History Main / FaceFramedInShadow

* The ''Manga/DeathNote'' anime has both varieties.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* During "My Eyes", [[WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Doctor Horrible]] sings about the darkness within him growing with his face half lit by a nearby lamplight. When he sings that soon darkness will be all that remains, he steps back allowing the darkness to cover the rest of his face, so that only a few specks of light (coming from a hobo's burning trash can) hit him.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic has this a lot in ''{{WebVideo/Kickassia}}'', highlighting how his darker DrunkWithPower side is consuming him.
** More serious RuleOfSymbolism version in "The Review Must Go On", as both he and [[spoiler:Doug]] have half their faces obscured by darkness, while innocent sacrifice [[WebVideo/DemoReel Donnie]] always has his in the light.

* [[BigBad Fire Lord Ozai's]] face is seen like this for the first two seasons of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. He drops it in the third season premiere, though.
* The end of "Almost Got 'im" from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' has a variant. [[spoiler:When it's revealed that Killer Croc is really Batman, a swinging ceiling light casts a shadow over Croc's face and you see ''Batman's'' face framed in shadows.]] Creator/PaulDini even admits on the dvd commentary that it made no sense, but it was just [[RuleOfCool so cool]] they had to do it.
* [[BigBad Von Reichter's]] face is ''always'' like this in ''WesternAnimation/CyberSix'', save for his glowing monocle and bright yellow eye.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe]]'' has Orko, whose face is shrouded in shadows, save for his two yellow eyes.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Sparkle's Seven", Luna was in the shadows petting the goose when Spike revealed that she was his accomplice during the Sibling Rivalry.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts," Smithers, a'la Deepthroat, is in shadow while telling Bart and Lisa to "follow the names," trying to offer as little information as possible about his identity other than the fact that he was one of the people in Sideshow Bob's campaign. Unfortunately for Smithers, Homer chose that exact moment to drive up and activate the front lights of his car.
* Slade from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' is shown this way in his earliest appearances. We find out that half of his mask looks like this, not that it helps with him being unnerving.

* Clint Eastwood's face is often framed in shadow in ''Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales'', usually when someone recognizes him or says his name.

* The documentary ''U.N. Me'' had a former peacekeeper official at the UN supply everything he knew about his experiences as a UN peacekeeper (particularly the negative ones) in exchange for his identity to remain hidden. As such, he always is framed in shadow with a voice modifier that sounds similar to a [[Series/StargateSG1 System Lord]].

* ''Manga/SgtFrog'' has [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Kululu/Kururu]], who ''always'' has a shadow over the center of his face.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'', a variation of this occurs: The upper half of Caleb's face is shrouded in shadow from his hat. This is the case in the in-game sprite and in some cutscenes. For the in-game sprite, this was accomplished by painting the upper part of the model's face black (the model would later get photographed and converted to a sprite).

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* Creator/SaulBass's two-tone redesign of the Quaker logo covered up the right half of the Quaker Man's face with the background blue color.

* Used with the chairman of Nergal in ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'', emphasizing his role as what amounted to the show's BigBad... before we even knew what he was guilty of.

* Most of the time the MadScientist [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/professortomoeshiny.jpg Professor Tomoe]] of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' is seen with his faced obscured by a black shadow, ScaryShinyGlasses and a strange red smile.
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' does this at times.
* After a tense battle in ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch slumps exhausted against the side of a building, and talks to his second-in-command Kallen, brazenly not wearing the helmet of his Zero disguise, only from the chin up is his head bathed in shadow. It's at this point the bond of trust between him and Kallen fully crystalizes, with nothing but a few paces between Kallen and Zero's true identity.

* Until his actual introduction, Father from ''[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]]'' is always shown like this.
* In Act 2 of ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'', this is twice used to communicate emotional agitation
** Evil Queen Beryl's eyes and left side of her face are shadowed during her testy scolding of her minion Jadeite in her throne room
** Afterwards, a troubled Jadeite has the right side of his face in shadow after sending off his second [[MonsterOfTheWeek youma]].
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', All Might's HeroicBuild form is perpetually drawn in heavy shadows with half his face obscured and HiddenEyes (this part also persists with his more sickly civilian form). His nemesis All for One is also shown like this in flashbacks (we do get to see [[FacialHorror what passes for his face]] in the present).
* Symbolic example in ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic:'' when Alibaba meets his father, [[spoiler:the King of Balbadd]], his face (and hands) are shown as [[TheBlank blank]] darkness. Later, on his deathbed, Alibaba finally asks [[spoiler:the King]] if he ever really loved Alibaba's mother; when he confirms that he did, his face is suddenly revealed.
* Justified for Maria Campbell in ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'': As the PlayerCharacter of the OtomeGame ''Fortune Lover'', she wouldn't have any personality features save what the player gives her via gameplay and dialogue choices. So she is depicted in this way in Catalina's imagination in the manga and anime adaptations. Once they meet face-to-face, and thus effectively become a real person to Catalina, Maria is shown normally.
* Soga Ninokuru of ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'' has ''hair'' so rigid, his bangs perpetually cast a shadow over the top of his face, though [[ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes his eyes shine through just fine]].
* This shows up countless times in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''; Kohta Hirano appears to particularly enjoy drawing panels of characters' faces where one of their eyes is visible and the other is concealed by either shadows or eye-glasses.

* In ''{{ComicBook/Violine}}'', Francois' face is covered in shadow to indicate that he is being mind controlled.
* ''ComicBook/TheWildStorm:''

** Gloria Spaulding also keeps to the shadows, but while she is a also a murderous lunatic, she's much less of a murderous lunatic than Slayton.

* ''VideoGame/TSUnderswap'': Chara's face becomes covered by a shadow once Genocide is triggered, with their [[HiddenEyes eyes hidden]]. In an aborted Genocide run, Chara's eyes become visible again but their face remains eerily shadowed, creating the appearance of them having a ThousandYardStare.

-->'''Dershowitz:''' You're a very strange man.
-->'''von Bulow:''' ''(face half hidden in limo)'' You have ''no'' idea.
* Almost every introduction of Harmonica into a scene in ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'' is like this, especially the scene where he's revealed by a lantern being thrown into the corner of the bar where he's sitting.

* ''Film/ApocalypseNow'':
** Kurtz throughout his appearances. Necessary because Creator/MarlonBrando showed up for the last week of filming about a dozen pounds overweight, despite Coppola paying him $1 million in advance specifically to play a RankScalesWithAsskicking warlord. And despite that, Brando was worth every penny, ad-libbing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNRBajLM8_4 some of the most iconic five minutes]] of film ever shot in the history of movies.
** There's also a shot of Martin Sheen with his face half-covered in shadow and half in light while another character is talking about how every man has both good and evil in them.
* ''Film/{{Darkman}}'' has a shot of this right near the end.
* Clint Eastwood's face is often framed in shadow in ''Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales'', usually when someone recognizes him or says his name.
* ''Film/CitizenKane'' has a few shots of Kane's face framed in shadow and stepping into light, or the other way around.
* Dr. Gogol gets one of these in ''Film/MadLove'', when he's watching one of Yvonne's shows.
* Used by Don Diego in ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro'' to protect his secret identity when dressed in a padre's cowled robe… with the Zorro costume on underneath that.
* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', Red Skull, when telling Dr. Zola about having located Dr. Erskine, is covered in shadow within a window shining light behind him. Presumably, this was intended in order to hide [[spoiler:his true face]].
** However, he is having his portrait painted at the time, and you can see the artist's palette has only [[spoiler:red paint]]
* In ''Film/PulpFiction'', Butch Coolidge first appears with half of his face in shadow (albeit as much shadow as you can get in a strip club) as he's being offered a large sum of money to throw his upcoming boxing match.
* The documentary U.N. Me had a former peacekeeper official at the UN supply everything he knew about his experiences as a UN peacekeeper (particularly the negative ones) in exchange for his identity to remain hidden. As such, he always is framed in shadow with a voice modifier that sounds similar to a [[Series/StargateSG1 System Lord]].
* In ''Film/TheBishopsWife'', Dudley the angel is shot this way when he first meets the person he's been sent to help, Rev. Brougham. Dudley's a good and benevolent angel, but the effect is still spooky.
* ''Many'' times throughout ''Film/JulietOfTheSpirits'', as Juliet's mansion isn't very well lit at night. Jose the bullfighter, whom Juliet is obviously attracted to, is framed this way when he first appears. When Juliet goes to bed while contemplating her husband's infidelity, her face is in shadow except for one strategic beam of light illuminating her eyes. Suzy is [[https://wondersinthedark.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/juliet-2.jpg framed this way]] when attempting to get Juliet to have sex at her house.
* Billy is framed this way in ''Film/DaysOfHeaven'', when he's peering into Abby and the farmer's bedroom, before he sneaks in and lures Abby out.
* ''Film/OJMadeInAmerica'': A portrait of O.J. Simpson with the left side of his face hidden in shadow is shown for dramatic effect when Part 2 of the series starts to go into how Simpson beat his wife.
* ''Film/MadameCurie'': A lot of this in the dramatic scene in the lab, where Pierre and Marie go over her findings and realize, through logical deduction, that there is a third, unknown element in the pitchblende emitting radiation.
* ''Film/DecisionBeforeDawn'': Rennick, an American officer behind the lines in Nazi Germany, is framed this way when he's hiding behind a pillar, silently pleading with the German child looking straight at him to not give him away. The boy runs off without telling the nearby Nazi patrol.
* ''Film/{{Spectre}}''. When James Bond infiltrates a board meeting of the NebulousEvilOrganisation, their leader's face is hidden in shadow. At first this looks like they're going to do the NoOneSeesTheBoss trope as with the original SPECTRE, until [[FaceRevealingTurn he turns his head]] to [[IKnowYoureWatchingMe look directly at Bond]].

* Creator/IsaacAsimov and Creator/RobertSilverberg's ''Literature/ThePositronicMan'': The 1993 {{Creator/Doubleday}} cover has a small [[FaceOnTheCover portrait representing Andrew Martin]], with a [[TwoFaced half-human, half-robot]] face. The robot side of his face is much darker than the human half, the better to emphasize his glowing red eye.

* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'' does this with secret societies. A ''lot''. They try for TheFaceless, but generally have a hard time with it.
* Raistlin Majere, the mastermind wizard from the ''{{Literature/Dragonlance}}'' chronicles. His face was often hidden in the shadows of his hood, with only his golden eyes glowing from the darkness.

* The album cover of ''Music/TheScore'' by Music/TheFugees shows the band members framed in shadows.
* The cover of ''Music/AfterHours'' shows a full length portrait of Music/SarahVaughan, but her face is partly shadowed.
* Throughout the full video for Music/PoetsOfTheFall's "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]" figures in both the real and MentalWorld have heavily shadowed faces, particularly the GhostInTheMachine "madman" who lunges from, and retreats into the various sharply defined shadows while alternately {{Kubrick Star|e}}ing and pulling faces to spook the viewer.
* ''Music/WithTheBeatles'' by [[Music/TheBeatles guess who]] combines this with FloatingHeadSyndrome, as the cover shows each of the Fab Four's faces half-lit and half in shadow.

* Toys/{{BIONICLE}} ''loved'' this trope. Almost every single promo image featured a character's face, usually the antagonist's, in the background either half-covered in shadow (sometimes dust or fog), or blended with an image of the current location.

* The teaser trailer for ''VideoGame/MystIIIExile'' does this - the game's TragicVillain Saavedro leans out of the shadows with a pained look on his face, sheds a single tear, then says "Hello, Atrus" and grins like a maniac. He later disappears back into the shadows, implying that he's hiding there... just waiting for you... Needless to say, the overall effect is quite chilling.

* [[BigBad Giovanni]], the leader of Team Rocket, is shown with a partially-shadowed face in his [[VideoGame/PokemonStadium Pokémon Stadium]] mugshot as well as the mugshot supplied in his character artwork as seeni in the manuals and official strategy guides of Red, Blue, and Yellow.
* Due to its cel-shaded nature and somewhat noir style, ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'' has its share of shots like this.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'', a variation of this occurs: The upper half of Caleb's face is shrouded in shadow from his hat. This is the case in the in-game sprite and in some cutscenes. For the in-game sprite, this was accomplished by painting the upper part of the model's face black (the model would later get photographed and converted to a sprite).

* In ''VideoGame/ViceProjectDoom'', one half of the villain's looming face isn't even drawn in the opening cutscene.
* The RealIsBrown aesthetics of Videogame/AkatsukiBlitzkampf use this trope [[AuthorAppeal LOTS of times]]. In example we have [[http://wiki.mizuumi.net/w/File:Intro_akatsuki.jpg Akatsuki's intro]] and [[http://wiki.mizuumi.net/w/File:Movelist_akatsuki.jpg portrait]], Murakumo's [[http://i.imgur.com/f2f9YLM.png intro]] and [[http://wiki.mizuumi.net/w/File:Ending_murakumo.jpg ending]], Fritz's [[http://wiki.mizuumi.net/w/File:Ending_fritz.jpg ending]]...
* Tarion in ''VideoGame/TelepathTactics'', whenever he appears through a telepathic message. Only [[RedEyesTakeWarning his eyes]] and a bit of his hands are visible. It's not until the final battle that you get to see his CharacterPortrait in proper lighting.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has an unusual variant with Asgore, the king of monsters. When you fight him, his face isn't visible because he's looking at the ground. [[GameFace It makes him look vicious]], but [[spoiler:it's really because he can't bear to look the player character, a child, in the eye as he tries to kill them]].
** Ralsei in ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' appears to have black fur, [[spoiler:but when he takes his hat off, his full face is shown and his fur is actually white, revealing that he bears an uncanny resemblance to the “Boss Monster” species featured in both games, which includes Asgore and his family.]]

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow''. [[http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2012-03-17/comic/the-bookend-of-unimaginable-power/back-in-black-and-white/ Marley calls]] a mysterious contact, hidden in shadow, to let him know he has the artifact...only for said contact to turn on the light, revealing he's been woken up from bed and has no idea what his friend is talking about. It was a wrong number. When he calls the ''actual'' contact, he's [[VillainsOutShopping cooking while wearing an apron that says "Kiss the Cult Leader."]]
* Used on Ahem in [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/11 this]] early ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' strip, when he admits he lied about why he came to Earth; an interesting example because as a [[StarfishAliens nonhumanoid,]] he kind of doesn't ''have'' a face.
* In ''Webcomic/Life2012'', when Lex calls Felicia, [[http://www.cha0sden.com/Life.php?comic=363 his face is wreathed in shadows]] ... [[InvokedTrope because he's shielding himself from the lightbulb with an umbrella.]]
* ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'': Used in the introduction of Sandra's possibly-mysterious enemy [[http://www.sandraontherocks.com/strips-sotr/wild_and_glamorous here.]]

* WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows is always backlit, so he projects a silhouette to the camera. In crossovers and live appearances, he wears a black mask that obscures all of his face except his mouth.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic has this a lot in ''{{WebVideo/Kickassia}}'', highlighting how his darker DrunkWithPower side is consuming him.
** More serious RuleOfSymbolism version in "The Review Must Go On", as both he and [[spoiler:Doug]] have half their faces obscured by darkness, while innocent sacrifice [[WebVideo/DemoReel Donnie]] always has his in the light.
* During "My Eyes", [[WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Doctor Horrible]] sings about the darkness within him growing with his face half lit by a nearby lamplight. When he sings that soon darkness will be all that remains, he steps back allowing the darkness to cover the rest of his face, so that only a few specks of light (coming from a hobo's burning trash can) hit him.

* Slade from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' is shown this way in his earliest appearances. We find out that half of his mask looks like this, not that it helps with him being unnerving.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts," Smithers, a'la Deepthroat, is in shadow while telling Bart and Lisa to "follow the names," trying to offer as little information as possible about his identity other than the fact that he was one of the people in Sideshow Bob's campaign. Unfortunately for Smithers, Homer chose that exact moment to drive up and activate the front lights of his car.

* [[BigBad Fire Lord Ozai's]] face is seen like this for the first two seasons of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender.'' He drops it in the third season premiere, though.

* In the early decades of ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comics, his cowl was always drawn as if his face was in shadow (i.e., the front was black, fading into blue at the back). (Some artists (and the 60s TV show) interpret this as his cowl actually being two different colors.)
* Harvey Dent, both before and after [[StartOfDarkness his transformation into]] ComicBook/TwoFace, often has his face framed in shadow, either as {{Foreshadowing}} (before), mysterious effect (after), or symbolism of some sort (both)
** Also used in ''Film/TheDarkKnight.''

* Due to its FilmNoir roots, ComicBook/SinCity indulges in this quite a bit. This is mostly seen in ''Yellow Bastard'' with almost every shot of John Hartigan invoking this trope.
* In ''Comicbook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'', the Beagle Boys have their faces in shadow before they get their trademark {{Domino Mask}}s, ensuring we never actually see their faces without them.
* In ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' the comics showing SociopathicHero[=/=]VillainProtagonist Butcher's StartOfDarkness has several of these, most notably the absolutely terrifying one where a teenage Butcher's face is half covered in shadow (complete with [[GlowingEyesOfDoom the eye covered in shadow glowing ominously]]) when he decides to kill his father as he listens to his dad beating his mother.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Dark Phoenix is often drawn this way; ironic, since she gives off a lot of fire.

* [[ComicBook/ThePunisher Frank Castle]] is sometimes shown with his face covered in shadow, the better to convey the utter menace that he is capable of. A perfect example is in the second issue of ''ComicBook/ThePunisherBorn'' when Castle, after giving a VC sniper girl a MercyKill and killing her rapist in cold-blooded fashion, explains his reasons for doing both of those things to Stevie Goodwin.

* A non visual example in the Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} fanfic FanFic/TheDarkAngel: the crime boss that employs Scarface and later Two-Sides is almost completely hidden by the shadows in his appearances so far.

-->-- '''Creator/SteveBuscemi''', [[https://youtu.be/EuOu07gRpEA in the opening scene of]] ''Film/{{Desperado}}''