Suspicious Ski Mask

Well, one thing's for sure: these two are not going skiing.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my boat?! And why are you wearing that ski mask?! Because you're not skiing!"

— SpongeBob, SpongeBob SquarePants, "No Free Rides"

The ski mask (alternatively known as the balaclava in the UK) is a popular staple among criminals, terrorists, and characters who generally just want to keep their identities hidden. It can come in various forms that leave certain parts of the face exposed for easier seeing and breathing (The three-hole ski mask being the most popular and recognizable one) while doing an adequate job of keeping other identifiable features hidden. Despite being invented to keep the faces of British soldiers warm during the Crimean war, it was so effective of a disguise that it ended up becoming associated with wrongdoing, criminality, and terrorism. Because why else would someone wear it if not to keep their identity hidden or just look menacing?

This trope is about when characters utilize ski masks because they really are doing something that is legally or morally dubious and do not wish to be identified while they're doing it. Not because they have perfectly innocent reasons for wearing it. Though even if they do, they may be treated suspiciously anyway.

These masks can sometimes be a case of Paper-Thin Disguise if they are the kind of ski mask that are more of a hood than a mask. I.E. leaving the face exposed. They also wouldn't do much good if the character wearing them doesn't bother to change their clothes. Plus, they are typically separate from voice changers. So, don't expect them to be that effective without them especially if whatever victim or witness they speak to or in front of knows them.

Anyone wearing this is likely a Blatant Burglar though this does not necessarily mean the character wearing it is a burglar. They may just have another crime in mind. And even if they are not a criminal at all and are not wearing it for criminal purposes, expect them to be treated as though they are criminals regardless due to this trope.

If a ski mask is discovered by another character, they will more often than not assume that it's used for criminal purposes.

Expect the mouthless and/or two-hole versions of this mask to be used by Ninja characters.

Subtrope of Malevolent Masked Men.

Examples:

Advertising

• An Axos Bank commercial shows a team of bank employees putting these on right in front of the customers before they "rob" them of their deposits. They then flee the bank, take the masks off, and then enter the same bank through the side door before returning to, presumably, rip off the next round of customers.
• A Volkswagen Beetle Convertible commercial features a man in a ski mask entering a store. The cashier and customers inside become very nervous about the man, but the man takes some items back, after paying the incredulous cashier, to the Beetle where other men with ski masks are waiting for him. One of them chastises the man for forgetting to take his mask off when entering the store.

Anime & Manga

• Black Lagoon:
  • The Visstoniki (Hotel Moscow's special forces) wear these.
  • In "Snow White's Payback", Yukio and her bodyguard, Ginji, rob a credit union while wearing ski masks and sunglasses to frame Hotel Moscow by using a van that looks like the kind of van Hotel Moscow uses as the getaway vehicle. Yukio is so thrilled by the experience that she declares they'll be robbing banks in Bolivia.
• Case Closed:
  • In "Snow Woman's Legend Murder Case'' this is a plot point as both Akikio (The victim) and Yoko (the killer) wore full-face versions of the mask in addition to goggles. Yoko later kills Akikio and impersonates her by swapping her ski outfit for hers. Including the mask. Kogoro sees them in their outfits and tells them they look like bank robbers.
  • "One Billion Yen Robbery Case": A trio of bank robbers wear these and one of them ditches the mask during the getaway. The mask is found and discovered to have lipstick stains on it leading Conan to suspect a woman as one of the robbers. Particularly, Masami Hirota.
  • "Conan, Heiji, and the Vanished Boy": A couple of robbers that use this disguise abduct a boy and plan to kill him for seeing their faces after they removed the masks.

Comic Books

• Diabolik: The titular character wears a skin-tight mouthless version of this along with a Spy Catsuit. The mask is so tight against his skin that his nose and lips appear painted on. Curiously, Eva Kant, his sidekick who frequently participates in heists with him, does not wear a mask during their night activities. However, she does use Latex Perfection masks whenever she wants to disguise herself and/or impersonate someone.
• Hack/Slash: Cassie Hack wears these on several occasions whenever she wants her identity hidden for her shadier, more law-bending activities.
• Liberator:
  • This trope is subverted as, though the actions of Jeanette and Damon are certainly illegal, they are also rescuing animals from torturous capacity and experimentation and wear ski masks while doing it. Also, in Jeanette's case, it's more like a black cloth mask pulled up over her lower face combined with a hoodie that only vaguely gives the appearance of a ski mask while her long, red hair is uncovered. Damon's mask is a more traditional mouthless ski mask combined with a hood. The comic's tagline even lampshades this.
  • In the sequel, Critical Hit, Sarah wears an even looser definition of the mask, as she wears a red cloth mask pulled up over her mouth and nose combined with the non-matching blue hood she wears over her blonde hair.
  Liberator tagline: Heroes don't wear capes. They wear ski masks.
• Stray Bullets: Virginia and Leon wear these after swapping out their ski caps for them to eavesdrop on Huss and Kevin. It also helps that it's snowing.
  • Beth and Orson wear these as the "Sunshine Gang."
• In Dollicious Tiramisu runs into Gummis home and Gummi to put ski mask as they will break into a TV Stiation. Gummi's reaction after one panel of silence? "Yaaaay! Dress up!"

Comic Strips

• Lampooned in The Wizard of Id. Attorney-at-law Larsen E. Pettifogger is interviewing a bank robber he's representing.
  Prisoner: Well I walked up to the teller with my skis on...
  Pettifogger: Idiot, it's a ski mask you're supposed to wear!
  Prisoner: No wonder I had trouble running through the revolving door.

Films — Animated

• Fantastic Mr. Fox: Ski masks, or as the cast calls them "bandit hats", are a Running Gag throughout the film, used by Fox and co. to heist against the Three Farmers. Ash, who's not allowed to go on the heists (at least until the climax), makes an impromptu bandit hat with a tube sock.
• The Incredibles: After rescuing some people from a building fire, Mr. Incredible and Frozone end up accidentally breaking into a jewelry store while still wearing ski masks. This makes them look rather suspicious to some police officers that find them. Frozone even lampshades this:
  Frozone: We look like bad guys. Incompetent bad guys!

Films — Live-Action

• Bad Santa: Played for Laughs when Willie puts on one of these before he enters Thurman's home with intention to rob it. After entering inside, he encounters Thurman's grandmother who declares that she's going to make sandwiches for them despite seeing Willie wearing a ski mask. Even Willie seems perturbed by this as well as the fact that someone as clearly incapable of a caretaker as Thurman's grandmother is the only other person besides him who lives in the house. Thurman himself also doesn't care that Willie put on a ski mask.
• Batman Begins: Subverted. Before he becomes Batman, Bruce Wayne uses a ski mask to confront Gordon in his office and question him about Falcone's smuggling operations. Gordon is not left with the best impression of him. Dismissing him as "just some nut."
  • The Dark Knight Rises: The ski mask makes a comeback after Gordon's encounter with Bane sends him to the hospital. He wears it to keep his identity hidden as he speaks to Gordon to let him know that he has returned, as it's easier to hide on his person (Bruce enters the hospital as a patient) than the Batsuit.
• Dirty Harry: Scorpio wears a bright red ski mask as he menaces Harry, mocking the police detective and saying that he plans to kill his hostage, a 14-year-old girl, anyway, despite receiving the ransom money. (In truth, the girl is already dead, but Harry doesn't know that when he stabs Scorpio in the leg, then tortures him for the girl's location.)
• Dragged Across Concrete: Two robbers known only as Black Gloves and Grey Gloves wear ski masks while obscuring their eyes with dark goggles. They never take them off. Vogelman wears a similar disguise during the gold heist.
• Drive (2011): The two unnamed robbers who the Driver assists in the Action Prologue wear these with dark goggles.
• Fargo: Gaear Grimsrud and Carl Showalter wear these as they kidnap Jerry Lundergard's wife, Jean, in a scheme cooked up by Jerry to scam his father-in-law for the ransom money. Humorously, the kidnapping sequence begins with Carl walking up to the glass door of the Lundergard home while Jean is watching television and does nothing but stare at him with a confused glare as he peers in.
• God Bless America: Roxy wears a red ski mask as she wakes Frank up with a Dramatic Gun Cock before asking him if they're "Going to do this or what?" (The "this" referring to killing a controversial politically incorrect right-wing commentator). She then cheerily takes the mask off and asks a visibly disturbed Frank what he thinks of it. Soon after, she wears it as she and Frank shoot down the commentator while he's jogging. Strangely, she takes it off before approaching the injured man and does not wear it again even as her and Frank's killing spree continues.
• Heat: The mouthless variety is used during the final robbery by Neil, Chris, and Michael.
• Hell or High Water: Toby and Tanner Howard wear these during their bank robberies. The movie portrays their criminality as a case of Grey-and-Gray Morality since they target the bank branches operated by the very bank that put them into debt through a reverse mortgage to cover their mother's medical bills. They intend to pay the bank back with the money they rob from them.
• Kill Bill: The Bride wears a mouthless variant while sneaking around outside Budd's trailer in preparation to kill him. For some reason, she takes it off.
• Layer Cake: XXXX wears a mouthless version of one to kill Jimmy Price at his mansion after discovering he's a police informant.
• Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels: Eddie, Tom, Soap, and Bacon wear these along with identical brown long coats while robbing Mad Dog and his gang.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • Captain America: Civil War: Baron Helmut Zemo is often shown wearing a ski mask, and is the film's Big Bad, as he plans to break up the Avengers by starting the Good vs. Good conflict between Captain America and Iron Man.
  • Zemo returns in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He's portrayed as more of an Anti-Hero than an outright villain but still continues to wear the ski mask at times, especially when committing more morally questionable acts.
• Nobody:
  • The two burglars that break into Hutch's home wear three-hole ski masks. Though they aren't quite as violent and ruthless as they appear since the gun they use is unloaded. Later in the movie, it's somewhat subverted after Hutch tracks them down as they are shown to be more Sympathetic Criminal than ruthless thugs as they are a struggling couple who have a baby that Hutch finds in a crib wearing a breathing mask attached to an oxygen tank. This causes him to leave the home rather than make any further attempt to get revenge.
  • The hit squad sent by the Russian Mob later in the movie wear the mouthless variety of ski masks. And, unlike the couple, they play the trope fully straight as they are a ruthless group of mercenaries for hire who have no qualms with killing Hutch in his home with fully automatic weapons.
• Panic Room: Raoul wears one during the home invasion. In fact, out of the three home invaders, he is the only one who wears a mask at all. Highlighting his professionalism and experience compared to Burnham and Junior.
• Sensation: The killer wears this during the murders.
• My Sister's Serial Killer Boyfriend: The killer wears a full black face mask with only eyes and mouth visible.
• Snatch. Sol and Vinny wear these when they try to rob a bookie. "Try" being the operative word as they utterly fail at the robbery due to their incompetence and underestimation of the security. Later in the film, they wear them again while joined by Tyrone to mug Bullet Tooth Tony. This also does not go well for them as Tony quickly deduces that they are just wannabe hard criminals with replica guns.
• Spring Breakers: Brit, Candy, and Cotty wear black ski masks with identical blue hoodies during their first robbery. After meeting Alien, they swap the masks for pink versions.
• Strange Days: Iris' attacker in the Snuff Film wears one as he breaks into an apartment. He even glances into a mirror as he adjusts it over himself to make it fully clear to the audience what he's wearing.
• The Toolbox Murders: Vance Kingsley wears a black ski mask with top red and white stripes during the murders.
• Tightrope: The killer wears this mask on multiple occasions among others.
• Torso: The killer wears this as he murders the victims.
• Two Hands: Jimmy and two accomplices wear these when robbing a bank for money to pay off the debt Jimmy owes to local crime lord Pando.

Literature

• Anxious People: The bank robber wears a ski mask that covers so much of the face it helps conceal the fact that the robber is a woman.
• Durarara!!: Vorona wears a mouthless ski mask as she breaks into Anri's home with bolt cutters after being hired to attack her. She then discovers that Anri is not an ordinary girl since she is quite skilled with a katana sword possessed by a demonic spirit. Anri soon manages to chase Vorona away.
• Goosebumps: In Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns, at a Halloween party two men in masks were intimidating the guests. One wears a gorilla mask and the other was wearing a ski mask. It was all a prank pulled by Tabitha Weiss and Lee Winston.

Live-Action TV

• Breaking Bad: Both Walt and Jesse don ski masks at several points when they have to perform some dirty business; first there's the final episode in Season 1 where they have to steal a barrel of methylamine from a chemical storage complex, and then again in Season 2 where they hold Saul Goodman at gunpoint to pressure him into dropping a deal with the DEA (also to cover their faces because Walt had already met with Saul). The ski masks are not particularly intimidating-looking since they're colorful and have puff balls on top. Much to Jesse's chagrin.
  Jesse: The hell is this?
  Walter: That's all they had.
  Jesse: Then you go to another store. If this is all they had, you're in the wrong place!
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: In "Him", Anya pulls one of these over her face as she stands outside a bank before robbing it to prove her love to R.J. while under the influence of the Love Spell from his letterman jacket.
• CSI: NY: In "Unfriendly Chat," Adam witnesses a murder while chatting with the victim over the internet. The killer wore gloves and a traditional black-knitted ski mask, so all the detectives have to go on is eye color and skin tone. Sheldon tries to use facial reconstruction software to try and determine what the guy looks like, but it doesn't work.
• Delocated: Jon wears a ski mask frequently. Subverted because he wears it to keep his identity hidden due to being in witness protection and not because he's up to anything criminal.
• Fakes: In the season one finale, Rebecca and Zoe wear these based on a panda and a bat respectively to sneak into the penthouse and steal the printing equipment. The attempt fails because they can't fit it into the elevator.
• Good Girls:
  • Beth and Annie wear these (In varying colors) throughout the series whenever they commit a robbery. Ruby, the other member of the trio, typically wears a bandanna with a hood instead.
  • "Pilot": Beth wears a colorful version of a ski mask in dark blue and red, white, and light blue stripe pattern at the bottom while Annie wears a more typical black mouthless ski mask.
  • "Lightning Strikes Twice": Beth wears a much more traditional all-black version of the mask during the second time she and Ruby rob the store.
  • "One Last Time": Beth and Annie wear red and blue ski masks as they rob a bank. Or try to at least until they discover that the safe is on a timer and even the clerk can't get it open. So they kidnap him and plan to wait until the timer runs out and then make him open the safe.
  • "Grandma Loves Grisham": During a jewellery store robbery, Beth wears a ski mask in dark purple and blue colors while Annie wears one in bright pink and green colors. Both heavily contrast against the dark clothes they wear.
• Line of Duty:
  • Several of the OCG members wear these to keep their identities concealed during their crimes. After series 4, members of the OCG wearing ski masks became so common, they were nicknamed The Balaclava Gang.
  • Two of three members of Tommy Hunter's violent enforcers in Series 1 wear these.
  • Series 4's investigation centres around "Balaclava Man" who AC-12, at first, believes to be a lone serial killer targeting women. This is later proven incorrect after Jimmy Lakewell explains that Balaclava Man is actually Balaclava ''Men'' and they are all operatives working for the same OCG that AC-12 has been investigating for the whole show.
  • John Corbett leads a gang that wears these during their heists in series 5. While most of the gang are full-fledged remorseless criminals, John himself is somewhat of a subversion as he is actually an undercover cop who intends to fully expose the corruption he believes plagues the police.
  • In series 6, the convoy transporting Jimmy Lakewell is ambushed by several foot soldiers of the OCG that wear these.
• Person of Interest. In the episode "SNAFU", John Reese asks Harold Finch how he taught The Machine the difference between right and wrong. Finch says he did by example. Then they pull on balaclavas and break into a warehouse.
• Slasher: The Gentleman is revealed to wear an open-faced version of this under the White Mask of Doom.

Music

• The German musician Alligatoah used to present himself as the two terrorists Kaliba69 and DJDeagle, who wear ski masks when participating in terroristic activities. Such a mask even once was bonus in one of his Limited Collectors Editions. The last time he really used that aesthetic was the 2013 music video to the song "Willst du", after that, while terrorism, being present in his songs occasionally, the ski masks have mostly disappeared.
• Ski Mask The Slump God is a famous rapper from Florida. Memphis used to have a supergroup called Skimask Troopaz, and rapper Tony Skee Mask.
• ScHoolboy Q wears a white ski mask on the cover of his album Oxymoron.
• "Black Mask" by The (International) Noise Conspiracy praises the ski mask for its use for political direct action.
• "Stupid" by Skepta and Wiley
  Draw for the leng, kill an MC
  I’ve got a black ski mask, but I don’t ski
  • quoted and subverted in "Man Don't Care" by JME
    got a black ski mask, but I don't ski
    I snowboard
• "Cop Killer" by Ice T and Body Count
  I got my black shirt on
  I got my black gloves on
  I got my ski mask on
  This shit's been too long
  I got my twelve gauge sawed off
  I got my headlights turned off
  I'm 'bout to bust some shots off
  I'm 'bout to dust some cops off
• Captain Yarrface, lead of the pirate metal band Rumahoy, performs dressed as a pirate captain wearing a signature ski mask. (His cameo in Alestorm's music video for "P. A. R. T. Y." continues to wear it as a skeletal pirate king.)

Video Games

• Counter-Strike: Many of the Terrorists in all entries wear ski masks. And given that they're doing things like holding civilians hostage or bombing certain locations, the purpose of these masks is for them to conceal their identities while fighting the Counter-Terrorists.
• Day of the Tentacle: Bernard encounters a man in a ski mask who's about to open and steal a broken car with a crowbar.
• Grand Theft Auto:
  • Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Carl wears this during the burglary side missions.
  • Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories: An outfit including this mask known as the "Hood Outfit" is unlockable by owning a high roller robbery empire building.
  • Grand Theft Auto IV: Niko Belic, Patrick Mcreary, Derrick Mcreary, and Michael Keane wear these during the "Three Leaf Clover" mission. The mask is then unlockable after the mission is complete.
  • Grand Theft Auto V: Michael De Santa, Trevor Phillips, and Brad wear these during the opening bank robbery. They are then used again by Michael, Trevor, and the third gunman during the Paleto Score. Michael, Franklin, and the third gunman will also wear this if the player selects the roof entry approach for the bureau raid. Several variations of this mask are available for purchase to equip with either Michael, Franklin, or Trevor. An even wider variety you can equip to your customizable player character are available in online mode.
• Half-Life: Shotgun-wielding HECU Marines wear ski masks, which helps to show that they're antagonistic. It's a subversion in Half-Life: Opposing Force, where these same Marines are Shephard's allies who can and will help him along the way.
• Max Payne:
  • Max Payne: Nicole Horne's mercenary commandos wear these along with army fatigues to highlight how much more dangerous and professional they are than the mobsters Max has been used to gunning down for most of the game.
  • Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne: The Squeaky Cleaning Company at first wear blue cleaning janitorial style uniforms until later in the game when Max encounters more dangerous variants dressed in darker clothes and armed with more powerful weapons. Some of them wear ski masks of the three-hole or open-face kinds.
  • Max Payne 3: Some members of the highly-trained and dangerous U.F.E. wear these masks, as do the Tropa Z, a gang that Max very briefly butts heads with in Nova Esperança.
• Modern Warfare:
  • Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare: Many Ultranationalist and OpFor members wear ski masks as part of their getups, which help to make them look more intimidating to their enemies as well as conceal their identities.
  • In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Makarov's Spetsnaz units in "Persona Non Grata" also wear ski masks alongside their helmets, which immediately establishes them as Malevolent Masked Men out to kill Soap, Price, and the Loyalist soldiers protecting them.
• In Spider-Man (PS4) and its sequel, ski masks are the go-to face covering for generic, low-level criminals.
• In Team Fortress 2, the Spy is one of the nine deadliest mercenaries alive and a Master of Disguise who keeps his identity a puzzle wrapped in an enigma. He wears a ski mask everywhere he goes (even while wearing other hats) to conceal his facial features.

Webcomics

• The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: In "AWOL MD", Gordito needs to spy on one of his teachers, and wants to use one of the McNinja family's Latex Perfection masks to do it. The McNinjas explain that the latex masks won't work in this particular case, but "We'll set you up another way"—which turns out to be an ordinary ski mask. Gordito is not impressed.
  Gordito: Yes! This is JUST as good as impossibly perfect human face masks! With these binoculars and this ski mask, I transform into... Ski Robot! No one suspects the Ski Robot.
• Subverted in Saturday Morningbreakfast Cereal: After Superman is isolated from society for decades (during which he's used as a power source until humans come up with free energy), he finds a mugging but learns the "mugger" is actually giving the old lady a purse and a ski mask, which he is warming with his face.

Web Animation

• Spooky Month: The two thieves that break into Lila's house in "The Stars" wear dark grey ski masks to hide their identities. When Skid encounters them, he thinks they're just dressed for Spooky Month and lets them go on their way. Humorously, when they return in "Deadly Smiles", they're in jail and have had their masks taken away, yet they still try to hide their identities by putting pillowcases over their heads.

Web Videos

• 5 Second Films: The Plagiarist sketch has a man wearing one of these while holding people at gunpoint to steal their jokes.
• Diamanda Hagan has minions who wear black balaclavas. In one outtake video, one of the minions jokes that since they're all from Northern Ireland, they know how to put one on quick.

Western Animation

• All Grown Up!:
  • In "Petition This!" Angelica and Chuckie wear the open-face variety as they sneak into Tommy's house to steal embarrassing baby pictures of Kimi. The masks don't cover their faces at all, but at least they're wearing dark colors suitable for blending in with the night.
  • In "The Finster Who Stole Christmas." Chuckie, Tommy, Dil, Phil, and Lil wear the mouthless variety of ski masks as they steal back the tree Chuckie accidentally stole to return it and stop the manhunt for him.
• American Dragon: Jake Long: Rose wears a mouthless ski mask in her Huntsgirl persona.
• Arthur: In "Buster the Myth Maker", Arthur and Buster meet a guy called Deep Float who wears a ski mask and a Conspicuous Trenchcoat. Deep Float gives the boys advice about the Siberian Tigers and other dangerous animals in Elwood City. It turns out to be Brain who wrote the article about Siberian Tigers in Turkey Hill Park on the internet.
• The Batman: In "Batgirl Begins: Part 1" Barbara Gordon and Pamela Isley wear ski masks with flowers embroidered on the foreheads along with dark hoodies to prank a Corrupt Corporate Executive with a water gun filled with green gunk for toxic waste dumping.
• Batman Beyond
  • Melanie wears an unusual variant of a ski mask in her Ten costume. It's a white-and-back three-hole mask with red mesh lenses for her eyes and red lips that move with her expressions.
  • In "The Winning Edge" three delinquents from the Hamilton Hill High hover lacrosse team wear these when burglarizing a video store before they are intervened by Terry. One of them manages to best him in a fight thanks to a patch-induced drug that acts as an addictive steroid based on Venom's chemical compound.
  • Subverted in "Curse of the Kobra". Terry is assisted by an enigmatic intruder in a ninja outfit with a mouthless ski mask combined with a visor. Though the intruder seems like an ally, their motives are unknown. Until later in the episode when the intruder pulls the mask and visor off to reveal the face of Kairi Tanaga.
• Bojack Horseman: Two characters collectively known as the "Celebrity Stealing Club" wear ski masks though their names are Cammie and Kenzie. Cammie wears a dark ski mask while Kenzie wears a blue ski mask.
• Fish Hooks: Played for Laughs in "The Brandon Bubble" when Brandon Bubbler laments about not being kidnapped and feeling like he's worth something to someone anymore after his fame fades. Bea asks him if he came to her school so that she would kidnap him again. After he says no, the scene cuts to Bea pulling a dark orange ski mask over her face as she disappointedly groans.
• Fillmore!:
  • A masked assailant ambushes Ingrid and Fillmore while wearing the mouthless version of this mask as well as a dark purple visor in "The Currency of Doubt." The masked person performs an impressive backflip over a pile-up of spilled baskets. Seeing Tina perform a similar move and finding out Larry, their prime suspect, has an alibi leads Fillmore to have a "Eureka!" Moment as he realizes that the masked assailant was not a guy, but a girl and this girl was likely Natasha who's acrobatic enough to perform such an impressive backflip.
  • A fleeing suspect in "A Dark Score Evened" wears a full-face version along with eye-obscuring glasses. Fillmore later deduces that this suspect was part of a vigilante team and that the suspect in particular was Grover since he mentioned having a fear of non-dairy whipped topping. Something the suspect flinched at after running into Wilbur who was carrying a can of it while Fillmore and Ingrid pursued him.
• Jackie Chan Adventures: Viper occasionally wears one along with her Spy Catsuit.
• Jacob Two-Two: Jacob and several other characters wear the two-hole variety of ski masks on several occasions. Typically involving breaking and entering.
• The Patrick Star Show: Exploited in "Nitwit Neighborhood News". Patrick and Squidina end up in the hideout of wanted criminal Tony Tuna, who is always seen with a purple ski mask over his head. When the police surround Tony, he puts ski masks over Patrick and Squidina (as well as visiting reporters Perch and Harvey, with the former getting Tony's purple mask) and pushes them all outside, leading the police to think they're the criminals and arrest them.
• Pepper Ann: Pepper Ann wears one that covers almost all her face except for her eyes in "Radio Freak Hazelnut" as she sneaks into the school to sabotage the radio equipment. It doesn't do her much good since her mother embroidered it with a name tag.
• Sabrina: The Animated Series: In "Boy Meets Bike" Sabrina wears one of these along with her Blatant Burglar outfit before sneaking into Harvey's garage to dismantle his magically-enhanced bike.
• SpongeBob SquarePants:
  • The page quote comes from "No Free Rides" as Spongebob confronts a ski-masked Mrs. Puff for carjacking his boatmobile.
  • Spongebob himself wears this to show a couple "the error of their ways" by leaping through their open window and yelling that he's the "Open Window Maniac".
  • After losing his name tag, Spongebob fears that his identity could be stolen. Cue Imagine Spot involving an unnamed ski-masked bank robber wearing his name tag.
  • Mr. Krabs and Spongebob provide the image source in "Krusty Towers" as they wear ski masks before "abducting" Mrs. Tentacles by bagging her and stuffing her into the trunk of a boatmobile. Until Mrs. Tentacles shows up behind them and closes the trunk for them before Mr. Krabs reveals that it was his laundry in the bag.
  • Spongebob and Patrick wear ski masks as they break "Smelly" (Actually Squidward encased in hardened sewage) out of a zoo.
  • In "Plankton's Intern", Plankton and Pearl wear ski masks as they sneak into the Krusty Krab to steal the Krabby Patty formula. It doesn't do much for either of them since Plankton is still the same size and Pearl's mask just fits over half her face.
• What's New, Scooby-Doo?: In "Recipe for Disaster", Trudy Lowe wears this along with a Spy Catsuit to steal the secret recipe for scooby snacks until she's interrupted by Fred. She takes it off as she stands in front of the vault when she thinks no one is watching only to drop it and flee when she realizes she's being watched. Fred then presents it to the gang as proof Trudy is involved in the mystery.

Real Life

• Many countries have laws banning the use of ski masks in various public spaces.
• Balaclavas have a very specific reputation in Northern Ireland in connection to The Troubles. And needless to say, anywhere the police would be suspicious of a trash bag holding 51 used blaclavas.
• In the unfortunate case of Elijah McClain, people had called the police because they had seen the young man walking around in a ski mask. Elijah wore the mask because he got easily cold due to a blood circulation disorder and had sensory issues. The interaction ended with McClain dying after being put in a choke hold and forcibly injected with an excessive amount of Ketamine (nearly double the necessary dose for someone his size).

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