History Main / ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself

[[AC:WebAnimation/{{Hellaverse}}]]

* ''ComicStrip/TheWizardOfId'': One Halloween, Gwen and then Rodney show up dressed as the Spook, but the King sees through each disguise right away. Then the real Spook arrives...

--->'''Hobbes:''' (''affecting a "ferocious" look'') Maybe I'll just go as myself!

* In Marvel's ''Webcomic/TestKitchen'' series, the volunteers at the Halloween F.E.A.S.T. soup kitchen are all dressed up in superhero costumes. [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Peter Parker]] takes the opportunity to wear a black Spider-Man suit.

* In ''Fanfic/ArcadiaOrBust'', as Claire and Jim find him new clothes to wear (Jim having finally removed his armor), he and Claire are confused for conventioneers at a Horror Convention in the town nearby. They join the costume contest there and [[spoiler:win enough prize money to buy a night in a hotel and a used pick-up truck to transport the Heartstone faster.]]
* In ''Fanfic/AvengersInfiniteWars'', after the Avengers introduce Halloween to the galaxy, Palpatine dresses up in his Sith robes as part of the celebration, even if he avoids interacting with the Jedi for obvious reasons.
* In the ''Supernatural'' AU fic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/12847041/chapters/29336421 Cinderwings]]'', the angels need to obtain a tablet from the Winchesters' castle to free themselves from the void they've been trapped in for centuries, but they can't hide their wings and they're afraid of what will happen if humans discover their existence, so they take advantage of a MasqueradeBall being held at the castle to send in Castiel to steal the tablet during the ball as he's the only one of them who can keep his wings immobile long enough to pass them off as just part of his costume.
* In Chapter 30 of the ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' short-story collection ''Fanfic/ADayIndoors'', Kotaro rises to the challenge of playing the Big Bad Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood by transforming into his {{Wolfman}} form.
* In the ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' fanfic ''Fanfic/DogBreathAndBirdBrain,'' [[SecretKeeper Grace]] brings Octavia along to a friend's Halloween party where the host is specifically holding a contest for people wearing costumes in Octavia's likeness, as she's become ShroudedInMyth after being caught on camera shoplifting. Averted with Loona, however, with Grace noticing that some of her canine features are ''too'' lifelike to pass off as a costume. [[spoiler: Loona tries it anyway later on with a pair of drunks who seem to fall for it, only for them to be [[ObfuscatingStupidity perfectly sober]] undercover agents who lure her into an ambush]].
* In ''[[http://crys.fanficauthors.net/Dream_Journal_of_Harry_J_Potter/index/ Dream Journal of Harry J Potter]]'', one of the chapters (all of which are supposed to be dreams Harry has) is a Halloween where Harry (and Lily) are dressed as Santa's elves, Sirius goes as Santa Claus, James goes as his stag form, and Remus goes... as a werewolf.
* In ''Dust Shalt Thou Eat'', [[Series/GoodOmens2019 Crowley]] needs to enter a church (where the sacred ground will burn his feet) while looking like himself (a demon with snake eyes and big black wings). He waits for Hallowe'en, dresses up in drag and giant platform boots, and gets a lot of compliments.
* Invoked in the [[HalloweenEpisode Halloween Fic]] of the ''Fanfic/FacingTheFutureSeries'' by Tucker when he didn't like [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom Danny]] and Sam's [[ScrewYourself choice of costumes]]. The reason it was avoided was that the author had seen YourCostumeNeedsWork too much.
* ''Fanfic/ForTheGloryOfIrk'': Every year on Halloween, Captain Rose just ditches her disguise and walks around in her normal Tangean form, which people keep mistaking for an elf costume. [[spoiler:All the Irkens who arrive on Earth to support the exiled Tallest do the same.]]
* Inverted in ''Fanfic/FrozenHeartsFinmonster''. Wreck-It Ralph is attending a Halloween party where he meets Sully, the CEO of WesternAnimation/MonstersInc. Sully is attending as UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, because, as he points out to Ralph, "I have to be a monster all year long, might as well be something different for Halloween."
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13640674/1/Halloween-at-the-Burrow Halloween at the Burrow]]'' mentions Teddy announcing that Halloween is his favorite holiday ecause it's the only day of the year where he can change his appearance without receiving weird looks.
* In ''Fanfic/KimberlyTsGargoyles'', after the gargoyles are exposed as real, Xanatos spends a considerable amount of money to create a wide range of authentic-looking gargoyle costumes for Halloween. This has the obvious advantage of allowing the clan to go out in public so long as they paint 'seam lines' on themselves (and Brooklyn only has drinks with straws as his beak would be too obviously real), and Xanatos also creates subtle 'flaws' in the costumes compared to real gargoyles so that the Quarrymens' attempt to frame the gargoyles for assault is swiftly exposed as fake.
* Can be found in a number of ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' Halloween fics.

** In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13497211/7/Crazy-Trouble-With-Love-Part-9 Nathaniel and Marc]]'', [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Gabriel Agreste]] attends a costume convention dressed up as his alter ego, [[BigBad Hawkmoth]].
* In the HalloweenEpisode of ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'', [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Norlock]] points out that he and the Irkens can do this since the humans are so oblivious they wouldn't be able to tell that they're real. It works.
* In ''Fanfic/OfLoveAndBunnies'', Rocky attends Power Rangers Day in a cheap, store-bought Red Ranger costume. However, the mask was ''too'' cheap even for him, so he opted for bringing his actual helmet with him.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13726548/9/One-Dracken-Two-Dracken-Red-Dracken-Blue-Dracken One Dracken, Two Dracken, Red Dracken, Blue Dracken]]'' Harry's cousin Dudley invites him and his five husbands to a Halloween party. They all just put on a nice robe and tuck their wands in their pockets.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12892965/12/Only-off-by-a-Little Only off by a Little]]'' Harry's Muggle adoptive father invites Amelia Bones to a Halloween costume party at his place of employment, the theme of which happens to be magic in general.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' fic ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'', Jade goes in her new appearance for the Halloween chapter, going for maximum creepiness. Ratso, of course, actually asks where she's going to get a costume at the last minute. Everyone just stares at him.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13415233/1/Shining-Knight-Under-Duress Shining Knight Under Duress]]'' a potions accident resulted in Snape being turned into a vampire, while Hermione became part-basilisk and Harry and Luna part-deer. An adult Hermione is enthusiastic about Halloween because it's the one day of the year when their children don't have to wear a glamour in public.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5816064/1/Silent-Conversations Silent Conversations]]'' Hermione's parents host a Muggle Halloween party and Harry's "costume" is his wand and one of his work robes.

* In the ''Fanfic/TriptychContinuum'' story [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/423472/for-nightmare-night-we-are-going-as-ourselves "For Nightmare Night We Are Going As Ourselves"]], the Mane Six are stranded until morning after a mission in a faraway town, with little money and no food. Upon discovering a high-class Nightmare Night masquerade party, Rarity has them crash the party by pretending to be themselves (with Twilight pretending to be a pegasus pretending to be her). Plenty of YourCostumeNeedsWork ensues, along with disturbing revelations about what several non-Ponyville ponies ''think'' they know about the Mane Six, mostly courtesy of tabloids.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In one ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'', Archie and Jughead are dressed as vampires and accidentally get invited to a party full of real monsters, who are celebrating because this is the one day of the year they can walk around normally.
* ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'': In both of her origins -''ComicBook/DetectiveComics'' #359 and ''ComicBook/BatgirlYearOne''-, Barbara Gordon created the Batgirl costume for a Halloween party and didn't tell anyone about it so that when she went to the party no one knew it was her, however when a group of criminals crash the party she defeats them as Batgirl and has used the costume since.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** An arc of ''Legends of the Dark Knight'' entitled ''Idols'' features a craze among Gothamites for dressing as Franchise/{{Batman}}. Bruce Wayne attends a party wearing a bat pendant, then has to steal someone else's bat mask in order to save the day as Batman when there's a riot.
** During the "Midnight" story arc, Batman says that he likes Halloween because he can walk around downtown in his costume and nobody cares. He even talks to a little kid, also in a Batman costume, who compliments his utility belt.
** Subverted in a Batman short story. During Mardi Gras, a guy dresses in a Batman costume, actually gets involved with criminals, and is rescued by the real Batman -- in a Franchise/{{Zorro}} costume.
--->'''Batman:''' [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee Even]] ''[[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee I]]'' [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee have heroes.]]
** In the ''Webcomic/LilGotham'' Halloween issue, Batman and Robin are tracking down some criminals. Unfortunately, ''everyone'' is dressed up like a rogue or vigilante. Cut to the villains eating dinner and celebrating how they can go out in public without being arrested.
** One story opens with what appears to be ComicBook/TheRiddler unmasking Batman as Bruce Wayne to the entirety of his RoguesGallery, only to reveal that Bruce was dressed as Zorro at a costume party he was holding and the Riddler who went as himself (during a stint as a private detective) just figured out who he was and the supervillains are really just costumed partygoers.
* In ''ComicBook/TheBooksOfMagic'', Zatanna takes Tim Hunter to a Halloween Ball. Halfway through, Tim looks at the wolfmen, vampires, and [[BlackMagic black magicians]] around him and says, "It's just occurred to me, these people, they're not wearing masks, are they?"
* The second ''ComicBook/ConfessionsOfATeenageVampire'' graphic novel had the eponymous teenage vampire, Lily Jordan, throw a Halloween costume party. Not surprisingly, she attends as a vampire. This volume also introduces us to the werewolf Talbot who attends the party as a werewolf.
* One storyline in the 80s ''ComicBook/{{Eagle}}'' strip "Doomlord" has Doomlord going to a costume party as...Doomlord. There are actually five Doomlords there and the organisers decide to have an impromptu Best Doomlord contest. He comes second.
* In several volumes of ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'', Emp dresses up as herself as part of a group of superhero team lookalikes for store promotions and such as her day job as being an actual associate member of the team doesn't pay. It is lampshaded how the costume she is wearing for the gig is much less revealing than her regular one.
* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'':
** Iris Allen was murdered at a costume party where all the guests were dressed as superheroes and supervillains. Not only did Barry Allen go as the Flash, but many of his RoguesGallery were there in their own costumes. Hal Jordan was there as well as Green Lantern, as noted by the Reverse Flash, might have been some other heroes as well.
** An issue of ''Impulse'' has him going to a school Halloween party in his costume. He is, of course, not the only Impulse there.
* In one ''ComicBook/HackSlash'' story, an investigation takes Cassie and Vlad to a comic convention, where Vlad's monstrous appearance and creepy gas mask causes people to mistake him for a cosplayer. This wasn't intentional on his part, and he doesn't seem to get that everyone thinks he's wearing a costume.
* In an issue of ''ComicBook/HarleyQuinn'', Harley shows up at one of Bruce Wayne's masquerade balls in her own costume. She even introduces herself as Harley Quinn. He is actually suspicious -- but then, he is Batman. He'd have every right to be suspicious regardless. As Tom Katers points out, thieves and supervillains in the DCU have a habit of breaking into high-class costume parties by pretending to be someone pretending to be them.
* Unintentional example: In ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} vs. ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' Kate Bishop [[https://i.imgur.com/3jZHXCH.png meets]] the latter for the first time on Halloween and compliments him on "The best [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]] make up I've ever seen" only to be flatly told by Clint that it's Deadpool's [[FacialHorror actual face]]. Kate merely smiles, shoots Deadpool a thumbs up and a happy Halloween, then turns around and [[ScreamingAtSquick silently screams at Clint]].
* In the first ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' story, Hour-Man told a story of how he went to a costume party dressed as Hour-Man and ran into a gang of thieves planning to rob the party, all of them dressed as Hour-Man.
* ''ComicBook/TheSpirit Holiday Special'' had a similar story, where-in a group of five criminals perform a late-night robbery disguised as the Spirit, and go unnoticed because it's Halloween. The Spirit manages to infiltrate and take down the group because none of them noticed a sixth man in the same costume.
* In ''Masks 2'' #1, ComicBook/TheShadow and Radio/TheGreenHornet infiltrate a masquerade party wearing their usual costumes. Green Hornet notes that he has seen at least three other party-goers dressed as him.
* While ''ComicBook/{{Morbius}}'' is hiding on a ship, the ship's costume ball is the only time when he can go out and get some fresh air.
* In Vertigo's ''ComicBook/PropositionPlayer'', Moloch and Anubis (of Hebrew and Egyptian theology) are looking for the protagonist in Las Vegas, the latter not bothering to hide his animal head.
-->'''Anubis:''' This is Las Vegas. We just saw thirteen Elvises play blackjack. They'll assume I'm part of some Egyptian attraction.
* ''ComicBook/PS238'': During the "Crisis In Alternate-Omaha" arc, when the kids find themselves in a universe that has no superhumans, they pretend that their superhero outfits are for a costume party when they're stopped by police (while [[FlyingBrick Julie 84]] pretends to be an incredibly realistic helium balloon by tieing a string to her belt).
* In ''ComicBook/Robin1993'', Tim and Stephanie go to a costumed Sci-fi movie viewing on a date in full uniform as Robin and Spoiler where they are complemented on their original designs (at this point Batman and the Batclan are widely considered to be urban legends).
* A one-shot special of ''ComicBook/{{Shi}}'' telling Japanese ghost stories has the namesake heroine remarking Halloween is the only time she can wear her assassin outfit without impunity or being mistakenly attacked by her enemies. Lampshaded a bit when a trick-or-treater praises Shi for her costume but misidentifies it as a costume worn by Zealot of the ComicBook/WildCATsWildStorm.
* Played with in ''ComicBook/TheSimpingDetective''. Jack attends a "hate party" where all the local mob dress as various characters from ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' canon as himself. Nobody recognizes who he is supposed to be until someone else turns up as Jack. Galen Demarco attends as herself, but in a manner that she appears to be her intelligent gorilla partner dressed as her.
* In a one-page gag from ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'', all the Smurfs attend a costume party dressed as Papa Smurf, except for one Smurf, who seems to be dressed as himself. The catch? The ordinary Smurf is ''actually'' Papa Smurf ''wearing a costume''.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1963'' #226, the ComicBook/{{Black Cat|MarvelComics}} meets Spider-Man at a costume party. She wears her own costume but mistakes a random party-goer dressed as Spider-Man for the real thing. Turns out Spidey is InTheHood.
** During ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichaelStraczynski'', Peter takes a tailor who designs costumes for supervillains to a safe place. The safe place? A Coffee House where he often goes in full attire, because no way [[HiddenInPlainSight would the real Spidey just hang out at a coffee shop.]]
--->'''Spider-Man:''' Hey! I'm Spider-Man, right? Tell the guy I'm Spider-Man!\\
'''Waiter:''' (''calling back'') Yeah, yeah, you're Spider-Man. [[AndImTheQueenOfSheba And I'm Dorothy.]] Just a minute, while I get my red freaking shoes on...
** In one issue of ''ComicBook/SpideySuperStories'', Peter goes to a Halloween party in his actual costume, except with a DominoMask instead of the real deal.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
** In ''ComicBook/AdventureComics'' [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/b/b1/Adventure_Comics_Vol_1_392.jpg #392]], It's ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Day at Stanhope Women's College, so everybody's supposed to wear a Supergirl dress. Unfortunately, Kara flew through something radioactive and now her dress is being decontaminated. As Linda, she gets a replica dress at school but has to wear it for some actual super-deed that leaves it badly ripped. She simply tells everyone she took it off because it was a bad fit and didn't look right.
** In ''ComicBook/StarfiresRevenge'', villain Starfire's gang is pulling bank robberies in the neighboring town of Carvale, where a Mardi Gras celebration is going on. So Kara goes to the party dressed as Supergirl in order to blend into the crowd and capture the robbers.
** A comic has Supes going to the Daily Planet's Halloween costume party... as Superman! So he [[DeconstructedTrope buys a cheaper Superman costume]] (the spandex part is [=OK=] but the cape is a solid plastic piece which he has to throw away halfway through the party), and goes with his glasses on, so that he's [[ClarkKenting obviously just Clark Kent disguised as Superman]]. It helps that every other guy at the party ''and one girl'' decided to go as Superman too, and many of their disguises [[YourCostumeNeedsWork were better]]. All this leads to one of the most amusing scenes in Superman ever, when the obligatory supervillains crash the party and he tears down his Superman costume to reveal his Superman costume.
** Something similar happened when Clark Kent was on a talk show. He and the other guests had been invited because they (and the host) had all been publicly suspected of being Superman's secret identity, so all of them wore the costume on stage.
** Averted in a Halloween issue of the ''ComicBook/DCComicsPresents''. Clark attends a costume party as Green Lantern.
** In a subversion, there's an issue where Clark and Lois go to a costume party [[http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kzljkmSppb1qbt9t9o1_500.jpg dressed as Batman and Robin.]] And then they stand around in their costumes sticking their tongues down each other's throats and...well, it's really hard to believe that the writers weren't poking fun at the "Ambiguously Gay Duo!" meme that sprung up around the [[HoYay rich single guy who dresses little boys in pixie boots and tiny shorts]] a long time ago. Also, Superman flatly states that Batman's going to kill him [[strike:if]] when he finds out.
** Also subverted in a Mxyzptlk story, when Clark went to a party as Green Lantern. When the crazy stuff starts and ComicBook/JimmyOlsen, dressed as Thor, turns into a REAL thunder Tiamat and flies off, Clark surreptitiously uses his heat vision to heat up his fake power ring. "Look, Lois -- my ring is glowing!" "Maybe the magic is giving it real powers too! Can you fly after Jimmy?" "Well, I'll try..."
** Played with in ''ComicBook/TheGirlWithTheXRayMind''. Linda Danvers wants to attend a fancy-dress ball, but her mother hints that she should NOT go as Supergirl because she would be foolishly drawing attention to herself. Her friend Lena Thorul ''goes'' as Supergirl, though, and when she is mistakenly credited with subduing a gang of bank robbers crashing the party, Linda's boyfriend Dick Malverne believes Lena ''is'' Supergirl and was hiding in plain sight.
--->'''Dick Malverne:''' Clever of her to pretend her Supergirl outfit is only a hired costume!
* One issue of ''[[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' is set during Halloween; when the cops show up after the big fight is over, they tell the turtles to go on their way, thinking they're just kids in costume.
** Similar in the non-canon (but Eastman-and-Laird illustrated) short story in the TMNT RolePlayingGame, where the Turtles go to a Hallowe'en party as themselves (and no one has any idea what they're supposed to be). The irony is they DID have costumes, but they got shredded in a fight early on in the story.
* At the start of ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'' Cedric and Vathek infiltrate a Halloween party. Cedric, being a ShapeShifter, goes out in his human form, modified to make it look like he's wearing a costume, but Vathek is openly showing his ogre-like looks and wearing his normal outfit... And wins the prize for the best costume.
** Later in the series, the girls go to a Halloween party in their Guardian forms.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/AmericanPsycho'', serial killer Patrick Bateman goes to a Halloween party dressed as a serial killer, complete with real human blood on his suit. He comes in second in the party's costume contest, which really upsets him.
* In the book ''Literature/{{Beastly}}'' by Alex Flinn, a modern take on "Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast", the Beast, Kyle, attends a high school's Halloween party with regular clothes on over his fur.
* In Creator/TanyaHuff's ''[[Literature/BloodBooks Blood Lines]]'', vampire Henry Fitzroy goes to a Halloween party as Dracula. His partner is dubious, but Henry points out it's actually good camouflage--if he pretends to be a vampire on Halloween, obviously he isn't one the rest of the year.
* In the ''Literature/BookOfTheNewSun'', Severian attends a masquerade ball in his executioner's outfit, under the (correct) assumption that everyone will assume that it's a disguise.
* Spider Robinson's ''Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon'' story "Unnatural Causes". An alien Krundai comes to Callahan's bar on Halloween night as himself (green, furry and pointed, oversized ears).
* Played with in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfVladimirTod: Eight Grade Bites''. Vlad, a vampire, goes to a Halloween party wearing plastic fangs and a cape.
* {{Discussed}} in ''Literature/TheCloakSociety,'' when the main characters, a group of {{Kid Sidekick}}s and reformed supervillains, wear Halloween costumes while going on a mission.
-->'''[[GreenThumb Kyle]]:''' But you just get to wear that DominoMask? That's not even a costume.\\
'''[[{{Telekinesis}} Alex]]:''' Yes it is. I'm a bank robber.\\
'''Kyle:''' [[ContinuityNod When I met you, you were robbing a bank]]. That's ''not'' a costume.
** For added humor, [[{{Animorphism}} Kirbie]] is wearing a werewolf mask.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** In one of the early books, as an homage to "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath", a wizard who has just summoned Death is surprised to notice that, besides the usual outfit of cowl and scythe, he is also holding a cocktail sausage on a toothpick.
--->'''Death:''' (''defensively'') I WAS AT A PARTY.\\
'''Wizard:''' Er ... was it a good party?\\
'''Death:''' AT THE MOMENT IT IS. I SUSPECT IT MAY GO DOWNHILL VERY QUICKLY AFTER MIDNIGHT.\\
'''Wizard:''' Why?\\
'''Death:''' THAT'S WHEN THEY THINK I'M GOING TO TAKE MY MASK OFF.
** In the later novel ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', as well as the non-Discworld short story "Turntables of the Night", Death ''is'' wearing a cheap skeleton mask over his actual skull.
--->'''Death:''' I THOUGHT I SHOULD GET INTO THE SPIRIT OF THE THING.
** And then there's ''Literature/WyrdSisters'', where Death takes the place on stage of an actor who was supposed to be playing Death... and then gets stage fright. As he points out, in his line of work, normally only one person sees him at a time. An audience is kind of new for him.
** Intentionally used by the Faculty of Unseen University, who don "False False Beards" -- little loops of wire over their ears and into their real beards -- to "disguise" them as people wearing very obvious false wizard-beards.
** Re-visited in ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'', when Mrs. Proust disguises Tiffany's genuine witch hat by sprinkling glitter on it and attaching an "Apprentice Witch Hat, AM $2.50" costume-shop label to its brim. It also turns out that Mrs. Proust is not wearing one of the stereotyped WickedWitch masks she sells ... she was the model for them.
** In ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'', Greebo is transformed from a nasty gray tomcat into a human so he can accompany the witches to the Samedi Nuit Mort masked ball. He chooses a ginger cat mask to wear ("Alwaysss wanted to be gingerrrr.")
** Also in ''Witches Abroad'', the witches are watching a parade with several dancers disguised as skeletons (all in black, with the bones painted on). As they share a bottle, Nanny Ogg passes it to the tall, skeletal figure next to her and remarks, "My, them bones is painted on good." A moment later she does a belated double-take, but by then Death has already moved on.
** In ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', the heroes need to sneak into a heavily-fortified... um, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment fortress]]. Since the squad is comprised of [[spoiler:Girls pretending to be boys]], they take the obvious route of masquerading as "washerwomen". They get caught out by the guards because they are ''obviously'' [[spoiler:boys dressed as women]]. Which Tonker then debunks by [[spoiler:flashing the guards.]] Subverted by Lt. Blouse, who DOES get in, despite being [[spoiler:the ''only actual male in the squad'']], and hence the only one who is actually disguised as a female.
** Inverted in ''Literature/{{Eric}}'', where Astfgl the King of Hell dresses in royal diabolic regalia of his own design... which is, basically, a kid's cheap Halloween devil-costume, complete with silly strap-on hornlets and a trident that keeps falling apart.
* ''Literature/DreamPark'': In ''The Moon Maze Game'', teenage Prince Ali of Kikaya participates in the titular {{LARP}} in the role of... a young prince of Kikaya.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** Played with when wizard [[FirstPersonSmartass Harry]] [[DeadpanSnarker Dresden]] goes to the Vampire's Masquerade Ball... dressed as a vampire. He is being deliberately insulting, and so dresses as the most cliche Dracula stereotype he can come up with; caked-on white face paint, giant cape with a tall collar, fake blood around his mouth, the works.
--->'''Harry:''' Not only that, but a ''cheesy'' vampire.
** Played straight with his friend Michael, Knight of the Cross, who went dressed as a Knight Templar to the same party. The vampires thought it was a costume until one made the mistake of touching him and got burned.
* Used in some ''Literature/ForgottenRealms'' novels:
** Including Ed Greenwood's ''Silverfall'' (Qilue came round a masquerade "disguised" as "drow princess") and Elaine Cunningham's ''Daughter of the Drow'' (Dark Elves are stylish and thus a valid "costume"):
-->'''[[spoiler:Fyodor]]:''' You wish to join the festival, and slip into the city among the others... But what about your disguise?\\
'''Liriel Baenre:''' I'm a drow, of course. It's quite an exotic costume. And authentic, too!
** In Ed Greenwood's ''[[SideStoryBonusArt Ladies Night at the Yawning Portal]]'':
--->''Jalamra, Jalamra, [[SeenItAll have you not seen spell-spun illusions before]]? I ask you: just ''how'' would a band of no less than ''seven'' [[BrainFood illithids]], [[RefugeInAudacity walking along quite openly]] in their robes [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} with mauve tentacles a-slimily quivering]], manage to get right to the heart of Waterdeep? Next you'll be telling me th--...''
* ''Literature/TheFurtherAdventuresOfBatman'': In "Literature/WiseMenOfGotham", Bruce Wayne is at a costume ball and disguised as Batman ([[YourCostumeNeedsWork admittedly looking shabby due to his recent late-night activities]]), along with about three other people who are also pretending to be Batman.
* In ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'', the first book of the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', many people in the streets of Darujhistan are impressed by the great Tiste Andii 'costume' Anomander Rake is wearing for Lady Simtal's party. The laquered dragon mask also turns out to be more of an in-joke than a disguise, since he [[VoluntaryShapeshifting can turn into one]]. Alchemist Baruk called it, too:
-->'''Anomander Rake:''' As I understand such things, the event includes the wearing of disguises. Do you fear I lack taste?
-->'''Alchemist Baruk:''' I've no doubt your attire will be suitable. Particularly if you choose the costume of a Tiste Andii warlord.
* The protagonist of ''Literature/TheGargoyle'' enjoys the lack of attention his hideous burns receive during Halloween. Now, if only they didn't make his angel costume look so satanic...
* In ''[[Literature/LegendsOfLaconia Halloween Romance]]'', the two [[OurVampiresAreDifferent main]] [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent characters]] meet while they are both doing this.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', a Muggle child complimented Voldemort on his "costume" just before he murdered the Potters on Halloween of 1981.
* In ''Literature/InSearchOfDorothy'', the Scarecrow finds it easy to get around Earth due to Halloween making everyone think he's wearing a costume.
* In Creator/CharlesDeLint's ''Jack of Kinrowan'', a pink-haired fairy mentions that one reason she likes the modern era is that she no longer has to dye her hair.
* Used cleverly in the subversive children's novel ''Literature/JenniferHecateMacbethWilliamMcKinleyAndMeElizabeth''. Jennifer, a sombre, [[CreepyChild beautifully creepy]] Afro-American girl, wears authentic Pilgrim clothing to her school's Halloween party. She tells her friend Elizabeth that the real witches were Pilgrims and that she herself is a witch who spends most of the year disguised as an ordinary schoolgirl; by dressing this way she is becoming undisguised.
* In ''[[Literature/JunieBJones Junie B., First Grader]]: BOO... and I MEAN It!'', Junie B. is scared of Halloween because of five secrets that Paulie Allen Puffer told her and said that she mustn't tell anyone else or her head will turn into a wart. The first of these is that real monsters and witches go trick or treating on Halloween, but don't wear costumes because everybody thinks they're already dressed up. "BUT THEY'RE NOT. THEY ARE WEARING THEIR REAL ACTUAL FACE AND CLOTHES!"
* The fictional play ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'' features this scene. (The excerpt is found in "The Mask" by Robert W. Chambers.)
-->'''Camilla:''' You, sir, should unmask.\\
'''Stranger:''' Indeed?\\
'''Cassilda:''' Indeed it's time. We have all laid aside disguise but you.\\
'''Stranger:''' I wear [[TheBlank no mask]].\\
'''Camilla:''' (''terrified, aside to Cassilda'') [[HumanoidAbomination No mask?]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation No mask?!?]]
* Creator/MercedesLackey:
** Invoked and averted in the Literature/DianaTregarde story "Satanic, Versus..." The heroine considers going to a costume party with her boyfriend as a witch and a vampire--but he argues that there's no point in going as what they really are, and they dress as ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' instead.
** Played straight in one of the Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar novels. When feline BeastMan Nyara goes into Hardorn with [[PerformerGuise a covert team]], she goes in disguise ... as a "misshapen" woman made up to look like a catgirl, complete with "seams" shaved into her fur and a set of [[AnimalEaredHeadband absurdly large fake ears]].
** Toyed with in the Valdemar novel ''Oathbreakers''. [[{{Ojou}} Lady Kethryveris of house Pheregrul]] rides into the capital of Rethwellan with a string of high-quality mounts for sale, obtained through her oath-sisterhood with Shin'a'in chieftain Tarma shena Tale'sedrin. While the preceding was completely true the two left out a few details (not least of which were the facts that House Pheregrul [[ImpoverishedPatrician had been on hard times for decades]] and clan Tale'sedrin [[LastOfHisKind had exactly two members, counting Tarma's oathsister]]).
** Similarly in ''Exile's Valor'', Herald Myste Willinger managed to infiltrate the outside bit of a conspiracy using her own face, name, and pre-Choosing skillset because; as the Haven-reared frumpy nearsighted clerk convinced her new [[BondCreatures Companion]] to let her give notice and take her up the hill via side streets after dark, ''none of her prior acquaintances (including the co-conspirator who spotted her) knew she was a Herald'' and all she needed was a plausible excuse for having dropped out of sight.
--->'''Alberich''': "Where else, but for the Army working? At least until the Wars ended."
* One of the earliest [[TropeCodifier Trope Codifiers]] was Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath". In the story, a plague has swept the world and torn through the populace. A Duke ends up holding an extravagant party as the world dies around his estate, and locks the doors so no plague carriers can get in or out. Of course, when the Small Ben strikes midnight, it turns out that [[ItWasHisSled one of the party guests isn't wearing a mask after all, and is actually the personification of the plague]]. And then [[EveryoneDiesEnding everybody dies]].
* In the first ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' YA novel, Frankie rallies her friends to flaunt their true natures at the Halloween dance to rebel against the {{Masquerade}}, and simultaneously impress Brett, the movie monster fanboy she's crushing on. It goes to hell when she and Brett are making out [[spoiler:and he fiddles with Frankie's neck stitches, causing [[LosingYourHead her head to fall off]]]].
* In Creator/BruceCoville's ''[[Literature/MagicShop The Monster's Ring]]'', the main character twists the ring twice ("Twist it once, you're horned and haired;/Twist it twice, and fangs are bared...") shortly before the school Halloween party and lets everyone assume the result is an incredibly good costume.
* In ''Nightingale's Lament'', a {{Literature/Nightside}} novel, a singer eludes her rabid fans' attentions by stopping off at a nightclub where all the staff, and most of the patrons, are [[spoiler:drag queen]] impersonators of their favorite singing divas. She easily passes unnoticed in the crowd of Madonnas, Dolly Partons, and assorted Spice Girls.
* ''[[Literature/TheLaundryFiles The Nightmare Stacks]]'' by Creator/CharlesStross. The elf spy who's trying to HoneyTrap Laundry operative Alex Schwartz has to meet his parents, but worries they might be powerful sorcerers who can [[GlamorFailure see past her glamor]]. So she gets some friends to organise a cosplay party afterwards and goes as Agent First of Spies and Liars, the first daughter of the Elven King. Fortunately the parents are quite mundane and far too distracted by Alex's sister marrying a transgender boy/girlfriend to pay much attention to Alex's {{Manic Pixie Dream Girl}}friend. Alex though finally tumbles to [[DistractedByTheSexy what he should have noticed some time ago]], glamor or not.
* Although he does wear a costume, in ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' it is implied that Erik is not wearing a mask when he attends the masquerade as Red Death.
* In Creator/RobertBloch's "The Secret Of Sebek", some genuine occultists avoid persecution for their practices by hosting parties for dilettante spiritualists and psychic charlatans, ensuring their own ''genuine'' mystic rites will go unremarked upon.
* Used twice in the eighth novel of ''Literature/WearingTheCape'', specifically in the story crossover with ''Webcomic/GrrlPower''. The straightest version is when Sydney (aka The Mighty Halo), main protagonist of the webcomic swaps her real gear for toy versions and a metal ring that appears to hold her orbs (which normally float above her head in a circle when not in use), to look like a Halo cosplayer while scoping the dealers room of a convention her team is attending. The second time is when Astra, main protagonist from the novels, arrives in Sydney's reality while in costume... where she and her team and their exploits are the subject of a superhero television show and she is presumed to be someone cosplaying as the character at the same convention.
* In ''[[Literature/WingsQuartet Wings]]'' by Aprilynne Pike, David helps make Laurel's wings look fake so she can be convincing at the school costume ball. Extra 'Awwwww!' factor for the cutesy line: [[spoiler:"I'll have to tell them only Laurel gets wings."]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{ALF}}'' did this one, too, with a zipper attached to his fur. It still left guests wondering about his height, though.
* ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}''
** Most demons don't like going out during Halloween because it's so commercialized and kitschy, and consider it the one day of the year they'd rather stay home. In ''Series/{{Angel}}'' a half-demon was kept trapped in his house by his mother growing up because he looks hideous. The only time she ever let him outside was on Halloween, which is a humiliation in itself.
** Lorne often pretends he's wearing a costume to deal with people's reactions to his green-skin & red horns. When he got a job as a singer in Vegas, all the dancing girls (The Lornettes) wore green makeup & red horns to match. Incidentally, we also learn that only one member of the Blue Man Group actually wears makeup. There's also the episode where Lorne pretends to be dressed up to read to the children when a case takes the group to a library. The librarian compliments him on his realistic mask but points out that [[YourCostumeNeedsWork the horns aren't very convincing]].
** In Season 4 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', the Initiative walk around openly on Halloween in their soldier outfits. Buffy notices them and doesn't think much of it until she encounters them later in the season.
* Averted in the Creator/CBeebies series ''Series/{{Balamory}}'' when Archie managed to persuade PC Plum to dress as a robot for the party, and not as a policeman. Again.
* The leonine Vincent took advantage of this in one episode of the ''Series/{{Beauty and the Beast|1987}}'' series. Creator Creator/GeorgeRRMartin says that they hoped to do the same thing every season on an annual "Halloween" episode, but that didn't pan out.
* When ''Series/TheCape'' attended a costume ball in his full superhero regalia, not only did he successfully blend in, but he discovered that a character he helped in an earlier episode was also at the party in a knockoff Cape costume. He was flattered to have "a fan," although that's odd considering that he himself had adopted the identity of a preexisting comic-book character, so why would he think it was about him? Then again, the comic book didn't seem to be very well-known within the show's universe.
* All over the place in the first Halloween episode of ''Series/Charmed1998'':
** Phoebe dresses as Elvira, Piper dresses as [[Film/TheWizardOfOz Glinda]] and Prue... smears glitter across her eyes. When they're accidentally transported back to Salem in the 1700s, the coven of Wiccans who summoned them is surprised that witches can move about freely in the future (which raises questions of why they associate a puffy pink dress and crown with witchcraft, but that's another matter). They're given contemporary clothing to blend in, which they wind up wearing to the Halloween party back in the present. So originally they'd dressed up as pop culture's version of witches, only to replace the costume with more accurate witch apparel, falling further in line with the trope.
** Darryl (a cop) and Leo (a whitelighter who died in World War II) both wear their "first uniforms" as their costumes. Leo's confuses Darryl since he doesn't know all the family's secrets yet.
** Meanwhile, in one of the many instances of the show creating a rule that is only ever shown to apply once, it's stated that Halloween is the one day a year that vanquished demons can come back to earth. The Grimlocks (the only demons who actually come back) aren't too concerned about hiding anymore (they're already dead, so screw TheMasquerade), but no one notices them walking around because it's assumed they're just wearing costumes. The one kid who comments on it gets a ForceChoke for his effort (though, again, force choking is just what Grimlocks do).
** The Grimlocks themselves consider Belthazor to be wearing a "Cole" costume, which still qualifies, since he has a human form and demonic form he can switch between freely, so his Cole form is still him. No matter where you think he actually lies on the Good-Evil spectrum, his actual costume at the end is an aversion: he goes as an angel.
* In one Halloween episode of ''Series/CriminalMinds'', JJ's son Henry doesn't want to go trick or treating because one of his friends told him it's the only day real monsters can go out and blend in. JJ convinces him to go as his favorite profiler (Reid) so he can figure out which monsters are real and which are faking.
--> '''Rossi:''' I never thought of that. Good monster logic.
** Averted in another Halloween episode. The unsub was severely burned years ago, leaving his face horribly scarred. He enacts his revenge during Detroit's three-day pre-Halloween Devil's Night celebrations, but it has nothing to do with being able to move freely. He lives a normal life and holds down a job the rest of the year, and while a witness assumes he's wearing a mask, he's still easily identified as being out of place and stalking one of his victims. He chose the holiday because it's the anniversary of his own disfigurement and because the mischief that generally ensues provides cover for his own activities: he kills by burning his victims alive in abandoned buildings, and Devil's Night has a history of vandalism and arson, which enabled him to get away with it for years before the police recognized the pattern.
* In a Halloween episode of ''Series/DarkAngel'', several of the cast (who were transgenic supersoldiers with barcodes on their necks) tried to pass for people dressed as... transgenic supersoldiers with barcodes on their necks. The response to the costumes varied, some were considered cool, others unoriginal, and some normal humans were using the same costume. The transgenics were actually what they were cosplaying as, and using it as a cover, but some were still told YourCostumeNeedsWork.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Halloween Apocalypse" has an alien called Karvanista, a member of the dog-like Lupari species, arrive on Earth with the intention of abducting Dan Lewis... but because he arrives on Halloween, Dan treats him like a man in a dog costume and refuses to take the threat of abduction seriously. After he completes his mission, Karvanista transmits data on the Halloween festival to the rest of his fleet, thinking they can use it to hide in plain sight amongst humanity.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' uses this one, when the aliens accidentally land on 1985 Earth. They use the [[ContrivedCoincidence fortuitous happenstance]] of landing there the night before Hallowe'en to disguise their alien-ness. It doesn't work so well...but a little bit of hallucinogenic dust goes a long way.
* Used in ''Series/{{The Flash|1990}}''. Almost everyone at the police costume party was going as The Flash despite the fact that nobody actually knew what he looked like beyond the red and gold blur. Naturally, when the real Flash showed up, his costume was deemed [[YourCostumeNeedsWork bland and unimaginative]]. Even the Trickster picked the wrong Flash, targeting Officer Murphy instead. The illusion crumbled when the real Flash used his powers.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Zig-zagged in "The One With The Halloween Party". Rachel and Joey both seemingly have forgone costumes. Rachel says that she is a pregnant woman who wants to wear her new dress because soon it won't fit anymore. Then, Joey reveals that he actually ''is'' wearing a costume: he's dressed as Chandler.
* In the episode "The Night the Cylons Landed" of ''Series/{{Galactica 1980}}'' the Centurion was mistaken for a guy in a Halloween costume.
** In ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'', the crew finally reaches Earth on Halloween, so everyone assumes they're regular humans despite their unusual clothes.
* Played ''not'' for laughs in an episode of ''Series/GreysAnatomy''. A guy with some facial imperfection tries to get [[TheCasanova Dr. Sloan]] to give him an operation as charity. On Halloween. His convincing line was ''On the way here, seven people have asked me what my disguise was about. So far.''
* In the ''Series/{{iZombie}}'' pilot, Liv attends a neighborhood Halloween party as a zombie, but she does add some "flesh decay" makeup to her face since most people are used to seeing her normal "extremely pale with white hair" appearance and just assume she's emo or goth.
* Reference in one episode of ''Series/JudgeJudy'', wherein Judge Judy remarks (after scaring some common sense into a witness), "I don't need to dress up for Halloween, I just go as me."
* On ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', the team travel to 1988 to help save a young Ray Palmer. At the conclusion, they show up in their full uniforms (including new member Zari in costume for the first time) to help the younger Ray trick or treating.
* ''Series/{{Lucifer}}''. When Maze takes Trixie out trick-or-treating, the latter expresses disappointment that she doesn't have a costume as well. So Maze tells her to turn around, then drops her glamor to reveal a [[TwoFaced half-decayed face]]. Trixie is delighted with the result, to Maze's visible relief.
* Invoked in ''Series/TheMiddle'''s seventh-season Halloween episode when Axl's friend suggests that the mysterious trick-or-treater in TheGrimReaper costume they keep seeing might actually ''be'' Death since Halloween is the one night of the year Death could walk around like that without anyone thinking anything's amiss.
* Played straight in ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers''. Zordon's assistant robot Alpha Five loves Halloween because he can go mingle with kids as if it's just a costume. In one episode, Zordon specifically told him to go to the Juice Bar to look after the party guests, knowing that he wouldn't raise any suspicion.
** In the same episode, Bulk and Skull congratulate themselves on their "punk" costumes... which they don't seem to notice are made of their normal, everyday clothes.
** Also from that episode, the MonsterOfTheWeek (A FrankensteinsMonster, naturally). Including a [[Funny/MightyMorphinPowerRangers hilarious bit where a lusty teenage girl drags it off to the dance floor]].
* This trope was used as early as the black-and-white TV show ''Series/TheMunsters''. During a Halloween episode, star character Herman Munster (who looks like a large Frankenstein's monster) dresses up as a knight to go to a local Halloween Party. During the costume contest, he removes the visor on his helmet, causing everyone around him to remark on how creative he was to "wear two costumes."
* Dicky in ''Series/NickyRickyDickyAndDawn'' went as himself to the school's Halloween Dance in "Scaredy Dance".
* One episode of ''Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'' had Mikey hosting an animal-themed rave, with guests supposed to show up in costume, allowing for this trope to happen. There was even a moment of YourCostumeNeedsWork.
* Downplayed in ''Series/PeopleOfEarth'', Don’s a HumanAlien but when he’s out in public he tries to dress like a fairly normal human, at a UFO convention he wears [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/eb/c6/eb/ebc6eb29f9e95f0d9267ab97a5b97939.jpg the same outfit]] as on the ship, like the other White alien cosplayers.
* Not quite an example of this trope, but in one episode of ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' ("The Affair at the Victory Ball") Literature/HerculePoirot was supposed to go to a fancy dress party as a famous person. So naturally he went as himself.
-->'''Hastings:''' I still don't think they'll let you in; I thought I made it clear the Victory Ball is a costume do.\\
'''Poirot:''' Hercule Poirot does not wear costumes.\\
'''Hastings:''' Everybody does. The whole idea is to go as someone famous.\\
'''Poirot:''' [[FamedInStory Precisely.]]\\
'''Hastings:''' Oh. I see.
* In one episode of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', Sabrina throws a Halloween party that gets crashed by monsters from the other realm. None of her high school friends think it's strange.
* ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'': When the Big Guy joins Henry to Comic-Con San Diego, Magnus comments it's "one of the few places he actually blends in".
* [[http://www.hulu.com/watch/19048/saturday-night-live-clinton-halloween-party This]] ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch has the Clintons holding a costume party for Halloween and all of the attendees are notable Democrats. One person attends wearing a UsefulNotes/BarackObama mask. At the end, the attendees all remove their masks and the man wearing the Obama mask turns out to actually be Barack Obama. (Not a cast member, the actual person.)
* UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan did this in a Halloween episode of ''Series/SpittingImage'', claiming there wasn't anything scarier than [[TakeThat a senile old man in charge of nuclear weapons]].
* Similarly, in a Halloween episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', the demon Samhain is able to walk around amongst all of the trick-or-treaters with no one taking notice of the injury he's sustained to his stomach, or all the blood that's seeping from it.
* The Halloween episode in the first season of ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' had Vicki, just transformed into a vampire, coming to a Halloween party in a vampire costume. Later, Elena claimed that the blood on her costume was fake blood.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/UltimoDragon and Wrestling/ReyMysterioJr at ''Wrestling/{{WCW}} Halloween Havoc 1997'', the infamous event where the latter lost his mask to Wrestling/EddieGuerrero.
* In 2014 World Wonder Ring STARDOM adopted Fukumen's Mask Fiesta but since STARDOM ''isn't'' a lucharesu promotion, it was moved from July to October to be held alongside their Halloween party. This had the side effect of what few {{masked luchador}}s were present for the former keeping their regular masks for the latter.
* Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon dressed as a witch for the 2002 HalloweenEpisode of ''Wrestling/WWESmackDown'', though wrestling fans saw it as this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'', the main trio of monsters went trick-or-treating without costumes. It was a rare occasion that they met humans and made no effort to scare. Then they confuse a human child dressed as a red bunny with Ickis...
** In another episode, the monsters attend a horror-themed TV show where the audience members wore costumes. A parent even asks Oblina where she bought her "ugly wax lips," to which Oblina replies "darling, you do not ''buy'' ugly, you ''inherit'' it!"
* In Filmation's ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfBatman'' animated series, the Scarecrow did this at the Halloween charity auction, hoping everyone would mistake him for the disguised Commissioner Gordon.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'', the bears take advantage of Folly Day in Dunwyn, with two variants; the occasion takes place strictly in the day and at 5:00 pm there is the traditional unmasking which means the bears have a strict deadline to leave lest they be exposed. It fails -- Duke Igthorn and Toady sneak in disguise, spot Sunni and instantly recognize her as the real thing.
* A subplot of an ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' has Hayley try to help Roger with his self-esteem in public, with disastrous results. She then learns about an upcoming sci-fi convention and takes Roger there, who's now happy due to not having to wear a disguise.
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' has the episode "The Halloween Bash". Jake trips and ends up in the street in his dragon form and people started yelling... Over how great his costume looked as Halloween was just getting started. This gives Jake the idea of throwing a party for both magical and non-magical beings.
* The titular character of ''WesternAnimation/AtomicBetty'' wears her Galactic Guardian uniform for Halloween in the episode "When Worlds Collide". Naturally, she ends up called to duty when a member of her RoguesGallery just happens to be hiding on Earth.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman''[='=]s "Grundy's Night" sees Batman, pursuing [[spoiler:Clayface posing as Solomon Grundy]], and runs into a partygoer who mistakes him for another partygoer. Bruce just rolls with it and asks where his "friend" is.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' has B.J. permitted by Lydia to be seen in our world as a reveler as it's Halloween.
* Inversion: The WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon "Hasty Hare" has Bugs coming across Marvin the Martian and K-9 and believing it to be Halloween. He gives them both trick-or-treat candy. (Whether or not it was Halloween is not relevant.)
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAdventuresInCareALot'', Funshine travels down to Earth in order to help a little boy. He wants to show him to his Mom, but Funshine explains that he'd prefer to only be seen by kids because "adults don't always understand." During a later scene, the boy's mother enters the attic before Funshine can hide himself. He successfully poses as a stuffed toy.
* ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'':
** When they're in Rio for Carnival, La Chevre wears a goat costume (with a mask and additional frills not part of his usual outfit). He's repeatedly berated for disguising himself as himself, but he insists it isn't a disguise, just a costume. Averted by the others in the episode; most V.I.L.E. agents indeed wear their standard outfits, but none are passed off as a costume. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:Shadow-san]] wears a crow disguise.
** Come a Halloween party in season 3, Tigress and Paper Star attend in their standard uniforms. Tigress scoffs that "at least a tiger's a ''thing''," since Paper Star's outfit really doesn't resemble anything one could consider a costume. Once again averted by everyone else in the episode. Even Chase attends in a banana costume that earns him the ridicule of his team.
* ''WesternAnimation/CasperTheFriendlyGhost'' once tried to hide his see-through body on Halloween by covering his whole body in a layer of white paint to look more like he was just wearing a ghost costume.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' double episode: "Reality Trip"
* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'':
** Darkwing once goes to a masquerade ball in his costume and is frustrated by everyone telling him he couldn't pull it off. [[YourCostumeNeedsWork "The real Darkwing Duck is taller..."]]
** His rival Gizmoduck once attends a ceremony in his honor, full of fans in homemade gizmo suits... all of whom thought he is a dressed-up fanboy too. Bonus points for Launchpad being mistaken for the original by being the only one in a formal suit. Plus a random contrivance.
** In another episode, Launchpad spends a good amount of time agonizing over what costume to wear to a party, before announcing he is going as "a flying ace!" Darkwing starts to point out that that is the same outfit Launchpad always wears, but quickly gives up.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseCatwoman'', Catwoman briefly pretends to be an exotic dancer in a Catwoman costume in order to get closer to Rough Cut.
* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' episode "The Trickening", where [[MonsterMash a bunch of stereotypical monsters]] all dress up as characters from more modern horror franchises because kids aren't afraid of the classics anymore. [[spoiler:However, it's played straight at the end of the episode when they go to Scrooge's 24-hour candy store as themselves, with some of the kids even complimenting them on their "costumes".]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'':
** Cosmo and Wanda pull this off in one of the ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'', where they go to a costume party at Vicky's school. They even win second place for their costume, even though both are far too short to be high school students.
** They later go undisguised to a comic book convention, saying that no one would notice they were fairies, and would just assume that they are big-headed kids in costume.
** [[AlienAmongUs Mark]] goes to Trixie's costume party as himself with some encouragement from Timmy. Timmy's fairies do this again at the same party.
%%* A ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' Halloween Episode had UsefulNotes/BillClinton doing this.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'':
** The Gargoyles love Halloween for just this reason. The younger gargoyles, getting into the spirit of the holiday, wear actual costumes (such as a pirate outfit) and are complimented on wearing "a costume over a costume". Goliath, meanwhile, goes out as himself with Elisa (who goes as [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Belle]], both as a ShoutOut, and because their relationship is also BeastAndBeauty). Apparently the fact that he's 6'10" passes unremarked upon as part of his "costume".
** When another Halloween comes around again in the comic book continuation, Elisa keeps a theme by being [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} Princess Jasmine]] and Goliath once again doesn't bother. Neither does Delilah, who, not knowing better, explains what she ''really'' is when asked; "dressing up" as a DNA mashup of both Goliath's ex Demona and Elisa, his current love interest, causes ''quite'' the awkward moment. Meanwhile, Angela, Broadway, Lexington and Brooklyn go as Dorothy Gale, the Cowardly Lion, a cyborg and [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Supergoyle]], respectively.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Ever since Grim cut off Jack's head and Jack got a pumpkin for a replacement, Halloween was the only time of the year Jack could go out shopping.
* ''WesternAnimation/JamiesGotTentacles'': In "Tentacle Man", Jamie takes off his costume and pretends to be Tentacle Man--a character from a comic book--at Mitch's comic store. This proves to be popular.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'' averts this. Since a barrier renders all magical creatures invisible to normal humans, child monsters instead dress themselves as humans for Halloween.
* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack: The Series'': In "The Jack-O-Lantern Syndrome", Halloween is a favorite holiday of aliens living on Earth, though instead of going as themselves, they often dress up as a different alien species.
** In "The Star System Syndrome", several "monstrous" aliens star in monster horror films using their real appearance, while the film crews believe that they're human actors under a ''lot'' of make-up. The Hollywood branch of MIB specializes in getting entertainment contracts for aliens.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** While he isn't trying to hide his identity from anyone, Spike the purple dragon performs a literal interpretation of this trope as his [[YouMeanXMas Nightmare Night]] costume is... [[ShapedLikeItself a purple dragon]].
** Princess Luna, whose SuperpoweredEvilSide was the inspiration for Nightmare Night, {{Avert|edTrope}}s this when she visits Ponyville, as her 1000-year banishment made her unfamiliar with the custom of dressing as demons and monsters for the holiday.
* ''WesternAnimation/PJMasks''
** In the episode "Halloween Tricksters", both heroes and villains go trick or treating in their usual outfits, and everyone thinks they are just wearing costumes. Still, the heroes still have to be careful not to use their powers in front of others.
** In the episode "PJ Party Crashers", Amaya holds a SlumberParty but knows Luna Girl is planning to ruin it, so she makes it a costumed party so she can attend as Owlette without raising suspicion (again, as long as she makes sure her guests don't see her using her powers).
* In the episode "Quintuplets" of [[WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010 the 2010 version of]] ''[[WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010 Pound Puppies]]'', Lucky, his team, and the adoptees were able to get into a Poughkeepsie Pups basketball game by he, Cookie, and Niblet dressing in human clothing and buying tickets. Lucky's team used the same tactic to get into an actual Halloween party in another first-season episode, "Nightmare On Pound Street".
* ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'': In the episode [[HalloweenEpisode "Dawn of The Driscoll"]], Ninja!Randy manages to quietly sneak into [[ArchEnemy McFist's]] house because the former assumed that he was just another trick-or-treating kid in a ninja costume.
--> '''[=McFist=]''': ''Another'' ninja costume? How original.
* In the Halloween special of ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'', Jet, a humanoid alien, dresses up as a stereotypical alien. And as a bonus, he easily gets away with telling people he is from Bortron 7.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'': Sabrina wore a witch costume.
* ''WesternAnimation/ShimmerAndShine'': Shimmer and Shine pass themselves as kids wearing genie costumes during a HalloweenEpisode.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Inverted in "Treehouse of Horror XX", in which Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, a Werewolf, and the Mummy go out on Halloween, and are made fun of for having old-school costumes. As such, they dress up. So much for their original plans...
** In another "Treehouse of Horror" episode, someone dressed as a witch wins a costume contest at the city-wide Halloween party. But it turns out that she really ''is'' a witch, and she promptly gets disqualified for not wearing a costume. Due to [[TooDumbToLive the people of Springfield this way having pissed off a real witch, with magic powers and all]], it is only natural that now chaos ensues. To be precise: she [[BecomingTheCostume transforms everyone into the costumes they are wearing]] -- which means that this trope afterwards technically applies to ''everyone'' in Springfield.
* The ending of the ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' episode "Ghostly Gala" has Sofia share her Halloween party space with Sir Dax and the other ghosts, and everyone thinks they're animatronics.
** A later Halloween episode has Lucinda's witch friend Indigo go dressed as a witch, in a slight variation of her default outfit. Though considering witches are more of a social class of magic users than a secret in this world, she ''might'' have been dressed as another in-universe witch (like how a person dressing up as Albert Einstein could be classified as "a person dressing up as a person"), but it never specifies.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Hell On Earth 2006", Satan sees somebody dressed like Steve Irwin with a stingray barb in his chest at his Halloween party, and goes kicks him out for being insensitive, as Steve had only just died recently. When it turns out that he actually ''is'' the deceased Steve Irwin in JacobMarleyApparel, Satan apologizes profusely for his mistake... and then kicks him out anyway for not wearing a costume.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', Peter gets caught in-costume at a Halloween festival as Spider-Man, so he goes with it and winds up getting compliments from Mary Jane and Liz Allan on [[EatingTheEyeCandy how well he fills out his costume]]. This actually comes in handy later, when Peter being seen in public as Spider-Man is later shown as evidence that he ISN'T Spider-Man. And judging by her [[EarlyBirdCameo cameo]] at the same carnival, Black Cat likes the holiday too.
** In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', Spidey is fighting the Sinister Six with his powers working inconsistently. He manages to convince Rhino that he is actually the Chameleon, and redirects TheBrute to attack a distant shadow that is actually his teammate Shocker.
** The short-lived ''The Adventures of the Spider-Man'' features an episode where Peter has no way of getting home without his identity being revealed (his headpiece is gone but he still has his main suit on). He then gets spotted by a crowd of people who all shout out: "great costume man!". Conveniently it is Independence day and a huge fancy costume party is being held in the Star Junction, so Peter just blends right in to the crowds.
* ''WesternAnimation/SuperNoobs'': The Halloween episode "Happy Noob-O-Ween" has aliens Memnock and Zenblock try to learn about Halloween by going [[ManChild trick or treating]] in their true alien forms and no costumes although some of their neighbors mistake their forms for costumes. Both Mem and Zen end up getting more than what they bargained for in terms of more than just candy through their alien identities and use of their battle balls.
* The ''WesternAnimation/TeachersPet'' HalloweenEpisode "Costume Pity Party" had Spot intend to wear a Ferdinand Magellan costume for the school's Halloween party, but [[AllClothUnravels his costume unravels after getting caught on a thorn bush]], which results in him instead pretending that his human persona Scott Leadready II is wearing a dog costume for Halloween.
* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' cartoons:
** Used by the turtles in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'', where Splinter suggests they go as themselves to a Halloween party. They lose to someone who went as a Teenage Mutant Ninja AARDVARK (Who also happened to be the boss of the place).
** ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'': It is revealed in “All Hallows Thieves” that for years Halloween was the ''only'' day Splinter would take the turtles to the surface and that they would trick-or-treat all day.
** In the ''2003'' episode "Return of the Justice Force", the Turtles visit a comic book store which, as Casey Jones points out, is having a Costume Day.
* {{Franchise/Transformers}} cartoons:
** In one of the early episodes of ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'', the Autobots worry about revealing themselves on Earth. Bud jokingly suggests they pretend they're cosplayers (as Transformers are basically urban legends). Cue communal sweatdrop when Optimus Prime actually takes the suggestion seriously, apparently not realizing that twenty-foot robots cannot get away with pretending they are costumes.
** However, in the [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers first-generation cartoon]] they did exactly that. In "Auto-Bop", when Tracks and Blaster are investigating a trendy New York nightclub, a patron is very impressed with their "outfits".
--->'''Clubgoer:''' Hey! Where'd you get those threads? [=SoHo=]?\\
'''Tracks:''' Cybertron.\\
'''Clubgoer:''' What's the address?
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Tutenstein}}'' episode "Day of the Undead," Tut walks among mortals on Halloween, impressing trick-or-treaters with how much his costume looks and smells like a long-dead mummy.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'':
** In "Love-Bheits", the trope was [[ExploitedTrope exploited]] off-camera when the Impossible family won a Best Group Costume award [[ExpyCoexistence as the]] Comicbook/FantasticFour.
** An [[InvertedTrope inversion]] is [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] in "A Very Venture Halloween". Since Dr. Orpheus is almost never seen without his OminousOperaCape and MysticalHighCollar even in mixed company, wiseguy Dermott joked that on Halloween he expected to see Orpheus in sweatpants.
* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'': In [[Recap/WinxClubS2E16Hallowinx "Hallowinx!"]], Bloom gets invited to AlphaBitch Mitzy's Halloween party. She decides to go along with her friends. They decide that their fairy transformation outfits are going to be their costumes because no one would believe they are actual fairies.
* The cartoon adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' tops the comic: the girls move around the city in the Guardian outfits, Nerissa doing the same, Phobos going around in his evil prince outfit, Matt turning into Shagon, and ''Cedric and Miranda going out in his slippery dippery long mover-man and giant spider forms respectively''. and the only attention he drew was on how he filled the tail of his costume. The ''only'' attention they get are Cornelia's mother glancing at Hay Lin's '[[OlderAlterEgo endowments]]' and commenting "I didn't know Halloween costumes came with ''[[FakeBoobs that]]'' kind of padding." and people wondering how many guys are inside Cedric's costume. ''Then'' they start battling, and everyone mistakes it for a show.
* In ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'', one of Becky Botsford's friends, Todd "Scoops" Ming, realizes that she may be the titular superhero, citing several reasons including "You dress up as [=WordGirl=] every Halloween!" When the Narrator reacts, Becky responds "Well, I already had the costume...." In addition, a supporting character, Violet, dresses as the titular character in the Halloween-themed episode "Tobey's Tricks and Treats", and is mistaken as the superheroine by Tobey himself.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' episode "Cajun Charm," the X-Men find themselves in the middle of Mardi Gras in New Orleans while looking for Rogue, who's been kidnapped. A random person comes up to Kurt, who's in his X-Men uniform and not wearing his image inducer, and tells him that his ''costume'' is great. Kurt's response? "Thanks! They are one of a kind."
* In the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "True Heroes", Forager intends to go to the Happy Harbour Halloween party by dropping his Fred Bugg disguise. Cyborg, while not wanting to go at all, is apparently also going to pass his implants off as a costume. However a mission comes up, so they don't attend after all.
[[/folder]]

** Meanwhile, in one of the many instances of the show creating a rule that only applies this once, it's stated that Halloween is the one day a year that vanquished demons can come back to earth. The Grimlocks (the only demons who actually come back) aren't too concerned about hiding anymore (they're already dead, so screw TheMasquerade), but no one notices them walking around because it's assumed they're just wearing costumes. The one kid who comments on it gets a ForceChoke for his effort (though, again, force choking is just what Grimlocks do).

** In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', Peter gets caught in-costume at a Halloween festival as Spider-Man, so he goes with it and winds up getting compliments on how well he fills out his costume. This actually comes in handy later, when Peter being seen in public as Spider-Man is later shown as evidence that he ISN'T Spider-Man. And judging by her [[EarlyBirdCameo cameo]] at the same carnival, Black Cat likes the holiday too.

* Played straight and subverted in an episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Rachel and Joey both seemingly have forgone costumes. Rachel says that she is a pregnant woman who wants to wear her new dress because soon it won't fit anymore. The subversion is when Joey reveals that he actually ''is'' wearing a costume: he's dressed as Chandler.

While "Non-Humans and Halloween" is a popular use, the trope is really about how the circumstances of an event allow a normally secretive character to walk around in the open without destroying TheMasquerade, thus it can also happen at carnivals and costume parties or by just claiming to be a weirdo who likes to dress up at random times. In effect, they are masquerading as themselves, and even outside of having fun there are advantages to being the unnoticeable Clark Kent instead of Franchise/{{Superman}}. Similarly, this often results in the unusual sight of a {{superhero}} in their civilian identity but still wearing their actual costume.

** Subverted in [[https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1955/10/30 another strip]]. Snoopy smiles as several kids in scary masks walk by. Then along comes Charlie Brown without a mask and Snoopy runs away screaming.

* Spidey managed to play this off on an ordinary day in ''Film/SpiderMan2'', as everyone ''knows'' Spider-Man doesn't need elevators. What the guy thought he needed such a detailed and form-fitting costume for is another question. To be fair, though, they are in New York. The guy probably thought he downloaded the plans for a form-fitting, detailed Spider-Man costume off the Internet... just like people can do in the real world. There's an extended cut of the movie in which the guy ''does'' realize that it's the real Spider-Man. He reveals that he works for a marketing firm and that Spidey needs to do more with his image. He suggests a line of Spider-Man-branded cologne. That should be called [[MythologyGag Thwip]].

** In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' #226, the ComicBook/{{Black Cat|MarvelComics}} meets Spider-Man at a costume party. She wears her own costume but mistakes a random party-goer dressed as Spider-Man for the real thing. Turns out Spidey is InTheHood.

** In one issue of "Spidey Super Stories", Peter goes to a Halloween party in his actual costume, except with a DominoMask instead of the real deal.

** An issue of ''The Amazing Spider-man'' has the Black Cat meeting Spider-Man at a costume party. She wears her own costume but mistakes a random party-goer dressed as Spider-Man for the real thing. Turns out Spidey is InTheHood.
** During the JMS run on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Peter takes a tailor who designs costumes for supervillains to a safe place. The safe place? A Coffee House where he often goes in full attire, because no way [[HiddenInPlainSight would the real Spidey just hang out at a coffee shop.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* In Creator/BruceCoville's ''Literature/TheMonstersRing'', the main character twists the ring twice ("Twist it once, you're horned and haired;/Twist it twice, and fangs are bared...") shortly before the school Halloween party and lets everyone assume the result is an incredibly good costume.

** When another Halloween comes around again in the comic book continuation, Elisa keeps a theme by being [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} Princess Jasmine]] and Goliath once again doesn't bother. Neither does Delilah, who, not knowing better, explains what she ''really'' is when asked; "dressing up" as a [[CloningBlues DNA mashup]] of both Goliath's ex Demona and Elisa, his current love interest, causes ''quite'' the awkward moment. Meanwhile, Angela, Broadway, Lexington and Brooklyn go as Dorothy Gale, the Cowardly Lion, a cyborg and [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Supergoyle]], respectively.

A SubTrope of GenuineImposter. Compare AllPartOfTheShow, YourCostumeNeedsWork, BruceWayneHeldHostage, MistakenForAnImposter, HiddenInPlainSight, IAmSpartacus, and QuirkyTown.

** Played straight in one of the Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar novels. When catgirl Nyara goes into Hardorn with a covert team, she goes in disguise ... as a woman made up to look like a catgirl, complete with "seams" shaved into her fur and a set of absurdly large fake ears.

* In ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing]]'', everyone drives something related to their character. [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] drives a sports car modeled to look like him, [[VideoGame/{{Shenmue}} Ryo]] drives a motorcycle, the [[VideoGame/BonanzaBros Bonanza Bros.]] drive their getaway car, etc. However, [[VideoGame/FantasyZone Opa-Opa]], being a sentient spaceship, doesn't drive a car; he races with himself as his car.

** When another Halloween comes around again in the comic book continuation, Elisa keeps a theme by being [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} Princess Jasmine]] and Goliath once again doesn't bother. Neither does Delilah, who, not knowing better, explains what she ''really'' is when asked; "dressing up" as a [[CloningBlues DNA mashup]] of both Goliath's ex and Elisa, his current love interest causes ''quite'' the awkward moment.

* A ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' [[https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1966/10/30 Sunday strip]] has Snoopy watching as costumed trick-or-treaters get candy from one house. After they've left, Snoopy goes up to the same house and kicks the front door, then grins and holds his paw out. In the final panel, he walks off munching candy while the unseen homeowners comment:
-->"Who was it this time, dear?"\\

* Played with in one ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' Sunday comic. Pig and Rat go trick-or-treating on Halloween, but when the neighbor sees they didn't bother to wear costumes, refuses to give them any candy. After the door slam, the two remove their (fake) heads to reveal that each character was disguised as the other.