History Main / PlotBasedPhotographObfuscation

* Takahata-sensei's picture of himself, Negi, and an obscured man in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''. (Effectively subverted because the series ended prematurely with a contrived [[GrandFinale finale]] that abandoned almost all the existing plot threads.)

* In ''LightNovel/{{Allison and Lillia}}'', the only photo Lillia has of her DisappearedDad is one where he moved during the exposure, so she has never seen his face. This is intentional, as otherwise, [[spoiler:she would quickly recognize the man dating her mother as her own father with dyed hair.]]

* A recent manga chapter of ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'' has a photograph of Ryohei Sasagawa and some woman, obscured by unlikely glare.

* ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''

* Marika of ''Manga/FutatsuNoSpica'' has a photograph of her and her father. [[spoiler:The obfuscation is to hide that the age of her father doesn't match his current appearance, but the girl in the picture looks just like [[CloningBlues Marika]].]]

* Happens by accident in part 1 of the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' two part "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" Homer, hoping Mr. Burns [[AccidentalMisnaming doesn't forget him for once]], sends him a box of chocolates with a family portrait at the bottom. This trope comes into play when he and Smithers eat all but one of the chocolates, which happens to be the one obscuring Homer's face. Upon receiving the letter thanking everyone but Homer, Homer [[NotInFrontOfTheKids asks the kids to go upstairs]], goes outside, then lets out the loudest [[AtomicFBomb swear]] to be [[CurseCutShort cut short]].

* ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''

* Taken to ridiculous extremes in the ''Film/CharliesAngels'' movie: at one point, Eric Knox shows the heroine a photo of his father "and the man who killed him" (whose face isn't visible). Later, in a {{Flashback}}, her mind zooms in on the other man's name tag: Townsend -- as in, "Charlie" -- and realizes that Knox is out to avenge himself on Charlie. Viewers were way ahead of her -- after all, a photo of a man with no face, who else would it be?

* The pictures of Kozue's parents in ''Manga/{{Mahoraba}}''.

* A family portrait of the Elrics in ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' has a well-positioned glass reflection that obfuscates the father, as seen in the image above. {{Subverted|Trope}}, however in that there's no plot point that it would reveal, since his identity is revealed the first time his face is shown ever. Seeing the face would change nothing at all.

* Several examples form the last clue to the identity of the Mastermind in the final trial of ''VisualNovel/DanganRonpa'', with four of the surviving students sharing a photograph given to them by Monokuma. Each photo shows what appears to have been a different snapshot of their school lives that they have absolutely no recollection of, with most of the original fifteen students present. The one conspicuously absent in each photo is the person who received it, but that's not the only thing... [[spoiler:The Mastermind's face is obscured in each one somewhere in the background, because the other students had their memories erased of what she actually looked like, while]] a mystery girl is also clearly visible up front in one of them. She turns out to be the [[spoiler: sixteenth student, Mukuro Ikusaba. Mukuro is also the twin sister of the other student at the school who also claimed the title of]] Ultimate Despair [[spoiler:as well as becoming the sole Mastermind behind the Despair after betraying her]]. [[spoiler:It was Junko Enoshima.]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Though White Diamond is SheWhoMustNotBeSeen, ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' actually uses this trope with Pink Diamond more often: though she is heavily foreshadowed in the symbolism of Gem architecture and artifacts, Pink Diamond's ''existence'' was only acknowledged as late as the last episode of Season 3, and the only reference for her appearance for much of the show's run has been her mural in the moon base. Despite this, her mural was conspicuously avoided by the episode that introduced it, showing White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, and Blue Diamond in full, but only showing Pink's legs, as the rest was obscured by shadows and by shot composition; Pink's mural was only shown unobscured much later, after information about why she was so particularly significant to Earth and the Crystal Gems was revealed.

* Though White Diamond is SheWhoMustNotBeSeen, ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' actually uses this trope with Pink Diamond more often: though she is heavily foreshadowed in the symbolism of Gem architecture and artifacts, Pink Diamond's ''existence'' was only acknowledged as late as the last episode of Season 3, and the only reference for her appearance for much of the show's run has been her mural in the moon base. Despite this, her mural was conspicuously avoided by the episode that introduced it, showing White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, and Blue Diamond in full, but only showing Pink's legs, as the rest was obscured by shadows and by conspicuously avoidant shot composition; Pink's mural was only revealed in its entirety much later, after information about why she was so particularly significant to Earth and the Crystal Gems was revealed.

* In the FRLG arc of ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'', Carr secretly picks up a photo [[BigBad Giovanni]] accidentally dropped, featuring a younger Giovanni holding his presumably toddler son. What makes it inadvertently hilarious is that while the viewer can't see the toddler's face due to the angle of the light, it's ''really'' obvious who it is thank to the [[SameClothesDifferentYear clothing]].

* [[LemonyNarrator Lemoney Snicket]] of ''Literature/{{A Series of Unfortunate Events}}'' never shows his face in photographs, either "in-universe" or in the author photos. In TheFilmOfTheBook, he's a silhouette with a typewriter.

* At one point in ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', Lynne tells you about that one time when she [[spoiler:was saved from a criminal who had taken her hostage 10 years ago by Detective Jowd]]. While she's remembering, we see an illustration of the event with young Lynne and the two men. We can see every face clearly... except the stranger's. His head is completely obfuscated by shadows. As it turns out later on, showing his face (or [[AnimeHair hair]] earlier than that would've been a '''''major''''' plot twist: [[spoiler:the criminal was Yomiel, a man who looks exactly like Sissel. Or more accurately, Sissel just took Yomiel's appearance when he woke up at 7 PM thinking that was his true appearance]].

* At one point in ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', Lynne tells you about that one time when she [[spoiler:was saved from a criminal who had taken her hostage 10 years ago by Detective Jowd]]. While she's remembering, we see an illustration of the event with young Lynne and the two men. We can see every face clearly... except the stranger's. His head is completely obfuscated by shadows. As it turns out later on, showing his face earlier than that would've been a '''''major''''' plot twist: [[spoiler:the criminal was Yomiel, a man who looks exactly like Sissel. Or more accurately, Sissel just took Yomiel's appearance when he woke up at 7 PM thinking that was his true appearance]].

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': In the WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail "the chair" Strong Bad shows of a picture of his parents apropos of nothing, but the actual picture is obscured by his new high-backed chair. Decompiling the Flash file to see it reveals that the photo is completely blank, with a "nice try, dodongo!" message mocking any viewers who attempted this.

* Taken to ridiculous extremes in the ''Film/CharliesAngels'' movie: at one point, Eric Knox shows the heroine a photo of his father "and the man who killed him" (whose face isn't visible). Later, in a {{Flashback}}, her mind zooms in on the other man's name tag: Townsend -- as in, "Charlie" -- and realizes that Knox is out to avenge himself on Charlie. GenreSavvy viewers were way ahead of her -- after all, a photo of a man with no face, who else would it be?

* Used frequently during Mark Waid's classic 90's run writing {{The Flash}}. Waid was developing a grand {{myth arc}} involving the legacy and powers of the Flash being passed down over hundreds of years through many generations of the West family. It all started with Wally West (at the time the present-day Flash) who learned on a visit to the future that he would someday marry, father fraternal twins (one male, one female) and that his daughter was destined to one day become The Flash. Great lengths were taken to hide the identity of the mother, including several instances of family photos where the mother's face is obscured, usually by a shadow or glare.

* Strong Bad from ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' has a picture of his parents in one cartoon, but the actual picture is obscured by his chair. Reverse engineering the Flash file to see it only shows a "nice try" message mocking you.