History Main / ShockingVoiceIdentityReveal

* A theatrical adaptation of the book ''Coram Boy'' did a chilling version of this; [[spoiler: Meshak's father, a man with a distinct Cockney accent, was introduced in the first act as a man who extorted money from poverty-stricken mothers in exchange for taking their children to the Coram Hospital, only to murder and bury them with the unwilling help of his mentally-disabled son Meshak, for which he is apparently hanged. The second act introduces a man who speaks with an upper-class accent involved in selling educated and virginal Coram girls into sexual slavery]]. Eventually, Meshak meets the second man face-to-face, and hearing his sudden shift into the first man's voice is genuinely shocking, especially given his NightmareFuel CompleteMonster activities. It works particularly well as a play, since the audience's distance from the actors allows the man's face to go unrecognised more effectively than could be easily accomplished on film.

Alice is talking to a stranger on the bus, when she realizes that she's heard his voice before, somewhere. Moments later, Alice realizes she's talking to Bob, her {{Mentor}} whom she hasn't seen in 15 years. Bob may or may not realize who Alice is.

* On ''{{Smallville}}'', Clark occasionally phoned Lois as "The Red and Blue Blur" using a voice modulator to disguise his voice. One time (when we discover that Chloe has a tap on his phone, and on all the other phones in the world) some Meddling Kids mess with Chloe's setup, rendering Clark's modulation ineffective, and she heard his real voice.

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' we think that all that is going on is because of Black Mask, that is until we see the man who is supposed to be Black Mask on the ground being kicked by the guy posing as him.

* A RunningGag on ''RockyAndBullwinkle'' is that whenever they meet Boris in disguise, Rocky always asks "That voice! Where have I heard it before?" In one episode, Bullwinkle answers, "In about 365 other episodes, but I don't know who it is either."

-->[[spoiler:Joker]]: Cant't... You... Just... Play... '''ALONG?'''

* AlanWake has a scene where this is part of how Alan identifies a man who had called him earlier. [[spoiler: The kidnapper]]'s voice was pretty distinct, but there were other clues Alan noticed as well.
* In ''BatmanArkhamOrigins'' we think that all that is going on is because of Black Mask, that is until we see the man who is supposed to be Black Mask on the ground being kicked by the guy posing as him.

* In the DoctorWho audio adventure starring ColinBaker "The Holy Terror" the Doctor forces a RealityWarper EnfantTerrible to adjust his age (and thus voice) to match up with his father's, thus revealing to the Doctor the key to the plot.

* The reveal of the final villain in ''{{Digimon Adventure 02}}'' [[spoiler: Myotismon]] has this effect in the English dub; his laugh for [[spoiler: Gatomon]] and his voice for audiences who saw the first season and would recognize it. [[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* In the {{Tintin}} book ''Recap/TintinLandOfBlackGold'', Tintin wonders about the saboteur leader's voice. It turns out to be Dr. J.W. Muller from ''Recap/TintinTheBlackIsland''.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure "Night of the Vampire": When Lady Constantina is impersonated by her maid, the players can recognize this by the difference in their voices on the audio CD track.

* The reveal of the final villain in Digimon Adventure 02 [[spoiler: Myotismon]] has this effect in the English dub; his laugh for [[spoiler: Gatomon]] and his voice for audiences who saw the first season and would recognize it. [[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* In the {{Tintin}} book ''Recap/TintinLandOfBlackGold'', Tintin wonders about the saboteur leader's voice. It turns out to be Dr. J.W. Muller from ''Recap/TintinTheBlackIsland''.
[[/folder]]

* Late in ''{{Anime/Monster}}'': Eva Heinemann realizes that [[spoiler:her lawyer's partner is in fact "Roberto", a former hit man working for Johann who'd been her lover before trying to kill her]]. She'd spoken to him over the phone once or twice, but when she heard his voice in person, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

* ''WhoFramedRogerRabbit'': "Remember ME EDDIE, When I killed your brother! I TALKED JUST ''LIKE'' '''THIS!!!'''"
* Tom realizes that Shaker was his son's kidnapper in ''{{Ransom}}'' when he sees his son Sean's [[BringMyBrownPants reaction]] to his voice.

** Works on the readers, too. Sometimes, Death will just show up and say a line or two without ever being explicitly identified to anyone but the reader via the [[PaintingTheFourthWall dialogue]].

* In the {{Tintin}} book ''Recap/TintinLand of Black Gold'', Tintin wonders about the saboteur leader's voice. It turns out to be Dr. J.W. Muller from ''Recap/TintinTheBlackIsland''.

* In the {{Tintin}} book ''Land of Black Gold'', Tintin wonders about the saboteur leader's voice. It turns out to be Dr. J.W. Muller from ''The Black Island''.

* In ''{{Discworld}}'', many people die and don't realize that they're dead until they hear the distinctive voice of fan-favorite [[AC:Death]], who always [[AC:talks like this.]]

* "The Man" on ''{{Alias}}''

* ''WhoFramedRogerRabbit'': "Remember ME EDDIE, When I killed your brother! I TALKED JUST LIKE THIS!!!"

[[AC: ComicBooks]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]

[[AC:{{Manga}} and {{Anime}}]]
* Late in ''{{Anime/Monster}}'': Eva Heinemann realizes that [[spoiler:her lawyer's partner is in fact "Roberto", a former hit man working for Johann who'd been her lover before trying to kill her]]. She'd spoken to him over the phone once or twice, but when she heard his voice in person, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:RealLife]]

* Late in ''{{Monster}}'': Eva Heinemann realizes that [[spoiler:her lawyer's partner is in fact "Roberto", a former hit man working for Johann who'd been her lover before trying to kill her]]. She'd spoken to him over the phone once or twice, but when she heard his voice in person, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

''''''NeedsABetterDescription''''':

* ''CollateralDamage'' had a bad guy identified that way.

Alice is talking to a stranger on the bus, when she realizes that she's heard their voice before, somewhere. Moments later Alice realizes she's talking to Bob, her {{Mentor}} who she hasn't seen in fifteen years. Bob may or may not realize who Alice is.

In short, this is when a familiar voice reveals the identity of a character in a moment that is shocking to the audience and/or other character(s).

* In the {{Tintin}} book ''Land of Black Gold'', Tintin wonders about the saboteur leader's voice. It turns out to be Dr. J. W. Muller from ''The Black Island''.

* ''Death and the Maiden''. When Paulina Escobar hears Doctor Miranda speak and laugh, she recognizes his voice as that of the man who was in charge of her torture and rape by government thugs her years earlier.

[[AC: {{Literature}}:]]
* In {{Discworld}}, many people die and don't realize that they're dead until they hear the distinctive voice of fan-favorite, [[AC: Death]], who always [[AC: talks like this.]]

[[AC: LiveActionTelevision:]]
* "The Man" on {{Alias}}.
* On an episode of BurnNotice, Season 2 ("Bad Breaks"). Michael is unexpectedly stuck in a bank in the middle of a robbery. Michael pretends to be a doctor (which gives him various opportunities to cause trouble for the bad guys.) After many fun shenanigans, it ends up with Sam calling the head bank robber on his cell phone, pretending to be a powerful, scary guy who "really owns the bank." Michael confirms that he "recognizes the voice," and relates a story about what a powerful, scary guy he is, which causes dissension in the ranks of the remaining robbers.
* On {{Smallville}} Clark occasionally phoned Lois as "The Red and Blue Blur" using a voice modulator to disguise his voice. One time (when we discover that Chloe has a tap on his phone, and on all the other phones in the world) some Meddling Kids mess with Chloe's setup, rendering Clark's modulation ineffective, and she heard his real voice.
* CollateralDamage had a bad guy identified that way.

[[AC: Manga and Anime.]]
* Late in ''{{Monster}}'', Eva Heinemann realizes that [[spoiler:her lawyer's partner is in fact "Roberto", a former hit man working for Johann who'd been her lover before trying to kill her.]] She'd spoken to him over the phone once or twice, but when she heard his voice in person it hit her like a ton of bricks.

[[AC: RealLife]]
* {{Hey Its That Voice}}!

[[AC: TabletopGames]]
* DungeonsAndDragons adventure Night of the Vampire. When Lady Constantina is impersonated by her maid, the players can recognize this by the difference in their voices on the audio CD track.

* ''TotallySpies'' episode "Miss Spirit Fingers (Jazz Hands' Return - Part 2)". While Alex and Clover are eavesdropping on a conversation between the villain Jazz Hands and Miss Spirit Fingers, they notice that Miss Fingers has the same voice as Sam. They realize that Sam is masquerading as Miss Spirit Fingers and (wrongly) conclude that Sam has defected and joined Jazz Hands.