History Main / RevealingInjury

--->'''Weaver''': They do say she [Granny Weatherwax] creeps around the place o' nights, as a hare or a bat or something. Changes her shape and all. Not that I believes a word of it but old Weezen over in Slice told me once he shot a hare in the leg one night and next day she passed him on the lane and said "Ouch" and gave him a right ding across the back of his head.

* ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'':
** ''Series/{{Zorro|1957}}'' (1957): Zorro's secret identity is figured out once by the BigBad of the season. Although there are many Literature/SherlockHolmes-esque clues he cited, they all are just to back up the fact that Don Diego de la Vega had a sword wound in the exact place he had stabbed Zorro.
** ''Series/{{Zorro|1990}}'' (1990): In an episode, Zorro himself uses this as a SpotTheImposter trick. Facing both the Alcalde and his impersonator at the same time, he conclusively proves which one is the real Alcalde to all present by pointing out that he had wounded the true Alcalde on the wrist some time previous, then slashing the sleeves of his opponents to see which one had a scar there.

* The cause of many a RoboticReveal: Data (while suffering amnesia) in one episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' springs to mind.
* ''Series/{{Utopia}}'': The only thing anybody knows about Mr Rabbit's identity is the Chinese character for Rabbit carved on his belly. Of course, since nobody has ever seen the scar but knows what it might look like, it's easily [[spoiler: forged]].
* ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'': The new Robin is shot in the leg, a young nobleman starts to limp. People notice.
* Averted in an episode of ''Series/RobinHood''. Guy of Gisbourne injures Marian's arm whilst she was in her Night Watchman disguise. Later he casually pats Marian on the arm and notices that she's bleeding. As she's cutting an apple at the time, Marian casually slices her palm with the knife and tells Guy that she accidentally got a little blood on her sleeve. He seems suspicious but lets it go.

* While not an injury per se, there is an episode of ''Series/WhiteCollar'' where Neal gets himself captured and drugged up with an unspecified drug that makes him higher than a kite. When Peter rescues him Neal admits to him that he trusts Peter more than anyone - a revelation he probably wouldn't have made if he weren't so loopy.
** He also admits to stealing some manuscripts via carrier pigeons while in this state.
* In the first episode of ''Series/WildBoys'', Hogan has a pistol shot out his hand. The troopers later identify Hogan as the bushranger because of the injury to his hand.

* In ''Series/TheSopranos'' Tony Blundetto is identified as the killer of Joey Peeps after witnesses claimed Peeps' killer ran away with a limp. Blundetto received the injury when Peeps' car ran over his foot.
* In the B-plot of the ''Series/EnemyAtTheDoor'' episode "The Librarian", set on the German-occupied island of Guernsey during World War II, a German officer has been tasked with finding a man who tried to escape the island in the previous episode. The escape attempt happened at night, so the Germans don't have a clear description of the man, but they do know that he was wounded in the arm when a patrol shot at him. After narrowing down the pool of suspects by other means, he manufactures an opportunity to "accidentally" stumble against the arm of his prime suspect, with the suspect's reaction confirming that he has an arm injury which he is concealing.
* ''Series/TheNewAvengers'': In "To Catch a Rat", Gunnar knows that he will be able to identify the White Rat because he shot the White Rat in the left leg during their last encounter.

* ''Series/FatherBrown'': The final piece of evidence Father Brown uses to identify the killer in "The Crimson Feather" is that one of the suspects has not removed their gloves since the body was discovered. When the gloves are removed, there is a deep cut on the murderer's palm from the shard of broken mirror they used to stab the victim.
* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': In "Lovely, but Lethal", the murderer kills the VictimOfTheWeek by hitting him over the head with a microscope. Unknown to her, the microscope slide had poison ivy on it, which she gets on her hand during the attack. Columbo also gets poison ivy on his hand when he touches broken glass at the crime scene and develops a rash. He then notices the same rash on one of the suspects. And poison ivy isn't found in southern California.
* ''Series/AgentCarter''. Peggy Carter gets identified from [=WW2=] scars that Sousa recognises when the other agents play a prank and let him walk into the room where Peggy is changing clothes. Sousa matches the scars with those on a photograph of the MysteriousWoman they're trying to identify.
* ''Series/JakeAndTheFatman'': In "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan", Jake shoots at a disguised figure who is faking a limp, and thinks that he panicked the man into forgetting which leg he was limping on. Later, he realises that the killer is too professional to make that mistake and he had actually hit him in the other leg,l forcing him to limp for real. He later finds one of the suspects tending a wound on that leg and has his suspicions confirmed.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' when [[spoiler:Colette]] takes an attack at the end of the first disk, it damages her sleeve enough to reveal that [[spoiler:her "angel toxicosis" is becoming much worse.]]. The scene plays out rather odd if you are in a new game+ and using a costume title, as they default to the normal costume mid cutscene.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'': During their first meeting in Episode 1, Batman punches Catwoman in the face with enough force to give her a black eye, and is slashed across the face by her in turn. When they later meet in their civilian identities, Bruce and Selina recognize each other by the wounds.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', it looks like the crooked Long Feng is going to get away with his crimes when Aang remembers that Appa bit him and blows his robe over his head, revealing a sky-bison-tooth-shaped scar which proves Long Feng complicit in Appa's kidnapping.

* The first criminal to deduce Franchise/{{Batman}}'s secret identity (a partner of the Joker called Queenie) did so when she spotted the same shaving nick on the jaw of both Batman and Bruce Wayne.
* Somewhat similar in ''Batman: The Lost Years'', a tie-in comic to ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', shows Bruce Wayne playing tennis with Barbara Gordon. He comments on how she favors her left side for her defense, which he realizes is the same advice he gave Batgirl the previous night, and thus figures out her SecretIdentity.
* During the "Strange Apparitions" story arc, Bruce checks into a private hospital to discreetly recover from radiation burns he suffered during a fight with [[ILoveNuclearPower Doctor Phosphorus]]. Unfortunately, the hospital is run by [[PsychoPsychologist Hugo Strange]], who subsequently realizes that Bruce is Batman.

* ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'':
** In the first ''Film/SpiderMan1'' movie, ComicBook/NormanOsborn realizes that Peter is Spider-Man after Aunt May notices that Peter has a gash on his arm, the same gash that Norman (as Green Goblin) had given Spider-Man.
** A slight variation happened in ''Film/SpiderMan3'', where it was revealed that the Osborns' butler not only knew everything about the Green Goblin project but had [[AssPull identified that the injuries Norman Osborn had received were clearly from his own glider, thus revealing (to Harry) that Norman had been responsible for his own death]]. WordOfGod says that [[VoodooShark Harry was actually hallucinating him being there at the time]], [[FridgeBrilliance implying that he subconsciously figured it out himself after discovering the project in the previous film.]]
* In ''Film/BatmanReturns'', Catwoman has to hide the injuries Batman gave her when she's seducing Bruce.
* In ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', Wolverine recognises a disguised Mystique by the claw-marks he gave her in the previous film.
* In ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', Bishop is revealed to be an android when he accidentally pierces his skin and "bleeds" a white fluid.
* Inverted in the first ''Film/{{Beethoven}}'' movie, in which the evil vet fakes an injury after claiming the titular dog attacked him. Later George grabs him by the arm and a moment later realises that there's no injury at all.
* In ''Film/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'', Dustan realizes his uncle is the true BigBad when he notices that [[PoisonIsCorrosive his hands are burned from handling the poisoned mantle that killed the Sultan]] - despite having never touched the robe on screen.
* Averted in the ''Film/TheGreenHornet'' movie. The titular hero refuses medical attention to the bullet wound in the shoulder he received while masked, knowing that it would arouse suspicion if somebody arrived with the same exact injury just after the battle. They decide to fake a drive-by shooting so that he can keep his arm without compromising his identity.

* In ''[[Film/CabinByTheLake Return to Cabin by the Lake]]'', a presumed-to-be-dead serial killer named Stanley Caldwell infiltrates a movie set by [[DeadPersonImpersonation impersonating one of the producers he murdered]]. He eventually kidnaps the screenwriter who was doing research into his life, but she initially thinks he's just overdoing a MethodActing approach. He leans over to show her a scar on his arm from a late female victim, leading to the dawning realization that he's the monster she's been looking for.
* ''Film/BestSeller'' opens with a masked robbery, during which one of the robbers is shown to have CigaretteBurns on his wrist, and gets stabbed by the protagonist Meechum. Years later Meechum is approached by a man claiming to have been the driver on that robbery. However, when the man burns his wrist in a display of MachoMasochism, Meechum rips open his shirt to reveal the scar.

* ''Film/{{Backdraft}}''. The murderer/arsonist sets up a short-circuiting electrical socket to light a fire, but he's interrupted by the protagonists. During the subsequent struggle, he's forced against the socket and we hear him screaming in pain. TheReveal of the murderer comes when the protagonist later sees him with his shirt off.

* Another Zorro movie, ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro'', has [[LegacyCharacter the original Zorro]] exposed when his arch-enemy grabs his arm where he was wounded earlier that day, the pain and the fresh blood confirming his identity.
* ''Film/DrTerrorsHouseOfHorrors'': In the "Vampire" segment, Dr. Blake shoots the bat that appears at the clinic trying to drain blood from the boy. Later, Nicole Caroll shows up at home with a badly injured arm, which convinces her husband that she is the vampire.
* ''Film/GangOfRoses'': When Little Suzie attempts to rape Rachel's sister, she fights back and cuts Suzie under the eye. Suzie responds by shooting her. Rachel is later told she will recognize her sister's murderer by the scar under her eye.
* ''Film/PimpernelSmith'': Some archaeology students are excitedly reading a newspaper article about an unknown man saving people from the Nazis, and gushing over him. After reading about how their hero sustained a cut, one of them notices a similar injury on their professor....
* In ''Film/TheSniper'', Eddie Miller is ultimately exposed due to the burn on his right hand. When he leaves the bandage behind at the scene of of one his crimes, the police realise that the sniper has a burnt hand. On reading that information, his supervisor realises that he might be a killer and goes to the police. When Miller gets home, his landlady sees the burn on his palm, and the gig is up. Ironically, Miller gave himself the burn in an attempt to suppress his desire to kill.

* A variant: In the Leopold story ''The Four O'Clock Felon'', after one crime goes wrong, the villain switches from armed robbery to breaking & entering. The police finally realize [[spoiler: he's the "witness" to that crime, who'd received a leg injury giving him a distinctive limp. He couldn't afford to be seen until the injury healed.]]
* In the book ''Juggernaut'', not sure if in the movie, the police are searching for BigBad as he is making his escape. They are searching for a man with a mustache. A cop is about to let a clean-shaven man leave when he notices his upper lip is bleeding. Seems he cut himself shaving.
* In ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier'', Starfleet figures out that Soleta is half-Romulan after she's badly injured after JumpingOnAGrenade for her commanding officer. (How, I don't know, given that her other half is Vulcan, and supposedly they're still close enough to each other to interbreed, so...)

* There's a subtle version of something like this at the end of ''Literature/TheWreckOfTheZephyr'', [[spoiler:when the limp of the old man narrating the story is juxtaposed with the protagonist of the FramingStory having badly broken his leg at the end.]]
** A similar one happens in the illustrated children's book ''Pegasus''; [[spoiler: the old beggar telling the story ends by saying Pegasus' rider fell off his back mid-flight. He gets up with the help of a walking stick and walks away, dragging one leg.]]

* A Literature/SweetValleyHigh book had the girls being courted by twin brothers, one of whom cuts his hand very badly while on a date with Elizabeth. Later, she sees that Jessica's date has a bandaged hand, revealing that there is no twin and that this guy is a jerk who's been playing games with both of them.
* An Creator/RLStine book had a young hospital patient attacked in the shower. Unable to see, she manages to defend herself by cutting her assailant with a razor blade. For several days afterwards, she notices a cut on several people, all of whom provide plausible explanations. She's still fearful and suspicious and not until someone outright tells her that their cut is the result of the razor blade does she know who her attacker is.
* In a Literature/NancyDrew Files book, Nancy is attacked while skiing. Ned comes to her rescue, but the assailant escapes while he's tending to her. But not before Nancy notices that he favors his right leg. Later, while out skiing with one of the resort's instructors, Nancy realizes that she's AloneWithThePsycho when she notices that he has the same quirk that her attacker did.
* In ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'' there's a story about Sergeant Jackrum that when he was injured he bit the doctor who tried to treat him and then went off to treat himself. Initially this story just seems to highlight Jackrum's badass nature but after the reveal that [[spoiler:Jackrum is actually [[SweetPollyOliver female]]]] it becomes clear that he did it to avoid a Revealing Injury.
* In ''Literature/TheMadKing'' by Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs, which has an IdenticalStranger plot, Barney and Leopold get injured in different places during a fight near the end, which leads to a couple of people penetrating the last impersonation of the novel when they realize the man they're looking at has the wrong injury.
* In French series Literature/TheSunKingsDoves, Henriette's femininity is revealed this way after she pretended to be a boy to become a privateer. Played with in that she is not exactly wounded: she just falls into the sea and almost drowns before being pulled back on deck, and her soaked shirt exposes her chest. Because she has earned the respect of those who might care, she faces no consequence but has to keep pretending she's a man for the others.

--> ''"Blood never lies... Zorro."''

* ''Series/{{Zorro|1957}}'':
** Zorro's secret identity is figured out once by the BigBad of the season. Although there are many Literature/SherlockHolmes-esque clues he cited, they all are just to back up the fact that Don Diego de la Vega had a sword wound in the exact place he had stabbed Zorro.
** In another episode, Zorro himself uses this as a SpotTheImposter trick. Facing both the Alcalde and his impersonator at the same time, he conclusively proves which one is the real Alcalde to all present by pointing out that he had wounded the true Alcalde on the wrist some time previous, then slashing the sleeves of his opponents to see which one had a scar there.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

* In the old ''{{Series/Zorro}}'' TV serial, Zorro's secret identity was figured out once by the BigBad of the season. Although there were many Literature/SherlockHolmes-esque clues he cited, they all were just to back up the fact that Don De La Vega had a sword wound in the exact place he had stabbed Zorro.
** The same thing happens in the movie ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro''.
** In another episode Zorro himself uses this as a SpotTheImposter trick. Facing both the Alcalde and his impersonator at the same time, he conclusively proves which one is the real Alcalde to all present by pointing out that he had wounded the true Alcalde on the wrist some time previous, then slashing the sleeves of his opponents to see which one had a scar there.

[[folder:VideoGames]]

[[folder: Web Original]]
* In ''Literature/SailorNothing'', Aki is only able to recognize Himei in her Sailor guise because she has a black eye that Aki had noticed earlier in the day.

[[folder: Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheSenkari'' Freijas injury is not plausibly make up as she claims. Of course the fact she gets drunk doesn't help back up her claim in any way...

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

** A little later in ''Diamond is Unbreakable'', Josuke encounters Surface, a Stand in the form of a marionette that mimics the appearance of someone who touches it -- in this case Josuke himself. During the fight, Josuke severs one of the mimic's hands, and later warns Jotaro that they can tell the two Josukes apart by that injury. [[spoiler:Ultimately it never comes up, as Surface is defeated without Jotaro ever noticing its attack.]]

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

** A slight variation happened in ''Film/SpiderMan3'', where it was revealed that the Osborn's butler not only knew everything about the Green Goblin project, but had [[AssPull identified that the injuries Norman Osborn had received were clearly from his own glider, thus revealing (to Harry) that Norman had been responsible for his own death]]. WordOfGod says that [[VoodooShark Harry was actually hallucinating him being there at the time]], [[FridgeBrilliance implying that he subconsciously figured it out himself after discovering the project in the previous film.]]

* Averted in the ''Film/TheGreenHornet'' movie. The titular hero refuses medical attention to the bullet wound in the shoulder he recieved while masked, knowing that it would arouse suspicion if somebody arrived with the same exact injury just after the battle. They decide to fake a drive-by shooting so that he can keep his arm without compromising his identity.

* ''Film/BestSeller'' opens with a masked robbery, during which one of the robbers is shown to have CigaretteBurns on his wrist, and gets stabbed by the protagonist Meechum. Years later Meechum is approached by a man claiming to have been the driver on that robbery. However when the man burns his wrist in a display of MachoMasochism, Meechum rips open his shirt to reveal the scar.
* In ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'', Bond is able to prove to Kara that he knows she was the sniper, and is therefore working with Koskov, by pulling up her sleeve to reveal the scar she received when [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands the rifle was shot out her hands]]. Actually Bond knows about the wound because he is the one who gave it to her.

* ''Film/ZorroTheGayBlade'': Averted through HeroicWillpower. Don Diego, in costume as Zorro, injures his leg during a battle with Esteban's troops. Later, Esteban visits Don Diego, and he has stand and walk without letting Esteban notice his distress.

* In ''Film/TheSniper'', Eddie Miller is ultimately exposed due to the burn on his right hand. When he leaves the bandage behind at the scene of of one his crimes, the police realise that the sniper has a burnt hand. On reading that information, his supervisor realises that he might be killer and goes to the police. When Miller gets home, his landlady sees the burn on his palm and the gig is up. Ironically, Miller gave himself the burn in attempt to suppress his desire to kill.

* In the book ''Juggernaut'', not sure if in the movie, the police are searching for BigBad as he is making his escape. They are searching for a man with a mustache. A cop is about to let a clean shaven man leave when he notices his upper lip is bleeding. Seems he cut himself shaving.

* There are several tales in folklore of witches terrorizing a town in animal form, until their paw is wounded by a holy man or witch-hunter, who is then able to find the witch when she resumes human form, because her hand will bear the same wound.

* In a Literature/NancyDrew Files book, Nancy is attacked while skiing. Ned comes to her rescue, but the assailant escapes while he's tending to her. But not before Nancy notices that he favors his right leg. Later, while out skiing with one of the resorts instructors, Nancy realizes that she's AloneWithThePsycho when she notices that he has the same quirk that her attacker did.

* In French series Literature/TheSunKingsDoves, Henriette's femininity is revealed this way after she pretended to be a boy to become a privateer. Played with in that she is not exactly wounded: she just falls into the sea and almost drowns before being pulled back on deck, and her soaked shirt exposes her chest. Because she has earned the respect of those who might care, she faces no consequence, but has to keep pretending she's a man for the others.

* Averted in an episode of ''Series/RobinHood''. Guy of Gisbourne injures Marian's arm whilst she was in her Night Watchman disguise. Later he casually pats Marian on the arm and notices that she's bleeding. As she's cutting an apple at the time, Marian casually slices her palm with the knife and tells Guy that she accidentally got a little blood on her sleeve. He seems suspicious, but lets it go.

* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': In "The Rundown Job", Parker is looking for a bio-terrorist whom she knows has just innoculated himself against the flu virus she is carrying. She walks through the car, bumping each passenger on the arm, until one of them yelps.

* ''Series/PromisedLand'': Middle daughter Dinah is attacked while walking home from her hospital volunteer job. She gets away after biting her assailants hand. The next day, her father jumps one of their neighbors after seeing that his hand is injured, but the man's wife confirms his story of being bitten by a ''dog''. Later in the episode, Dinah realizes she's [[AloneWithThePsycho alone with her would-be rapist]] when she sees the bite mark on ''his'' hand.

* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': In "Lovely, but Lethal", the murderer kills the VictimOfTheWeek by hitting him over the head with a microscope. Unknown to her, the microscope slide had poison ivy on it, which she gets on her hand during the attack. Columbo also gets poison ivy on his hand when he touches broken glass at the crime scene, and develops a rash. He then notices the same rash on one of the suspects. And poison ivy isn't found in southern California.

** In the last case of ''Trials and Tribulations'', Phoenix discovers the killer was wounded after committing the murder, and reveals the location where it was hidden; [[spoiler:beneath Godot's mask]].

** In the first case of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations2'', the president of a foreign country is shot at by someone wearing a red raincoat. Sure enough, a red raincoat happens to be found at the scene, and it has a small bloodstain on the inside. There happens to be a nearby ice cream man named "John Doe" with a bandaged arm that bleeds occasionally, [[BlatantLies who denies the raincoat is his.]] There's a twist though: [[spoiler: The raincoat ''is'' his... but he's not the shooter. There were actually ''two'' people wearing red raincoats at the time, and the second one was much more well hidden.]]

** A slight variation happened in ''Film/SpiderMan3'', where it was revealed that the Osborn's butler not only knew everything about the Green Goblin project, but had [[AssPull identified that the injuries Norman Osborn had received were clearly from his own glider, thus revealing (to Harry) that Norman had been responsible for his own death]].

** In the first case of ''Ace Attorney Investigations 2'', the president of a foreign country is shot at by someone wearing a red raincoat. Sure enough, a red raincoat happens to be found at the scene, and it has a small bloodstain on the inside. There happens to be a nearby ice cream man named "John Doe" with a bandaged arm that bleeds occasionally, [[BlatantLies who denies the raincoat is his.]] There's a twist though: [[spoiler: The raincoat ''is'' his... but he's not the shooter. There were actually ''two'' people wearing red raincoats at the time, and the second one was much more well hidden.]]

* In ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'', the heroine is revealed to be a woman when she saves her commanding officer from death and is injured in the process. Their physician has to patch her up. He tries to be discreet about it, but informs her commanding officer, who is forced to expel her from the army. (Technically he's supposed to kill her, but [[IOweYouMyLife he still felt gratitude for her saving his life, so he let her live]].)

[[folder: Web Comics]]

** Parodied in ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies'':

* In ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'' there's a story about Sergeant Jackrum that when he was injured he bit the doctor who tried to treat him and then went off to treat himself. Initially this story just seems to highlight Jackrum's badass nature but after the reveal that [[spoiler:Jackrum is actually [[SweetPollyOliver female]]]] it becomes clear that he did it to avoid a Revealing Injury.

* In ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'' there's a story about Sergeant Jackrum that when he was injured he bit the doctor who tried to treat him and then went off to treat himself. Initially this story just seems to highlight Jackrum's badass nature but after the reveal that [[spoiler:Jackrum is actually [[SweetPollyOliver female]]]] it becomes clear that he did it to avoid a RevealingInjury.

* ''Film/PimpernelSmith'': Some archaeology students are excitedly reading a newspaper article about an unknown man saving people from the Nazi, and gishing over him. After reading about how their hero sustained a cut, one of them notices a similar injury on their professor....

* ''Film/PimpernelSmith: Some archaeology students are excitedly reading a newspaper article about an unknown man saving people from the Nazi, and gishing over him. After reading about how their hero sustained a cut, one of them notices a similar injury on their professor....

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' has Davis play against Ken in a football match where the latter receives a cut to his leg. Later when the Digimon Emperor is seen in the Digital World Davis recognises the cut. Then Ken reveals that he is the Digimon Emperor.

* One battle with the Green Goblin in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' leaves the Goblin limping away. Spider-Man follows him and discovers him to be his friend Harry Osborn, complete with Goblin costume and injured leg; while Spidey's suspected culprit, Harry's father Norman, seemed just fine. [[spoiler:Subverted next season, when Norman revealed that he really was the Green Goblin all along. He had framed Harry, going so far as to injure his own son's leg to throw Spider-Man off.]]

* ''Film/ZorroTheGayBlade'': Averted through HeroicWillpower. Don Diego, in costume as Zorro, injures his leg during a battle with Esteban's troops. Later, Esteban pays visits Don Diego, and he has stand and walk without letting Esteban notice his distress.

* ''Series/AgentCarter''. Peggy Carter gets identified from [=WW2-] scars that Sousa recognises when the other agents play a prank and let him walk into the room where Peggy is changing clothes. Sousa matches the scars with those on a photograph of the MysteriousWoman they're trying to identify.