History Main / IdentityConcealmentDisposal

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Garp, Franky and Sakazuki's faces were hidden by a dog mask, a festival mask and a cap respectively. Franky and Garp's masks are never seen again after their respective reveals, but Sakazuki subverts the trope as he ''still'' wears his cap even after a promotion and a timeskip.
** PlayedWith in Usopp's case. After leaving the Straw Hats during Water Seven, he rejoins under the alias Sogeking, [[PaperThinDisguise with only a mask and cape to conceal his identity]] (no one besides Luffy and Chopper are fooled), since he's too ashamed to face his former crewmates and is worried about getting a bounty on his head when attacking Enies Lobby. He takes off the Sogeking mask and reveals himself when he tells Luffy not to give up against Lucci, but puts the mask back on while returning to Water Seven, and wears it during the victory celebration. He briefly puts on the Sogeking mask during his fight with Perona, but has never used it since.
** Also from the same arc, the four [=CP9=] agents who infiltrated Water Seven ditch their disguises- animal-themed masks and cloaks- after revealing their identities to Iceberg, and even wear their usual black clothes rather than the outfits they wore during their infiltration. Lucci, however, briefly wears a small mask over his face when questioning some Franky Family members over Franky's whereabouts.

* The beginning of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' introduces Raiden with a face-covering diver's mask; Raiden's voice actors also imitate Solid Snake's intonation for the opening scene. The illusion is not particularly convincing in either version, as Raiden has a very different build, but works somewhat better in Japanese, where Snake and Raiden have similarly deep voices, than in the English version, where Raiden's voice is high-pitched and youthful and Snake is a GutturalGrowler. Raiden ditches his mask when receiving his codename on the elevator from the Dock into the Roof of Strut A, as well as dropping the voice, which there is no in-universe explanation for.

** The BigBad from the series, Emperor Belos, was originally seen always wearing a golden bird-like mask that hidden his true from the audience, with the only thing visible underneath it being his [[CreepyBlueEyes glowing blue eyes]]. This finally changed after the episode "Eclipse Lake" where Belos is finally seen maskless [[spoiler: and it is revealed that he actually looks fairly normal, albeit with a long green-goo scar running across his face]], and in the episode "Follies at the Coven Day Parade" where he reveals his face InUniverse, since then dropping the use of his mask entirely.

** Raine Whispers, The MoleInCharge and leader of LaResistance against Belos, was seen during their first apparition with their face mostly covered by a white hood, however this was dropped rapidly during their second apparition on the episode "Eda's Requiem", where we get to see how they really look like.

** Tarquin, given his obsession with narrative tropes, zig-zags this depending on the situation. He initially plays it straight by discarding his helmet after [[spoiler:revealing himself to be [[LukeIAmYourFather Elan's father]]]] because it's not needed after doing TheReveal. He then puts it back on just for a visit a the gladiatorial arena, apparently just so he can do TheUnmasking in front of other members of the main cast. Later, Tarquin puts on another helmet while disguising himself, despite the heroes quickly guessing his identity, solely because [[spoiler:[[MultilayerFacade he has another mask underneath it]] should someone else take the helmet off]].

* In ''Literature/MonsterHunterInternational'', the helicopter pilot (nicknamed "Skippy") is rather pointedly covered by jumpsuit, goggles, and black balaclava for most of the novel. His wife is shown wearing a burqa-like garment. In the final quarter of the novel, it's revealed that Skippy and his tribe are [[spoiler: Orcs that MHI rescued from their native Kazakhstan a few years back]], who've been kept around because of their unique skills.

!!Examples

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

* Mystogan from ''Manga/FairyTail'' may fall in the downplayed version of the trope : he doesn't drop his mask after his identity is revealed, since Erza is the only one to see it besides Laxus, who'd already known his identity, (he only actually stops wearing it when [[spoiler:he's back in Edolas, which makes sense in context]]), but his hair starts sticking out and his face is more visible than before it was known.

** Played with in Usopp's case. After leaving the Straw Hats during Water Seven, he rejoins under the alias Sogeking, [[PaperThinDisguise with only a mask and cape to conceal his identity]](no one besides Luffy and Chopper are fooled), since he's too ashamed to face his former crewmates and is worried about getting a bounty on his head when attacking Enies Lobby. He takes off the Sogeking mask and reveals himself when he tells Luffy not to give up against Lucci, but puts the mask back on while returning to Water Seven, and wears it during the victory celebration. He briefly puts on the Sogeking mask during his fight with Perona, but has never used it since.

[[folder: Films -- Animated ]]

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action ]]

* In his first scene in ''Film/TronLegacy'', [[BigBad CLU]] is wearing a helmet that hides his face completely. Apparently, he was wearing it for the sole purpose of making a dramatic reveal to Sam, since he never puts it on again for the rest of the film (except when piloting a plane, where he has a more pragmatic reason for wearing it). Quorra similarly wears a helmet during her first scenes that she almost never puts on again after having unmasked herself.
* Throughout ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'', Moriarty appears with his face in the shadows. In [[Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows the sequel]] he appears this way only in the film's introduction, during which he reveals himself and stays revealed for the rest of the film.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In ''Literature/MonsterHunterInternational,'' the helicopter pilot (nicknamed "Skippy") is rather pointedly covered by jumpsuit, goggles, and black balaclava for most of the novel. His wife is shown wearing a burqa-like garment. In the final quarter of the novel, it's revealed that Skippy and his tribe are [[spoiler: Orcs that MHI rescued from their native Kazakhstan a few years back]], who've been kept around because of their unique skills.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

%%* Done several times on ''Series/{{Lost}}''.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' basically did a Name Concealment Disposal variation with the Haitian. Once his name was revealed to the audience, no one ever referred to him as "the Haitian" again.
* In the new ''Series/DoctorWho'' both the Judoon and the Sontarans have leaders who take off their helmets for TheReveal, and then leave them off the rest of the time. Their Judoon/Sontaran mooks leave their helmets on.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

** [[spoiler: Ansem]] initially appears as a cloaked figure in the original game, but after TheReveal has always appeared since in full view.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'': At the very beginning of the game, Saturos and Menardi try to break into Sol Sanctum, causing the deaths of Isaac's father, and Jenna's parents and brother. Three years later, Isaac, Jenna and Garet go into Sol Sanctum, followed by Saturos, Menardi and a masked man. The mask lasts less than five minutes before he's identified as Felix, and it's never put on again (given that he's the protagonist in the second game, it makes sense).
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'': The second game ends with the blue-clothed SmugSnake Alex being left to die under the nascent Golden Sun. Dark Dawn features a blue-clothed SmugSnake named Arcanus wearing a mask. Despite the PaperThinDisguise, it's the ''audience'' who can recognize him, not the original protagonist's kids (Kraden does, but he never directly encounters him until the endgame).

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', a masked individual who goes by the alias Marth helps Chrom and the PlayerCharacter out in the early game. When "Marth" arrives to stop an assassination attempt on Chrom's older sister Emmeryn, "Marth's" mask breaks during a fight, revealing her to be a young woman named Lucina. Lucina stops wearing the mask and lets her long hair down.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'':
** [[ArcVillain The villain for the first half of the game]] is a [[MalevolentMaskedMen masked individual]] calling themselves the Flame Emperor. Once they are unmasked at the end of Chapter 11, they spend the ensuing boss fight in Chapter 12 unmasked. It's played completely straight in the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes, but justified in the Azure Moon route when Dimitri destroys the mask (although the fact that they also ditch the still-functional helmet might raise a few eyebrows). [[spoiler:In the Black Eagles route, however, Edelgard shows up without her Flame Emperor disguise, voluntarily reveals her identity before the battle, and again foregoes the helmet in the ensuing boss fight.]]
** Should the player [[spoiler:''join forces'' with the Flame Emperor (a.k.a. Edelgard)]], this also applies to the Flame Emperor's right-hand, the Death Knight. [[spoiler:On that story route (and only that route), he, as Jeritza, spends all of Part II unmasked, even ditching the white mask he once wore as a staff member of the Church of Seiros (which, admittedly, didn't hide his identity; in fact, it ended up giving Manuela a clue that pointed to Jeriza being Flayn's kidnapper).]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In their initial appearances in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', the members of [[BigBadDuumvirate The]] [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Light]] communicate with each other through computer screens that make each member appear as a glowing, faceless [[SinisterSilhouettes silhouette]]. However, after their identities are revealed (to the audience, not to the protagonists) in the episode ''Revelations'', every scene with the Light instead has them communicating via screens that leave their faces completely visible.

* In the first season of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'', Mr. E uses various convoluted methods to contact the other characters. In the second season, once his face has been revealed, he usually just shows up in person (often in very unexpected places).
* In the first season of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', Fulcrum is only seen as a hooded figure via holocall and their voice is edited to be initially unrecognizable. After their identity is revealed at the end of the season, they appear in person from then on.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' pulls a two-for-one with the big reveal in the second season premiere regarding the identity of the BigBad: [[spoiler: Not only is it confirmed that Hawk Moth[=/=]Papillion is Adrien's father, but [[GirlFriday his assistant Nathalie]] is not only aware of this but actively helping him.]] Unusually, this is only revealed to the audience; the episode revolves around Hawk Moth resorting to drastic action to ''prevent'' the heroes from finding out. [[ForegoneConclusion There wouldn't be a Season 2 if it hadn't worked.]]

* In ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': The Slasher is shown in all initial appearances as a being with red eyes cloaked in shadow; after [[spoiler:Haruna first reveals herself, this effect is dropped entirely for her and everyone else infected with The Virus; it's used only once more for Anri Sonohara after her Reveal, though in that case it made more sense than when she was in clear view, as she was wearing all-black clothes with her face concealed while in the rain outside on a dark night and riding a horse]].

* The beginning of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' introduces Raiden with a face-covering diver's mask; Raiden's voice actors also imitate Solid Snake's intonation for the opening scene. The illusion is not particularly convincing in either version, as Raiden has a very different build, but works somewhat better in Japanese where Snake and Raiden are two similar {{Badass Baritone}}s than in the English version where Raiden's voice is high-pitched and youthful and Snake's is extremely and affectedly gravelly. Raiden ditches his mask when receiving his codename on the elevator from the Dock into the Roof of Strut A, as well as dropping the voice, which there is no in-universe explanation for.

** [[ArcVillain The villain for the first half of the game]] is a [[MalevolentMaskedMen masked individual]] calling themselves the Flame Emperor. Once they are unmasked at the end of Chapter 11, they spend the ensuing boss fight in Chapter 12 unmasked. It's played completely straight in the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind routes, but justified in the Azure Moon route when Dimitri destroys the mask (although the fact that they also ditch the still-functional helmet might raise a few eyebrows). [[spoiler:In the Black Eagles route, however, Edelgard shows up without her Flame Emperor disguise and voluntarily reveals her identity before the battle.]]
** Should the player [[spoiler:''join forces'' with the Flame Emperor (a.k.a. Edelgard)]], this also applies to the Flame Emperor's right-hand, the Death Knight. [[spoiler:On that story route (and only that route), he, as Jeritza, spends all of Part II unmasked, even ditching the white mask he once wore as a staff member of the Church of Seiros(which, admittedly, didn't hide his identity; in fact, it ended up giving Manuela a clue that pointed to Jeriza being Flayn's kidnapper).]]

** Also from the same arc, the four [=CP9=] agents who infiltrated Water Seven ditch their disguises- animal-themed masks and cloaks- after revealing their identities to Iceberg, and even wear their usual black clothes rather than the outfits they wore during their infiltration. Lucci, however, briefly wears a small mask over his face when questioning some Franky Family members over Franky's whereabouts.

Sub-trope of TheReveal. See also TheFaceless, EvilIsNotWellLit, EmergingFromTheShadows and TheUnmasking. Contrast ArtifactAlias.

Sometimes, a writer wants to build intrigue in a character by keeping [[TheFaceless the character's face and identity]] hidden from the audience. Maybe the character always wears a face-concealing mask or only ever contacts other characters via telephone. Viewers can be teased with the UnrevealAngle. Then the moment finally comes when the character's face is [[TheReveal revealed]] to the audience! Finally, the spoiler is out, and the character no longer has to wear that pesky mask and can now contact other characters via hologram instead of phone!

This trope is when a plot device previously used to conceal a character's face is abruptly dropped as soon as the character's face has been revealed once. Note that this can be justified in-universe if the character was deliberately hiding his identity from others and stops doing it at some point, but this trope only applies when whatever was hiding the character's face is discarded without any in-universe explanation.

Frequently, but not always, whatever was hiding the character's face only existed to hide it from the audience, as opposed to the characters.