History Main / HidingTheHandicap

** A case in [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All'']] features a witness whose icy demeanor hides the fact that she is codependant.

[[folder: Jokes ]]

* One famous joke tells of a ship captain/commander/admiral who wears a red shirt into battle so his crew members won't see the blood if he gets wounded. The punch line comes when he sees a huge fleet of enemy ships and tells his first mate, "BringMyBrownPants!"

[[/folder]]

* Matthew Perry of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' has the tip of the index finger on one of his hands. This is barely noticeable as he's always shown with his hand obscured or waving it around enough that it's not clearly seen. One episode possibly refers to this, as Chandler is missing the tip of a toe due to Monica dropping a knife on it.

* Redbeard Rum had no legs, and nobody, let along Edmund {{Blackadder}}, knew it, until he agreed to take Rum on to sail him to the Cape of Good Hope.

Hiding The Handicap is when a character with a disability or other type of affliction chooses to hide that fact. Reasons for doing this can vary: maybe the character in question believes he/she he can't afford to be seen as "weak", maybe they're affraid of being mocked or [[DontYouDarePityMe pitied]], or perhaps they'd no longer be allowed to do something if certain people found out. Can overlap with SecretlyDying, if the character has a debilitating mortal injury.

* ''TheGreatestShowOnEarth'': The Great Sebastian (a trapeeze artist) gets severely injured. Later he comes back to the circus claiming he's fully recovered and has a job at another venue, but then the manager pulls Sebastain's coat off his arm (he had had it "causally" draped over his arm as if he's just carrying it around) to reveal that his arm is disfigured due to the bone improperly healing. Sebastian ends up a lowly roustabout at the same circus he had formerlly starred at.

* In ''Just The Way You Are'', a lady (Kristy [=MacNichol=]) puts her leg in a cast at a ski resort to disguise it's permanently lame.

* On ''WesternAnimation/Pelswick,'' the title character gets set up with a girl who a.) doesn't know that he's in a wheelchair and b.) loves dancing, prompting him to use a machine to fake leg movement. Naturally, it malfunctions.

* Likewise, Gary Burghoff has a congenital deformity of three fingers on his left hand, so in ''Series/{{Mash}}'' his character "Radar" O’Reilly would often hold a clipboard in his left hand or otherwise hide his hand on camera.
Matthew Perry of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' has the tip of the index finger on one of his hands. This is barely noticeable as he's always shown with his hand obscured or waving it around enough that it's not clearly seen. One episode possibly refers to this, as Chandler is missing the tip of a toe due to Monica dropping a knife on it.

* Redbeard Rum had no legs, and nobody--let along Edmund {{Blackadder}} knew it, until he agreed to take Rum on to sail him to the Cape of Good Hope.

** Mac Taylor on ''{{Series/CSI NY}}''. He suffered from speech aphasia in the final season, after being shot and badly wounded in the previous season finale. Being naturally stubborn,used to not opening up to anyone and worried for his job, Mac refused to tell anyone what was going on, including his girlfriend. She had to threaten to leave to get him to admit his problem. Jo also tried to get it out of him,but despite their friendship,he just snapped at her and got mad.

Having a disability can change the way some people view you as a person. But what if you don't ''want'' people to change their image of you?

[[AC:Anime & Manga]]
* A subplot in one of the prequel series of ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' involves a student at a prestigious Empirial academy who hides the fact that he's colorblind.

[[AC:Comic Books]]

[[AC:Film]]

* In ''Film/TheLongestDay'', Brigadier General Roosevelt is trying to hide his arthritis from his commander so he'll be allowed to go in with the assault force. When he meets with his CO, he stashes his cane in the hallway and even lies outright when asked if he's having flare ups. Averted later on - when he lands on Utah Beach, he has his cane with him and has no

[[AC: Jokes]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]

* This is a core trope of the American series ''Series/{{Boss}}''. Thomas Kane is diagnosed with dementia, but refuses to let go of his power and so hides his disease from everyone.

[[AC:Video Games]]

[[AC:Visual Novels]]

** Godot from the third game has a rather peculiar visual impairment ([[spoiler:he cannot see the color red when it's displayed on a white background]]) which he's too proud to acknowledge.

[[AC:Webcomics]]

[[AC:Real Life]]

----

* Franklin Delano Roosevelt kept his polio-caused partial paralysis hidden from the public by giving public speeches and presentations either sitting down from his desk, standing behind a podium and using it to support his weight, or by using a walking cane to support himself. Eventually it became so severe that the secret eventually came out, but he served the majority of his 4 terms as President keeping it hidden from the public.
* It is not unknown for highly motivated men doing advanced military training to conceal injuries that would otherwise have them washed out of the course, or worse still, back-squadded after medical intervention to do the whole gruelling thing again from scratch. There is a recorded case of a Royal Marines recruit who slogged his way to the end of basic training and passed out with the green beret, only to discover the leg injury he'd been covering up for wasn't just a sprain, it was in fact a broken bone. The Parachute Regiment and the SAS can boast similar stories. Tragically, men undergoing selection and training for elite Army/Marine units have died rather than confess to "weakness" and seek medical attention. For obvious reasons, the British Army now discourages heroic doggedness of this sort and is more proactive about checking for injury or potentially life-threatening medical complaints.

* Matt Murdock of "Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}" fame is openly blind; but as Daredevil, he keeps his blindness hidden from most people.

* In ''Theatre/AngelsInAmerica'' anti-Communist & anti-Homosexual lawyer Roy Cohn insists that he's got cancer rather than admitting he's dying of AIDS.

* Joker in the ''MassEffect'' series has Vrolik syndrome, which makes his bones exceptionally brittle and makes it difficult for him to walk without assistance. Joker keeps this hidden from most people because he doesn't want anyone to think he's had any special favors to earn his current position, and Shepard only finds out about it when he accidently lets it slip during conversation.

* Franchise/AceAttorney:

Well, you might be able to ''hide'' your handicap.

Well, you could ''hide'' your handicap.

It's simple. You hide your handicap.