!''"

The external reason for the flimsy disguise may be that the creators want to signal the presence of a disguise to the audience before the other characters catch on (a sort of ReverseWhodunnit). Sometimes, the character may also be a SpecialGuest the director wants to get their money out of.

All the same, you often get TheReveal staged in such a way to make it clear that the director really thought [[ViewersAreMorons you wouldn't have worked it out by now]]. For the more perceptive viewers, it's a case of TheUntwist.

This trope differs from the general case of WigDressAccent in that a WigDressAccent disguise is always plausible. PaperThinDisguise also includes the element of being staged as if the disguise really is convincing, which is not generally present in WigDressAccent.

While this is not quite a DiscreditedTrope, these days Paper Thin Disguises are parodied as often as they are used seriously. The trope is still an important dramatic convention in live theater and opera productions -- where a really good disguise would render the character unidentifiable from the cheap sets...and be beyond the scope of the prop budget to boot -- but is usually employed along with some kind of nod to audience acknowledging the absurdity. Children's shows still employ this trope regularly without any parody element.

This can sometimes be exaggerated for comedic effect. For example, you can wear bunny ears and become indistinguishable from a real rabbit, or pretend to be an ancient statue by simply [[NobodyHereButUsStatues standing still in a specific pose]].

Also See ConspicuousTrenchcoat, NotAZombie, NewspaperThinDisguise, ClarkKenting, MrSmith, HughMann, HoldingBothSidesOfTheConversation, CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown, and MostDefinitelyNotAVillain. Can overlap with HijackedByGanon from time to time. Contrast with FullBodyDisguise.

!!Examples:

* PaperThinDisguise/{{Advertisements}}

* PaperThinDisguise/FanFic

* PaperThinDisguise/{{Music}}
* PaperThinDisguise/NewspaperComics
* PaperThinDisguise/ProfessionalWrestling
* PaperThinDisguise/{{Radio}}
* PaperThinDisguise/StandUpComedy
* PaperThinDisguise/{{Theatre}}
* PaperThinDisguise/{{Toys}}

* PaperThinDisguise/VisualNovels

->''"Mr. Burns, it '''was''' naive of you to think I'd mistake this town's most prominent 104-year-old man for one of my elementary school students."''

The opposite of LatexPerfection, and often a special case of WigDressAccent. A character that the other characters ''should'' recognize (or at least recognize as not belonging) dons a disguise. This disguise is so completely transparent that the audience wants to shout "For the love of God, it's ''him!''"

The reason may be that they want the audience to know before the character does (a sort of ReverseWhodunnit), but it seems more likely that it's a matter of the character being a SpecialGuest, and the director wanting to get his money's worth out of them.

While this is not quite a DiscreditedTrope, it appears in parody at least as often as it is used seriously. Children's shows still employ this regularly without remorse, and it is a dramatic convention in theatre and opera as the character still needs to be recognizable to the audience from the seats (similar to becoming totally inaudible by walking upstage).

This can sometimes be exaggerated to the point of comedy. For example, you can wear bunny ears and become indistinguishable from a real rabbit, or pretend to be an ancient statue by simply [[NobodyHereButUsStatues standing still in a specific pose]].

Also See ConspicuousTrenchcoat, NotAZombie, NewspaperThinDisguise, ClarkKenting, MrSmith, HughMann, HoldingBothSidesOfTheConversation, CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown, and MostDefinitelyNotAVillain. Contrast with FullBodyDisguise.

->''"The goofy teeth seem familiar, but the tiara has me baffled!"''
-->-- '''Doctor Bender''', ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents.''

* PaperThinDisguise/ProWrestling

-> '''Doofenshmirtz:''' A banjo-playing platypus?
-> ''Perry dons his hat''
-> '''Doofenshmirtz:''' PERRY the banjo-playing platypus?!
--> -- ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''