Cool Mask: Difference between revisions
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Oddly, this also applies to those who wear little round glasses, despite the significantly lesser coverage, especially if they're [[Scary Shiny Glasses]] or [[Stoic Spectacles]].
Almost prototypical for [[Superhero]] characters. In anime, these are standard issue for [[Char Clone
[[Humongous Mecha]] frequently gain a mask (over their mouth at the least) when [[Combining Mecha|combining]] or entering a [[Super Mode]].
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* Pizza the Zonderian from ''[[GaoGaiGar]]''.
** By extension, {{spoiler|[[Sixth Ranger]] Soldat J. When he gets purified and makes his [[Heel Face Turn]], his mecha ends up being at least three times the size of the biggest Yuusha Robos.}}
* Char Aznable and [[Char Clone|his imitators]] from the various ''[[Gundam
** Schwartz Bruder, a helpful "Big Brother" character from ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam|G Gundam]]'', and the Gundam Fighter from Neo Germany who always follows the protagonist, Domon Kasshu, around like a "Chief Rival." However (as the name implies) well into the series, Schwarz Bruder is revealed to be none other than the protagonist's own actual brother (or at least a nanomachine copy of his conscience) meant to toughen Domon up to take down the Big Bad. "[[Speed Racer|Racer X]]" anyone?
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing|Gundam Wing]]'' features a masked character similar to Char in backstory. The son of royalty who were killed by the Earth Sphere Alliance, Milliardo Peacecraft, adopted the name Zechs Marquise (''Gundam Wing'' has a naming trope all to itself), donned a mask, joined a military contractor so he could infiltrate the Alliance, and then bring them down. After finally bringing down his family's murderers, he removes the mask. For the next season, he leaves the mask, but remains [[Badass]].
*** To a lesser extent, Trowa Barton puts on a half-mask when performing as a clown for the circus he uses as cover. Thing is, Trowa is a [[The Stoic|Stoic]], even in the circus, so the half-mask combined with his constant poker face only enhance his mystique. In addition, he also piloted the mostly-red (until ''Endless Waltz'' at least) Gundam Heavyarms.
** In ''[[Turn A Gundam (Anime)|Turn a Gundam]]'', Harry Ord, the [[Char Clone]] is a bodyguard for the Princess of the Moon, Diana Soriel. The trope (large red sunglasses) in this case is lampshaded by his confession that he is "keeping his eyes on the Queen's back." While being a semi-rival for the protagonist, he mostly kicks ass. And how.
** As well as that Darth Vader wannabe, Iron Mask Carozzo, from the ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam F91]]'' movie. The mask in this case grants him the ability to interface with his [[Attack Drone
** Bask Om from ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam|Zeta Gundam]]'' (and a minor role in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory]]'') is the "tiny little glasses" version of this. Well, goggles, really. He happens to be one of the highest ranked officers in the entire Federation/Titan force, [[Complete Monster|and one mean bastard in general]].
*** Also Quattro Bajeena, a ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam|Zeta Gundam]]'' expy of Char who just happens to be... Char himself, sans mask, but with sunglasses that cover just as much. Said sunglasses did pretty much jack since everyone already knew that he's Char.
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* Kogarashi from ''[[Kamen no Maid Guy]]''. He's got super strength, super smarts, is a master of disguise - and wears a mask at all times.
* Persona from ''[[Gakuen Alice]]''.
** Could be argued that it's not his choice. The mask is what keeps his Alice in control. Otherwise it would {{spoiler|''eat his own skin off''}}. Still a
* Hei from ''[[Darker than Black]]''. His mask looks like a cross between [[V for Vendetta|V's]] mask and [[Saw|Billy]] the [[Creepy Doll|Puppet's]] face and is [[Malevolent Masked Men|kind of]] [[Mook Horror Show|freaky]].
* Papillion Mask from ''[[Busou Renkin]]'' may be the only homunculus to wear a large face mask, depending on whether or not Moon Face's actual head is shaped like the moon. And Papillion Mask is probably the strongest, smartest, and most ambitious 'normal' human homunculus in the series.
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** {{spoiler|Actually two of the male leads, seeing as the male leads are both the same person.}}
* Near in ''[[Death Note]]''. Very briefly, but the mask is completely awesome.
** L in the second [[Live Action Adaptation|live action]] movie, [[media:
* Friend of ''[[Twentieth Century Boys]]'' gets ''two'' cool masks. He starts off the series with a Ninja Hattori-Kun mask, then later swaps that one out for a full head hood with the symbol of his cult on it.
* ''Casshern'' wears a lower face mask for combat. In [[Casshern Sins]], it resembles a motorcycle helmet. [[The Movie]] version resembles an oversized jaw.
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* As a part of his [[Historical Hero Upgrade]], King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (Edward Norton) got a spiffy metal mask in ''[[Kingdom of Heaven]]'', covering his [[Ill Boy|leprosy-stricken face]].
* ''[[RoboCop]]''. He's the future of law enforcement!
* [[The Smurfette Principle|7]], in ''9'' wears a combo
* ''[[The Mask (film)|The Mask]]''. It's literally ''about'' a mask that turns whoever wears it into the physical avatar of the [[Trickster God]] Loki.
* Jason Voorhees of the ''[[Friday the 13th (film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' series made the hockey mask a universal symbol of horror.
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** From the Expanded Universe, [[Faction Paradox]] members wear [[Rule of Cool|masks of]] [[Skeletons in the Coat Closet|bone]]. Along with ''[[Impossibly Cool Clothes|awesome]]'' [[Impossibly Cool Clothes|headdresses and gorgets]].
* Theres a reason why they are called [[Kamen Rider|KamenRiders]]. Kamen being Japanese for mask, and up until recently they were known as "Masked Riders" in official translated material, including the series logos.
* Played with with Richard Harrow of "[[Boardwalk Empire]]"
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* Comes up on occasion, especially Mexican ''lucha libre'' - major lucha libre feuds can culminate in a "mask vs mask" match, where the loser is required to publicly unmask themselves and have their real name revealed.
** [[El Santo]] is perhaps the ultimate example. There is only one known occasion where he was publically seen without the mask. When he died, they buried him in it.
** The local sports commissions actually enforce these "matches of bets" -- ''luchas de apuestas''
* Subverted/Played Straight with [[Kane (wrestling)|Kane]]. In a 2003 angle, Kane was forced to unmask. When he first unmasked, he went back to being the Monster Heel he was at his debut; however, after a sucktacular match with [[The Undertaker]], he quickly became involved in some pretty idiotic storylines.
** The unmasking was actually Kane's idea; wearing it was growing increasingly uncomfortable and making it increasingly difficult to perform, and he felt that his inability to display facial expressions was limiting what they could do with the character.
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* Oddly enough masked wrestlers used to be considered one of the worst things in wrestling. Only pathetic undercarders wore masks, so that people wouldn't see who it was getting their asses kicked.
** This often occurred, even later, with "Parts Unknown" jobbers like "Mr. X", who could be known wrestlers who are simply put out there to do the job.
** "Used to be" means "the 50s and before"; The Destroyer, Mr. Wrestling I & II, The Masked Superstar, The Spoiler/Super
* The mask is also closely related to the [[Charlie Brown From Outta Town]] angles, where a banished/disgraced wrestler returns with a not-very-conspicuous mask under a different name to try to "clear" the banned wrestler (ie himself)'s name.
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* Joachim Valentine from ''[[Shadow Hearts|Shadow Hearts: Covenant]]'' uses a mask as part of his ultimate power-up when he appears as Grand Papillon, {{spoiler|and later as the Great Question after he defeats his mentor during the Man Festival.}}
* ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' deserves at least a few mentions given the preponderance of ninjas. Notables include Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Smoke, Jade, Kitana, Mileena, the cyber-ninjas Smoke, Sektor, and Cyrax, and the shadowy Noob Saibot. Shao Kahn has an intimidating skull mask-helmet.
* Darth Revan of ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'', who is stated to be one of the most powerful Force user in history, masterminds elaborate [[Xanatos Gambit
** Proving his mask power even further, Revan fought and killed Mandalore the Ultimate, the other Cool Mask user of his time in hand to hand single combat.
** And then there's Darth Nihilus from the sequel, whose mask can be obtained to get you more Force Points, and who is coincidentally extremely close to being an [[Eldritch Abomination]]. Quite a few Sith from those games have part or all of their faces obscured, actually.
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== For those little round glasses, see
=== Anime and Manga ===
* Vash the Stampede from ''[[Trigun]]''
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=== Professional Wrestling ===
* [[WWE]] Wrestler Charlie Haas tries to gain a
* During the mid 80's-early 90's there were several masked jobber tag teams including but not limited to The Conquistadors, The Cruel Connection, The Shadows, The Galaxians, The Thunderfoots, The Executioners, The Head Hunters and various assorted Demons.
* For some reason practically every two bit independent wrestling promotion has to have a Doink The Clown rip off. The role is usually given to the worst wrestler on the roster, a fat, charisma deficient load. The worst part of an already awful idea is that they are given a Doink mask of horrible quality instead of simply painting their face like the original did. In every instance the matches are awful, the fans hate it, and yet the promoters will keep doing it.
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=== Role Playing Games ===
* Inversion : In the ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'' universe, the whole of the Scorpion Clan (one of the 7 major factions) wear masks of one sort of the other. It doesn't give them any kind of power whatsoever, though. In fact, all it does is ''make them look shifty''. Which is the whole point, as the basis for the Clan is that they are good guys pretending to be bad guys to ferret out the bad guys within the ranks of the ''other'' good guys. Or are they?' Of course, only they know that, all the other Clans think they're just [[Manipulative Bastard
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* Strong Bad, of the website ''[[Homestar Runner]]'', who has a Mexican masked wrestler's mask for a face. He's more a wannabe supervillain than anything.
** When he finally takes it off, it's apparently very painful.
* Joachim in ''Shadow Hearts: Covenant'' actually actively parodies this with his Grand Papillion
* Every member of the Chess Pieces in ''MÄR'' wears a unique mask. In fact, masks are quite telling of a Chess Piece's power, as the lowest ranked Mooks, "pawns" are only allowed [[Faceless Goons|identical masks]], the same as every other pawn. If a Chess Piece has a unique mask, you're dealing with something a bit more worrisome.
** Their rank is also identified by their earrings, which ARE chess pieces.
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