Masked Villains, Unmasked Heroes

If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to slaughter.

There are many ways to visually distinguish heroes from villains. One such way is to give the villain a mask or helmet while the heroes' face remains uncovered mostly or entirely, or at the very least is visible.

A character with an uncovered face can more easily gain a connection with the audience since their expressions and emotions are always visible. By contrast, a character whose face is covered would have a much harder time conveying emotion and has a barrier between them and the audience, meaning it would be harder to root for them. The scarier the mask or helmet, the more terrifying the villain appears.

The villain may wear a Cool Mask to hide their identity or to maintain an air of mystery. Eventually, a Dramatic Unmasking may happen to them where the audience finally gets to see their face.

Despite the title, this trope can vary in some ways:

• The heroes wearing masks, helmets, or any other facial apparati that show more of if not all their face compared to the villains.
• When eyes are not covered on the heroes' side while the villains do.
• When the hero has a public identity while the villain does not.

Can sometimes overlap with Armored Villains, Unarmored Heroes. Can also overlap with Beauty Equals Goodness if the villain wears a mask to hide scars or deformities. Sub-Trope of Malevolent Masked Men. See also Faceless Goons and Gas Mask Mooks, where it's the villain's henchmen who wear masks.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Bakugan: The main hero Dan doesn't wear a mask. Masquerade, who serves as The Dragon to Naga, wears a black mask which is the source of is his existence and what allows his personality to dominate Alice's.
• Bleach: Zig-zagged. Hollows are malevolent spirits identified by white, skull-like masks and are opposed by the Shinigami who don't wear masks. As the story progresses, we see that the Shinigami themselves are not without flaws and the Hollows are capable of goodness.
• Buso Renkin: The Starter Villain Papillon wears a butterfly mask, while the hero Kazuki wears no face coverings. Papillon later becomes an Anti-Villain.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!: Typically, the main characters always have their faces exposed while a villain is more likely to be the one wearing a mask.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: During the Battle City arc, Yugi duels three of Marik's minions who wear masks. The first is Arkana, a former stage magician who was driven to despair after he was disfigured in an accident. The other two are the brothers Lumis and Umbra who challenge him and Kaiba to a tag team duel. Both brothers wear masks that cover half their faces.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! GX:
    • Two of Jaden's Shadow Rider opponents wear masks. The first is Nightshroud who is actually Alexis's long-lost brother Atticus possessed an evil being and the second is Amnael who is actually his teacher Lyman Banner.
    • When he takes on the evil persona of the Supreme King in season 3, Jaden wears black armor complete with a crown-like helmet.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds:
    • The Black Rose Witch is a woman wearing a black robe and a face-concealing mask and is using her Psychic Powers to make her duels a lot more life-like and painful for her opponents. When the Fortune Cup rolls around and she has to participate, she wears regular clothing without a mask, and nobody recognizes her until she summons her Signature Mon. In a later match, she wears the mask again as she slips into her "witch" persona, and ditches it entirely after her Heel–Face Turn.
    • The highest-ranking members of Illyaster, Paradox and their leader Z-ONE, both wear masks. Paradox has no particular reason for it and removes it after a point, but Z-ONE uses it to hide that he looks identical to protagonist Yusei.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL:
    • Tron/Vetrix wears a metal mask that reveals only his right eye and that half of his mouth. It hides the fact that the left side of his face is some kind of black hole/vortex/nebula thing.
    • Visually invoked with the Barian Emperors; while in human form they have perfectly normal features (by series standards, at any rate), in their real forms their faces lack noses and mouths, making them look like they're wearing masks. This is most obvious with Shark, Rio, and Vector, who at first appeared as normal humans and allies.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V:
    • Played with in the case of Yuto and Shun. The two of them are Knights Of Cerebus, and they both completely cover their faces, attack LDS members for no obvious reason with Shun even killing some, and have extremely questionable motives. However, they turn out to be on the lighter side of the moral scale, and ditch the face coverings once they ally with the protagonists.
    • The elite units of the invading army of Academia, Obelisk Force, all wear feature-concealing helmets. In fact, they have no distinguishing features whatsoever. However, the even highest-ranking members are all unique and with clear individual personalities who fully expose their faces, subverting this trope.
    • All members of the Synchro Dimension's Security, which is clearly modelled after the Obelisk Force due to their leader being a former Academia member, wear motorcycle helmets and black sunglasses that also conceal their features.
  • The manga spinoff of ARC-V, which has nothing in common with the anime, has all the villains wear masks. In their case, it's mostly to hide their badly-scarred faces, as their leader at least is very ashamed of her looks.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: The Knights of Hanoi, whose goal is nothing less than to destroy the VRAINS, Artificial Intelligence, and eventually technology itself, all wear masks. This is despite of the fact that since they operate in a Virtual reality, and use avatars, they have no reason to wear masks as they can look like whatever they wish (for example, Blue Angel's avatar looks NOTHING like her RL appearance and thus none of her fans recognize her on the street). This also holds true for their leader Revolver/Varis, whose avatar also looks nothing like him in real life. In the second season, when Revolver and the other high-ranking members of the Knights of Hanoi switch to Nominal Heroes, Revolver changes his avatar to make his facial features become visible.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS: The Goha corporation, which has brought Big Brother Is Watching to new and ludicrous levels, has all members wear masks regardless of ranking. This makes a heavy contrast with the elementary-schooled protagonists, who try to become famous in order to advertise the new dueling format Yuga made, and struggle against Goha's incredible control over the internet and other platforms.

Comic Books

• Aquaman: Two of the unmasked Aquaman's most prominent enemies are Black Manta and Orm aka Ocean Master. Manta wears a helmet modeled after a manta ray while Orm wears a mask that covers the upper half of his face. Aquaman's face is always uncovered.
• Fantastic Four: The titular team is unmasked and are notable for being the first superhero team in the Marvel Universe who didn't start out with secret identities. Their principal foe, Doctor Doom, wears a mask to hide his scarred face.
• Shang-Chi: The main hero doesn't wear a mask and is one of the few Marvel heroes who doesn't use a codename. Some of his villains do wear masks such as Razorfist, Midnight Sun, and the Si-Fan ninjas.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Turtles all wear eye masks that only cover their upper faces (and once the colored masks are introduced, they make each turtle more recognizable). Their enemy the Shredder wears a metal helmet that only leaves his eyes exposed while his Foot Clan wear full face masks.
• Wonder Woman: Diana's face is often uncovered while Ares usually wears a helmet that makes almost his entire face invisible. Some of Diana's other villains also wear masks or helmets such as Dr. Poison, Blue Snowman, Dr. Cyber, and Red Panzer.
• X-Men:
  • The franchise's classic premise is the ideological battle between Charles Xavier and Magneto. Xavier, who doesn't wear a mask or helmet, fights for mutant-human integration. Magneto views mutants as superior to humans, often takes extreme measures in protecting mutants from human persecution, and wears a helmet which is sometimes drawn shrouding his face. These days Magneto alternates between a villain and a hero while Xavier's flaws are more pronounced.
  • There is also Xavier and his brother Cain Marko aka the Juggernaut. Juggernaut wears a helmet which leaves only his eyes and mouth visible. While he did start out as a villain, like Magneto he has also alternated between ally and antagonist.
  • X-Force: Cable is unmasked, while his enemy Stryfe is masked. As it turns out, Stryfe is actually a clone of Cable and is wearing a mask to hide his identity.

Films — Live-Action

• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The Fantom wears a mask to hide his horribly scarred face, while none of the heroes wear a mask. The Fantom wears his mask and fake scars to hide his identity as M, the British government official who created the League for his own sinister purposes.
• Mortal Kombat: The Movie:
  • From the first movie we have Shang Tsung's minions, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Reptile, who all wear masks. The heroes have their faces uncovered.
  • Mortal Kombat: Annihilation: Downplayed somewhat. Shao Kahn wears his iconic helmet from the games but only does so twice. The only heroic character in the film who wears a mask is the new Sub-Zero who appears for about eight minutes before disappearing. Some of Kahn's minions — Scorpion, Rain, and Ermac — also wear masks.
• Ninja Assassin: Raizo is The Hero of the movie and unlike the other evil ninjas does not wear a mask.
• Scream: The films have the unmasked heroine Sidney Prescott fighting a killer (or in most cases, a pair of killers) who uses the masked identity of Ghostface.
• Sky High: The main villain Royal Pain wears a helmet that covers their entire face. The Commander and Jetstream obscure their identities through Clark Kenting, and their superhero costumes don't have masks. Will and his friends don't wear masks either.
• Star Wars:
  • The members of the Rebel Alliance either don't wear helmets or if they do, it doesn't cover much of their face. By contrast, The Empire's troops often wear helmets that cover their entire heads. There is Darth Vader, the Emperor's Dragon, and the bounty hunter Boba Fett, who both wear helmets. Emperor Palpatine also prefers to keep his features hidden beneath the shadow of his hood or within the darkness cast by surroundings.
  • The Force Awakens: Kylo Ren wears a helmet modeled after the one his grandfather wore as Darth Vader, while the main heroes Rey, Poe, and Finn don't wear any headgear.

Literature

• Baccano!: Inverted with Ladd and Claire. Ladd is a vicious sadist intent on murdering everyone on the Flying Pussyfoot and attacks Chane atop the train for kicks, and doesn't bother hiding his face. He faces off against Claire, who's coated in blood from killing the black and white suits masquerading as conductors, with his face completely covered. While he's also an insane killer, Claire is capable of mercy and compassion, traits that Ladd mocks him for possessing.

Live-Action TV

• Arrowverse:
  • Arrow: Oliver wears a domino mask under his green hood. The main villains of the first, second, and fifth seasons (Malcolm Merlyn, Deathstroke, Brother Blood, and Prometheus) tend to wear masks that fully cover their faces.
  • Supergirl: Like her comic counterpart, Supergirl is a hero who wears no mask. In season 3, we are introduced to Reign, the leader of the evil Kryptonian Worldkillers, who wears a mask.
  • The Flash (2014): Barry's mask leaves his eyes and jawline exposed. This contrasts with the main villains of the first three seasons, all of whom are evil speedsters whose faces are largely obscured until their true identities are revealed.
  • Superman & Lois: The first villain we see Superman fighting is a man dressed in full-body armor, who is dubbed the Stranger. However, this becomes a subversion when the Stranger is revealed to be John Henry Irons from another universe who is trying to prevent a Kryptonian invasion like the one that happened in his universe. The only reason he opposes Superman is that he fears the Kryptonian hero will turn on humankind like the one from his universe did.
• Power Rangers Ninja Storm: The Rangers spend a significant amount of time in human form per episode and their helmets can open up to reveal their faces. Lothar never takes off his mask and the only time we see him without it is when Cam travels back to the past and meets Lothar's younger self.

Video Games

• Devil May Cry:
  • Devil May Cry: The main hero Dante never wears a mask. During the game, he fights a demon named Nelo Angelo who is dressed from head to toe in armor and is one of Mundus's servants. In their third and final battle, Nelo Angelo's helmet is knocked off, revealing him to be Dante's twin brother Vergil who served as one of the villains in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening.
  • Devil May Cry 2: The Secretaries are female demon Mooks under the command of the main villain Arius. Their attire includes a bird-like feather mask. The Deuteragonist Lucia is actually one of the Secretaries herself but is a good guy and doesn't wear a mask like them.
  • DmC: Devil May Cry: Vergil wears a mask in videos from the Order encouraging people to rise up against the demons enslaving them. While he at first seems to be more heroic than his original counterpart, the game's climax reveals him to have his own tyrannical ambitions. And like in the original continuity, Dante doesn't wear a mask.
• Going Under: Jacqueline, who starts off maskless and hatless, fights the Masked Winkubuses.
• Kirby: Meta Knight is a masked villain, albeit of the Well-Intentioned Extremist variety. The hero is Kirby, a Ridiculously Cute Critter and Exposed Extraterrestrial who wears no mask. However, in some Kirby games, Meta Knight is Kirby's ally mainly due to a greater threat.
• Metal Gear:
  • Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater: The Pain of the Cobra Unit wears a balaclava until he takes it off halfway into his boss fight, revealing all the welts from the various bee stings he suffered. The Fury wears a spacesuit helmet and a gas mask underneath it. The Ocelot Unit and regular Soviet soldiers all wear balaclavas. Snake on the other hand is only required to wear a mask when infiltrating a Soviet installation.
  • Metal Gear Solid V: Skull Face initially has no mask in Ground Zeroes but in Phantom Pain, he wears a domino mask, further embracing his cowboy motif.
• Mortal Kombat:
  • Shao Kahn is the Evil Overlord of Outworld and wears a skull-like helmet. His primary opponents are Liu Kang, Raiden and Kitana. Raiden and Liu Kang do not wear masks. Kitana does wear a mask but is more likely to be seen without it in contrast to Shao Kahn who almost always seen wearing his helmet.
  • Most of the mask-wearing characters in the games are either evil or frequently switch alignments. Kitana, Jade and the second Sub-Zero are the only masked characters who have consistently been on the heroic side.
• Persona:
  • Persona 2: The Masked Circle is an organization that appears to grant wishes, but is actually gathering them as "Ideal Energy" to bring The End of the World as We Know It. And as the name shows, the upper echelon all wear masks while the main heroes do not.
  • Persona 5: Downplayed. All the characters wear masks as it's necessary to activate their Personas. However, while the Phantom Thieves chiefly wear domino masks, with Ann pointing out they don't hide their identities very well, Akechi — the culprit behind the murders — wears a helmet that obscures most of his head and face.
• Sonic Forces: The game pits the heroic, unmasked faction consisting of Sonic and his friends against Infinite, a villain who wears a silver mask.
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Rex and all his companions have their faces exposed (save for Zeke's Eyepatch of Power), whereas Jin, the leader of the Organization of Torna, wears a spiked mask that covers up the top half of his face. He does eventually remove the mask, but only after it's revealed that he's a Flesh-Eater who's been hiding his identity as a Blade.

Western Animation

• Dragon Booster: In civilian form, Artha Penn wears a helmet with a transparent visor. His Dragon Booster armor shows the lower half of his face and has a transparent visor that was initially depicted as opaque. His Arch-Enemy Moordryd Paynn wears a helmet that conceals most of his face in civilian form and wears a helmet that covers his face as the Shadow Booster.
• El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera: The Anti-Hero protagonist does nothing to hide his secret identity. In fact, it was even in the newspapers that he was El Tigre. His idealized hero father doesn't hide his identity, either. He actually wears his mask, like, 95% of the time, even to his office job. Meanwhile, their opposing family of Psycho Ex Girlfriends, the Aves, keep their identities as the villainous Flock of Fury a secret from the public, even pulling fast ones to throw people off their scent.
• The Legend of Korra: The first season has Korra dealing with a group called the Equalists, who seek to remove the power to bend the elements from anyone who has them. They all wear masks, while Korra is known publicly as the Avatar.
• Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm: All of the heroes are maskless, including Sub-Zero and Kitana whose game counterparts do wear masks. The masked villains are Scorpion, Komodai, Ruby and, of course, Shao Kahn.
• Scooby-Doo: Most incarnations of the franchise involve the heroes facing criminals who disguise themselves as monsters and unmasking them as frauds.

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